Stupid question about chicken

So I hunt, and fish, and basically process all my own meat from these sources. I have a friend that raises Longhorns and I buy a side of beef from him every year. I still buy store bought meat and chicken as well. Here is the deal, most of America would not like, buy, or eat the best stuff health wise. I have eaten open range chicken a lot, as well as Longhorn, venison, wild pig and wild turkey. I love it. But it is not like the food factory stuff you buy in the stores. It is lean without much fat (which is where flavor comes from) it is not naturally tender, I can have a slightly gamey taste, and it has more cartiledge, sinew, tendons, etc than anything in the store. Just last week I made 22 pounds of deer sausage after opening weekend (50% venison, 50% pork shoulder, seasoned, cased and vacum packed) It is very good in my book but many will not eat it because of the taste.

Moral of the story is that we as a society have been fooled into thinking that what they sell in the super market is the real stuff, but it aint. It is genetically modified chicken that can go from egg to grocery store in six weeks. Something is not right about that.
 
So I hunt, and fish, and basically process all my own meat from these sources. I have a friend that raises Longhorns and I buy a side of beef from him every year. I still buy store bought meat and chicken as well. Here is the deal, most of America would not like, buy, or eat the best stuff health wise. I have eaten open range chicken a lot, as well as Longhorn, venison, wild pig and wild turkey. I love it. But it is not like the food factory stuff you buy in the stores. It is lean without much fat (which is where flavor comes from) it is not naturally tender, I can have a slightly gamey taste, and it has more cartiledge, sinew, tendons, etc than anything in the store. Just last week I made 22 pounds of deer sausage after opening weekend (50% venison, 50% pork shoulder, seasoned, cased and vacum packed) It is very good in my book but many will not eat it because of the taste.

Moral of the story is that we as a society have been fooled into thinking that what they sell in the super market is the real stuff, but it aint. It is genetically modified chicken that can go from egg to grocery store in six weeks. Something is not right about that.

Just a little quibble. There aren't many animals that are genetically modified and allowed to be sold as food. I think salmon is the first. However, humans have been breeding animals for thousands of years and raising livestock that by farming methods don't taste "gamey". Domestic livestock aren't entirely natural, but now we live in a society where most people live in and around major cities and a small number of people do the farming and ranching. As far as poultry goes, what we have now is designed to grow quickly using as little as possible in as little space as possible. Breeding is done through artificial insemination. The legs are short, and the breast meat is unnaturally massive because that's the part that most people seem to prefer. It's hard to find a good photo of a modern factory farmed chicken, but even a reasonable photo of a red junglefowl (the original species where domestic chickens come from) shows how different they are from even compared to heritage chicken breeds.

800px-Red_Junglefowl_-_Thailand.jpg


There's a huge difference between traditional livestock raising methods and the mega-scale factory farming that allows relatively cheap meat to be sold in supermarkets, fast food, and warehouses. I don't know if comparing meat from animals taken from the wild is necessarily comparable to traditionally farmed livestock.
 
I include in this what some would call free range chicken. There is a big difference between the chickens I raise at my farm and store bought. Also the Longhorn I get is basically grass fed period. No supplemental feed to fatten them up, no corn, no protien, nothing. Grass when it's there, hay when it's not. The taste of that beef is very different from store bought. Very lean very little fat and the good cuts are different from what people normally think. And yes many people who have tried it comment that it has a slight game taste to it. My comparison is not limited to just wild game.
 
Costco chicken is the only food item I've come across that I wouldn't buy again. I did not care for the texture or taste of their bag of chicken breasts.

This is me with Costco pork chops. I cannot stand the smell or the texture. It makes me sick thinking of it, bleh.
 


This is me with Costco pork chops. I cannot stand the smell or the texture. It makes me sick thinking of it, bleh.

Costco has so many different regional suppliers. They change suppliers all the time and have different types of meat sold. I remember buying some grass-fed ground beef that was really good, while their standard ground beef was more in line with common supermarket ground beef.
 
So I hunt, and fish, and basically process all my own meat from these sources. I have a friend that raises Longhorns and I buy a side of beef from him every year. I still buy store bought meat and chicken as well. Here is the deal, most of America would not like, buy, or eat the best stuff health wise. I have eaten open range chicken a lot, as well as Longhorn, venison, wild pig and wild turkey. I love it. But it is not like the food factory stuff you buy in the stores. It is lean without much fat (which is where flavor comes from) it is not naturally tender, I can have a slightly gamey taste, and it has more cartiledge, sinew, tendons, etc than anything in the store. Just last week I made 22 pounds of deer sausage after opening weekend (50% venison, 50% pork shoulder, seasoned, cased and vacum packed) It is very good in my book but many will not eat it because of the taste.

Moral of the story is that we as a society have been fooled into thinking that what they sell in the super market is the real stuff, but it aint. It is genetically modified chicken that can go from egg to grocery store in six weeks. Something is not right about that.
My DH hunts and fishes, too and we consume local freshwater fish, venison and elk regularly. But I still purchase beef, pork and chicken from the store.
 
Few people are going to stop buying factory farmed meat - either directly or indirectly. I'm pretty darn sure that McDonald's, CFA, KFC, Popeye's, or any number of casual dining restaurants aren't using heirloom breed chickens.

And even when these breeds are being used, there's controversy over whether or not they're raised in the conditions that are claimed. A large regional marketer is Mary's Free Range Chicken from Pitman Farms. I read some report where someone monitored their farms and found that their chickens never spent time outside although they were traditional breeds that by their nature grew slowly.
 


I try not to be judgmental (really!), but my DCs have shown chickens in the past in 4-H and FFA and there's nothing sadder than to see than multiple pens of meat birds that literally cannot stand up for more than a few seconds because they've been bred to have such huge breasts that they are front (top?) heavy. They literally sink to their bellies, and the kids have to nudge them to stand up again when the judge is coming. Yes, I love white meat (specifically breast meat), but....

And we eat all the wild game that DH shoots, he cuts it up himself, uses a grinder to "mix" it with other stuff to make sausage and hamburger, etc. It's an acquired taste, but it's "free" (except the price of the bullet). Our beef and pork come from the same 4-H family members, and even though they are fed for growth, at least they are inside/outside animals who see sunshine and can stretch their legs.

Terri
 
Where do you buy your chicken? I want to get better chicken for our meals and was wondering if there different qualities Like steak is better from the butcher than the bodega. LOL. Is chicken like that? Sunday I made a fabulous chicken vesiouvio and I wasn't in love with the texture of the chicken.
Normally, I buy our meats at a local butcher. Bells and Evans sells a nice tasting chicken, whole, and in parts. I frequently get whole birds since they are less expensive and I know how to cut them up but buy what's easiest for you. They cost more than supermarket birds but are generally fed better in a less crowded environment. No pesticides, antibiotics or hormones. Nice turkeys as well.
 
I try not to be judgmental (really!), but my DCs have shown chickens in the past in 4-H and FFA and there's nothing sadder than to see than multiple pens of meat birds that literally cannot stand up for more than a few seconds because they've been bred to have such huge breasts that they are front (top?) heavy. They literally sink to their bellies, and the kids have to nudge them to stand up again when the judge is coming. Yes, I love white meat (specifically breast meat), but....

And we eat all the wild game that DH shoots, he cuts it up himself, uses a grinder to "mix" it with other stuff to make sausage and hamburger, etc. It's an acquired taste, but it's "free" (except the price of the bullet). Our beef and pork come from the same 4-H family members, and even though they are fed for growth, at least they are inside/outside animals who see sunshine and can stretch their legs.

Terri

Really? I've attended quite a few county fairs, and the show poultry all seem to be more traditional breeds of chickens. They're not raising heirloom breeds for judging?

I don't know how accurate it was, but that video I saw showed birds that through breeding achieved those dimensions you mention, but where most birds had uneven feathers.
 
My mom grew up a couple blocks from the chicken store. Her grandmother ... she' send my mother to go pick up the chicken. My mom ... would just walk in and they'd hand her the package. It wasn't until my mom was a teenager that she figured out why the package was always warm.
If your mom did not get there within a few minutes after the chicken was placed in the package then the package should not have been warm because it should have been in a refrigerator not touching other objects including similar packages.

... the (bus) driver says that she can't take it on board. Then she walks about bit and either wrings its neck, slams it's head against fire hydrant, or otherwise kills it.
You should not pluck it until after you kill it. You should not kill it until after you bleed it. You should not bleed it until after you immobilize it so the blood doesn't get all over the place.
 
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I have noticed chicken has a strange rubbery/toughness to it lately. The size is also larger than in years past.

The only brand I find to be superior is Springer Mountain Farms.
 
If your mom did not get there within a few minutes after the chicken was placed in the package then the package should not have been warm because it should have been in a refrigerator not touching other objects including similar packages.

I think the reference is to decades ago, and the story sounds like it's referring to a chicken that was just slaughtered, and therefore still warm. Heck - even 25 years ago one could buy a chicken that was freshly slaughtered in any number of American Chinatowns. I saw them in cages out in front.

I'm pretty sure that quite a few hobby-raised chickens are slaughtered and then prepared without being refrigerated. Farmers who raise their own chickens probably do that often.
 
I made chicken francese tonight with Purdue boneless breast that I filleted to thinner pieces. The only reason it tasted good (not rubbery) is because I pound the meat then it is tender to eat. All my chicken is pounded for every recipe.
 
... the story sounds like it's referring to a chicken that was just slaughtered, and therefore still warm. ...
Precisely. After the chicken is slaughtered, the usual rules for refrigerating food go into effect.

Killing it in the morning and letting it sit out all day until cooking it late afternoon is risky.
 
If your mom did not get there within a few minutes after the chicken was placed in the package then the package should not have been warm because it should have been in a refrigerator not touching other objects including similar packages.

Like I said - my mother said the package was warm. This is in the 1940's, in the old Italian neighborhood in Chicago. You've got to be kidding me with the refrigeration and items not touching each other.
 
I think the reference is to decades ago, and the story sounds like it's referring to a chicken that was just slaughtered, and therefore still warm. Heck - even 25 years ago one could buy a chicken that was freshly slaughtered in any number of American Chinatowns. I saw them in cages out in front.

I'm pretty sure that quite a few hobby-raised chickens are slaughtered and then prepared without being refrigerated. Farmers who raise their own chickens probably do that often.
Yes - 7 decades ago. :) thank you. :)
 
Yes - 7 decades ago. :) thank you. :)
I wasn’t thinking that long ago. But then again getting poultry slaughtered on demand wouldn’t be unusual even a few decades ago. I get the whole idea of food safety with raw meat, but live animals don’t start going bad that quickly that they have to be placed on ice if they’re going to be cooked quickly.
 
Kinda related...I just did the Everlywell food sensitivity test and it came back that I have low sensitivity to 5 foods and one is chicken.
 
There are still live poultry markets in NYC that cater to various ethnic groups. There was still one on...Amsterdam Avenue and maybe 130th Street 2 years back. When my mother was a little girl in Jamaica, less than 5 years of age, she decided to "help" her Granny by chopping the heads off every chicken she could catch. It was such a funny and well known to the family story it was memorialized in Mom's obituary.
 

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