14 replies to this topic

[Shel_B]

This morning I grabbed a couple of chicken breasts from the nearby Latino market. Apart from being priced well, they were huge, a little more than 2 1/2-lbs each. At least they seemed pretty large considering a typical fryer weighs in at 3.5- 4.0 lbs.

So, would you consider these to by unusually large breasts? Also, since they are so big, I'm assuming they are from chickens that are a little older than typical barnyard cluckers. Does that seem reasonable to assume? And, if the chix are older, might they be more flavorful? What about less tender?

Thanks!

[phatj]

Whooeee, those are some big 'uns! You sure they're real?

I mean, 2.5 lbs is about as big as a typical chuck roast. Maybe they're turkey?

[ElsieD]

Is that 2 1/2 pounds for the entire breast or for each half?

[Shel_B]

Is that 2 1/2 pounds for the entire breast or for each half?

Entire breast ... I poached one last night and it barely fit into the pot I usually use for the purpose. It was very tasty, however.

[Baselerd]

I've read that some of the massive chickens nowadays will naturally suffer from crippling leg disorders if they aren't slaughtered when they're young (i.e. they outgrow their legs due to selective breeding of large-breasted chicken)... shouldn't come as a surprise I suppose considering the size of these chickens nowadays.

[Shel_B]

I've read that some of the massive chickens nowadays will naturally suffer from crippling leg disorders if they aren't slaughtered when they're young (i.e. they outgrow their legs due to selective breeding of large-breasted chicken)...

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Well, I've seen the legs from these birds, and they look to be rather large as well. The next time I go to the market, I'll check the weight of the full legs.

Do you have a link to information about these big birds? Where have you read about them? Thanks!

[Baselerd]

Just around - a quick Google search of "chicken farm legs" returned some results. Of course, it's hard to find unbiased information - all of these are generally published by animal rights groups (crazies...). In either case I love eating chicken :)

What do you hope to find by weighing the legs? I would imagine it has mostly to do with bone and muscle strength vs. animal weight, not necessarily the weight of the legs.

[Shel_B]

What do you hope to find by weighing the legs? I would imagine it has mostly to do with bone and muscle strength vs. animal weight, not necessarily the weight of the legs.

II think the size and weight of a leg might give a good indication of the strength. Plus, comparing it to a more typical chicken, perhaps it's possible to determine if the big-breasted leg is in similar proportion. More curiosity at this point than anything "scientific."

[rotuts]

I take it that your weight is for the breast meat from and entire chicken: 2 large muscles and 2 smaller muscles which are under the larger ones ??

Perdue routinely sells 6 - 8 lbs whole birds I seen one 7.5 lbs in the store

http://www.perdue.co...er, Extra Meaty


dont know of course what the entire breast meat on an 8 lbs comes out to.

"specially bred" = chichen 'roids?

BTW chicken this large is very difficult to 'roast' properly. Ive done them on the BBQ a la Beer Can Keg Chicken. 325.

Edited by rotuts, 29 January 2013 - 11:12 AM.

[longroper]

"specially bred" = chichen 'roids?

No. They're Cornish/Rock hybrids, the standard meat bird in the chicken industry. They are bred to have out-of-proportion breasts and to grow very quickly. Their one mission in life is to eat. People that free range them in small flocks say that they pretty much hang around the feeder all day and eat until its empty, then wait for the next batch. They are butchering weight in 8-10 weeks. Much longer than that and yeah, they have a hard time standing up, since they're so top heavy. A dual purpose chicken, like a Rhode Island Red or a Wyandotte, won't be ready for slaughter until at least sixteen weeks. Twenty is better, and twenty-four better still. That's a lot of expensive food. The breasts will be proportionate, which to most people now looks "small". Of course, they taste like a chicken instead of "chicken". And they have big meaty legs.

Steroids are illegal. And expensive.

The R&D on breeding is expensive, but once you have them nailed down, the rest is cheap.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

The other possiblity, given that it was a Latino market, is that you were eating Churkeys (Naked Neck Chickens). They average around 8 lbs when mature, have large breasts, and are a common breed in Latin America due to their heat and disease tolerance.

Dang tasty chooks, too.

[huiray]

The other possiblity, given that it was a Latino market, is that you were eating Churkeys (Naked Neck Chickens). They average around 8 lbs when mature, have large breasts, and are a common breed in Latin America due to their heat and disease tolerance.

Dang tasty chooks, too.

Fascinating! Didn't notice this breed before. I did a quick search, and it seems they originated from Translyvania?
http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-fife-12745163
http://www.newscient...their-cool.html
I didn't see anything from that quick search directly saying that it was popular in Latin America (not that I doubt you of course!) although the articles report the sourcing of the churkeys (a.k.a. turkens) to include Mexico while this one cites the researchers making comments that do relate to its importance in hot countries/"third world countries".

Would you happen to have some more info about its popularity in Latin American markets/communities that I could look up, for my curiosity?

[Dejah]

longroper is correct in his description of the Cornish / Rock hybrid. When I had my restaurant, we did not buy frozen chicken parts, battered chicken parts or breaded parts from a supplier. We bought our quick frozen whole chickens from a local Hutterite colony, who raised these chickens especially for our use. These chickens were kept around 10 lbs each, and we'd buy 1000 lbs every 2 weeks. These chickens were cut up by my kitchen staff, 20 each week day and more on the weekends. The breasts were huge but still tender. The legs were pretty meaty too. We cut the meat up according to our dishes. Our customers were happy because they always got good sized pieces of meat in their chicken balls, which were breaded and never battered.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

The other possiblity, given that it was a Latino market, is that you were eating Churkeys (Naked Neck Chickens). They average around 8 lbs when mature, have large breasts, and are a common breed in Latin America due to their heat and disease tolerance.

Dang tasty chooks, too.

Fascinating! Didn't notice this breed before. I did a quick search, and it seems they originated from Translyvania?
http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-fife-12745163
http://www.newscient...their-cool.html
I didn't see anything from that quick search directly saying that it was popular in Latin America (not that I doubt you of course!) although the articles report the sourcing of the churkeys (a.k.a. turkens) to include Mexico while this one cites the researchers making comments that do relate to its importance in hot countries/"third world countries".

Would you happen to have some more info about its popularity in Latin American markets/communities that I could look up, for my curiosity?

Not off the top of my head - I'm going by what I've seen, personally, and what I've eaten (an almost innumerable amount of my friends will kill a chicken fresh for dinner; a good 99% of them raise Churkeys because they're good dual-purpose hens, even if they're kind of funny looking). A lot of the larger chicken farms down here run Churkeys because they're less problematic than Cornish Rocks or other "industrial" hens, and also because the flavour is superior to CRs. They fatten up slightly slower, but that's not necessarily a bad thing....

[huiray]

Panaderia, thanks.

Methinks I'll go looking for a churkey to try out...