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Free range chicken - does it really taste better?


phaelon56

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I like free-rangers because I think the white meat cooks up juicier -- and gives you a little margin or error when roasting a whole bird.

Hormone, antibiotic and ethical issues aside.... brining fixed all those issues for me. Now that I finally got on the brining bandwagon my chicken consistently comes out moist and juicy - even when I just split it and throw it on the gas grill.

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Seems to me a lot of your thoughts apply to the question, phaelon. I've also read of a recent testing (I think it was Cooks Illustrated) where the kosher chickens came out as the preferred chicken among all the other choices, including 'free range' varieties.

I remember seeing that -- it was basically because it is the equivalent of brining.

I think organic tastes better, the texture just seems less mealy to me, though that is totally subjective, obviously.

Interesting about the coloring, my chicken is never as bone white as what you'd get in an american restaurant, even when the internal temp reads safe. I just stopped worrying about it, though I do feel a little weird serving it to American guests. There was a thread about this at some point I think...

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I'm not sure whether the freshness of the bird trumps how it was raised and fed, but certainly the big difference between your average Purdue/super market chicken and what you get from a farmers market or upscale grocery store such as Whole Foods is the freshness. My favorite brands are Bell and Eberly (Amish) chickens. Also agree with the observation that brining can cure many problems of dryness and other taste/texture issues.

Oh, J[esus]. You may be omnipotent, but you are SO naive!

- From the South Park Mexican Starring Frog from South Sri Lanka episode

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Weighing in on the side of superior texture but inconsistent flavor (at least the flavor can be fixed by brining).

The first time I bought a chicken at the Greenmarket, the two of us ended up eating the whole thing, it just tasted so good. But sometimes they are just okay. Still, I do think they have more flavor than supermarket, cottony birds; brining and herb butter under the skin help those chickens only so much.

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I buy natural chickens that are hormone and antibiotic free. If they're organic and free-range, or semi-free range, that's even better. My doctor said that eating antibiotics is bad for your immune system, especially if its already weak.

I can tell a difference in Tyson or Butterball chicken and a natural or free range chicken. The natural chicken doesn't taste processed. Tyson and Butterball treat their meat with a "broth solution" to plump the meat and give it more flavor. :blink: I prefer that the meat already have its flavor.

When my grandmother would go to the grocery store, she would complain that the chicken was frozen although they said it was fresh. She said it didn't taste right. This was in the 80's and early 90's before the organic and free range chicken boom hit. I realized later what it was. She was used to her "free range" chickens that she would go out in the yard and catch. I'm sure after that, the supermarket just doesn't measure up. :laugh:

it just makes me want to sit down and eat a bag of sugar chased down by a bag of flour.

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...

I can tell a difference in Tyson or Butterball chicken and a natural or free range chicken. The natural chicken doesn't taste processed. Tyson and Butterball treat their meat with a "broth solution" to plump the meat and give it more flavor.  :blink: I prefer that the meat already have its flavor.

Yes, I can tell too, especially with Tyson and Butterball. Not only the processed taste, but the texture too, especially when barbecued. And a roasted Tyson or Butterball turns into a hunk of chicken-flavored deli loaf when eaten cold the next day! I notice this with mass-produced turkeys too.

When my grandmother would go to the grocery store, she would complain that the chicken was frozen although they said it was fresh. She said it didn't taste right. This was in the 80's and early 90's before the organic and free range chicken boom hit. I realized later what it was. She was used to her "free range" chickens that she would go out in the yard and catch. I'm sure after that, the supermarket just doesn't measure up.  :laugh:

Well, I'm inclined to agree with that insomuch as the first time I tasted an organic free range chicken, it was such a revelation. It tasted like how the chicken of my memories of childhood tasted (my mother used to get fresh killed ones from Chinatown). It really struck me then that much had been done to the mass production of chickens over the last two decades to let my tongue grow accustomed to their taste and texture.

Pat

"I... like... FOOD!" -Red Valkyrie, Gauntlet Legends-

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Well, I haven't ever really gone out of my way to buy a free range, hormone free chicken...i am usually lazy enough to settle for a supermarket bird. I have though, on two occasions, purchased a couple of free range chicken breasts. In size they were smaller and the first time i cooked them they were pretty bad. the texture was sort of stringy and dried out. I though maybe i had overcooked them or somehing so next time i tried the same brand of free range bird again....and again the texture was pretty horrid and the flavour was nothing too extraordinary. So, I think it is just the brand that i am getting and i am still hopeful that if i find a proper free range chicken it will taste better than any other chicken i have ever tried tried.

I hate the fact that some packaging can say that the chickens are free range and really they were only 'free range' for about 5 minutes a day. At least thats what i heard somewhere.

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Well, I haven't ever really gone out of my way to buy a free range, hormone free chicken...i am usually lazy enough to settle for a supermarket bird...

:smile: Me too-but fortunately, my neighborhood store sells organic free-range (Rosie), free range (Rocky) and "regular" (Foster Farms) chickens–and all of them come packaged in cut-up parts, so I can choose a package of all thighs or boneless, skiness chicken breasts from any of those producers.

Our markets are incredible out here; we are very fortunate.

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