A rant about size.
I’m the primary cook in my household and chicken is very often on the menu. White meat is preferred so that means chicken breasts (and turkey breasts, in fact there’s a turkey breast thawing in my fridge as I type this). Southern style fried chicken, chicken enchiladas and fried chicken sandwiches are favorites around here but I use chicken breasts in other recipes too. Or at least I used to.
Two nights ago I made fried chicken sandwiches for dinner.
This was what I started out with, a chicken breast that looked like it had been hacked out of a brontosaurus.
If you can imagine it’s a single half-breast that weighed 1.4 lbs. and its size was typical of the other breasts that were available at my local Smith’s supermarket. The dime is included for scale (it’s crazy how long I had to search for a dime since during the pandemic I no longer use cash).
This is what a single half-breast looked like in my huge 14″ frying pan that I use specifically for frying chicken breast for chicken sandwiches.
There are six generous sized portions for use on oversized hamburger buns (with sesame seeds of course) from a single breast! I should have waited to take the photo until I turned the chicken so it would look more golden and appetizing.
In 1955 the average chicken raised for market weighed 3.07 lbs. By 1975 it weighed 3.76 lbs. 1995 – 4.67 lbs. And by 2015 it weighed a monstrous 6.24 lbs – more than twice as much as it weighed when I first started eating chicken..
As a cook and as a chicken consumer I despise those huge breasts. A single breast is far too large for a single serving and many recipes don’t lend themselves to dividing a breast into multiple servings. Most recipes using whole boneless or bone-in breasts are written for breasts in the 4-6 oz range and stuffed boneless breasts like Chicken Kiev just don’t work because cutting those huge breasts before stuffing makes the filling leak out during cooking. One of my favorite chicken dishes is Chicken Cordon Bleu but I gave up making it years ago because I can’t find breasts in single serving size.
Another problem with huge chickens is related to quality. In their quest to produce monstrous chickens the industry has caused tough fibers to grow in the white meat that negatively affect both texture and taste, resulting in what the chicken industry calls “woody breast”. I really dislike picking those tough fibers out of my teeth and the rubbery chicken isn’t as tasty as it used to be.
To add to my aggravation I know that smaller chickens could be made available to the consumer in supermarket meat departments because they still use them in their deli departments. When you buy a chicken breast in the deli it sure as hell doesn’t weigh 1.4 lbs! And their rotisserie chickens are about the size chickens should be.
Several years ago I even made arrangements with both the supermarket manager and the deli manager to have them cut breasts out of their raw rotisserie chickens so I could get them decent-sized. The breasts were more expensive that way but I was more than willing to pay the difference. But for a variety of reasons that arrangement was too cumbersome over time for it to be practical so I gave up asking.
I’m surprised the American consumer has put up with this crap. But I guess I shouldn’t be, after all consumers accepted “cardboard tomatoes” when tomato growers produced tasteless tomatoes because they can be picked green so they hold up during shipping. Personally I refuse to pay for and eat those damn things. For me it’s a matter of both principle and taste.
Yeah, I know – this isn’t what you expected this morning from a bird photography blog. But todays post is about birds and I’ve included photos so I went with it anyway.
OK, chicken boob rant over. And yes, I feel better.
Ron
Notes:
- One of my first commenters on this post on Facebook said “You cannot buy anything anywhere near that size in the UK”. Perhaps it’s another uniquely American problem. We sure have more than our fair share of them.
- Buying free range or organic chickens can partially or even completely solve the problem but you have to rob the bank to pay for them.
Soon chickens will need nose wheels to get around…in my day, they could run without them…and even fly….if their wing feathers weren’t clipped…these Dolly Parton babes probably can’t get off the ground….
Soon chickens will need nose wheels to get around…in my day, they could run without them…and even fly….if their wing feathers weren’t clipped…these Dolly Parton babes probably can’t get off the ground….
that would cost twice as much here.I liked the price but ugh, the way you described the texture…I worked on a farm where the chickens were fed pure grain , without hormones. Free run and access to grass. They were tasty. Bigger is not better. You might be surprised if you do the water test on your eggs. Just this week I had some older eggs and did the water in the bowl testing. They fell to the bottom of the water-filled bowl, with the one end tipping upward. Still able to eat them.The most recently bought eggs floated to the top of the water. I threw them out. One thing though, your recipes sound intriguing.
I’ll have to look into that water test, Jane. Not sure I’m familiar with it.
you can google it. a way to test if eggs are still good , when they are fresh they sink and stay on the bottom and lie on their side.
Well done, Ron! I was certain I was going to see Greater Prairie Chickens fighting on the lek. (I would have settled for Sharp-tailed Grouse instead!)
Another informative post about a bird, as we’ve come to expect.
Thanks again-
Diane
Thank you, Diane.
That fry pan caught my eye and I know there’s a going to be a hot chicken sandwich coming to me soon.
Woody breast indeed, more like woody thinking, or as Hank sang- … Kaw Liga that poor old …
Dang, I haven’t thought of that song for at least 50 years but it sure came back quickly to my head. In fact I had to go listen to Hank sing it just for old times sake.
Your soapbox is getting pretty crowded isn’t it? How wonderful to find so many kindred souls. World wide.
Mind you I do like tofu – despite my partner referring to it as bean turd.
“Mind you I do like tofu – despite my partner referring to it as bean turd.”
I chuckled over that one for a good while, EC. I think I’d like your partner.
Back in the 90’s my father said pork doesn’t taste like pork and beef doesn’t taste like beef. It was completely different when he was a kid where all you needed was a bit of salt and spice to bring out the meat’s flavor. Or he was just getting old, he’d like to tack on. Now that I’m older and have grown out of a childish palette, I’m inclined to agree with him. Or I’m just getting old. haha
The bigger the better or so many consumers would like to think – and is a mentality I hope will change.
Take apples for instance. Despite their abnormally huge size, it feels like you’re eating crisp, watery fiber with barely a trace of apple in taste or scent. I’ll take a smaller apple that actually tastes and smells like an apple any old day.
Yup, we’ve bred the quality right out of so many things we produce, Amy. It’s crazy.
Same with blueberries…big is big, small js tasty…..er. Wild is delicious…if you can find them before thecritters do.
My biggest beef with Dolly Parton chickens is what those huge boobles do to the chickens, themselves. Imagine growing that top-heavy as fast as factory chickens “mature” these days; their poor little legs can’t handle it. It’s one of the reasons we don’t buy raw Franken-chicken from the supermarket very often. I’m “Team Slow-Twitch,” but even the thighs and legs aren’t as good as they used to be. The one place I can usually find “normal” sized chicken-tittens is in the frozen foods section — those bags of boobs usually have 6-8 ouncers.
Trader Joes tends to have a decent price on organic chicken. I’ve also found that Kosher chickens are more like the chickens of yesteryear and often aren’t quite as expensive as free range/organic. Plus, they’re salted, so the meat is juicy and flavorful. I doubt if many (any?) stores in SLC sell Kosher meat or if there’s a Kosher butcher in town, but they can be had online and shipped frozen in dry ice.
BTW, I can tell you’re a fried chicken pro — check out those cracker crumbs — Saltines or Ritz? Please tell me you also do chicken fried steak that way. And 14 inches? I’m having “pan envy!” 😉
Saltines, Marty. I’ve tried Ritz, and Panko and a variety of other coatings but I prefer the saltines – just make sure to crush them coarse.
Well this post was out of left field and I love it❗️The only time I eat chicken breasts is in a restaurant. Theirs is delicious and mines not… knowing they get the “special ones” and the store bought are just not worth it. Boneless thighs are now my go to.
Who would have thought to be talking about chicken breast today😁
You never know what Ron’s come up with😆❗️
“You never know what Ron’s come up with”
I like to be a little unpredictable at times, Diana. 🙂
Took some searching but we found a source for chickens a few years ago that are like the ones we used to get several decades ago. Local farm. Small chickens, taste great.
Thinking of all the disappointed perverts brought here today by your title.
Birding – nothing like it!
“Thinking of all the disappointed perverts brought here today by your title.”
Disappointing perverts is a good thing, seems to me, Wally. 🙂
Yep!
Next mission: convert some to bird photographers!
I started buying the organic breasts a while ago. I too felt the chicken was becoming tough and most of it we would waste because it was too hard to eat or did not taste good. I have liked the organic so far, and yes it is more expensive.
A lot more expensive as I remember. Haven’t bought it for a while.
And that, dear Consumer, is American capitalism at work. We don’t stop to think about capitalism’s end game, but it’s really not a pretty idea!! If there’s a profit to be made, there won’t be a blade of grass left on the planet!!
I think many people view those enormous breasts as a better value somehow, but I shudder to think what they do to those chickens to achieve that size. Like others, I’ve switched to chicken thighs, but even those can get hideously big. I guess the fix is to rise our own chickens, grow our own tomatoes, etc. OR, we as consumers could collectively refuse to buy that crappy product. For the moment at least, it looks like the idiots among us are ruling the market. Personally, I refuse to participate!
Move over EC…I’m climbing up on that soapbox with you guys! 🙂
Laura, I think part of the reason consumers accept this poor excuse for chicken is that a huge percentage of the population is now too young to know what “real chicken” tastes like.
And the chicken producers are counting on exactly that.
A few bones to pick (never mind these are boneless breasts)
No eye catch in any of the photos.
Subject has been bated (Ok, breaded), obviously set up (in a Teflon pan, no less), and called in (technically by the butcher but your complicity Is there wrapped in plastic and styrofoam).
There’s the feather issue, you know, like in FEATHERED Photography.
Hand trimmed. Really? Would it be a deal-breaker if it said “mechanically trimmed”?
All these problems go away if you switch to tofu. You had to know I was going there.
Love the spoon holder.
Thanks for the guffaws, Lyle.
Don’t hold your breath on the tofu though. I’ll take rubbery, woody chicken breasts instead. Or Spam. Or whatever…
You know that you can make tofu taste just like chicken, right? 😉
https://youtu.be/LwDYQxdc5_Q
Chris, rattlesnake “tastes like chicken” and you don’t have to do anything to make it taste that way… 🙂
😂 Always enjoy your repartee, Lyle!
Too funny! The poor taste of the breasts, dryness, toughness, etc. is the reason I only use thighs now. I know they are not as healthy for one but over-all I can adjust other things in my diet as I rarely eat red meat anymore…must be an age thing or perhaps my vegetarian daughter-in-law has rubbed off on me as I find myself searching out recipes for meatless meals. The size thing has always been an issue with me in grocery stores from downsizing boxes to the ‘more convenient size’ or changing 5# of sugar to 4# bags…I could go on and on but I will leave it at that! Good post!
Some of the same things aggravate me, Kathy. Food and commodity producers are sneaky – constantly changing their product to smaller sizes and hoping the consumer won’t notice. Hell they’ve even done it with toilet paper. And many packages of bacon that used to be a full pound are now only 12 oz (Bar S brand for example).
I hate sneaks. Always have.
What about local farmers for chickens? I know what you mean about size. My husband and I can split a breast and not eat it all. Portion control…the hormone craze is a part of the problem. Ugh! And your title made me go a double-take in my email. Lol I had to make sure it was you and not spam.
Yup, it’s me, Arwen. I figured that title might make some folks wonder. But it’s accurate…
I turned to your blog immediately after reading this article.
It breaks my heart.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/world/species-loss-evolution-climate-scn-intl-scli/index.html
There’s no denying it, Nancy. Humans are a curse on the earth’s diversity and on the earth itself.
Sadly the humungous breasts appear here too. And when one chicken breast can make three and four meals there is something very wrong.
As you know I am a vegetarian. Decades ago I discovered that eating meat gave me migraines. Horrendous migraines which escalated until I puked. I was always either in a migraine or in recovery mode. I doubt very much that it was the meat. It is what we do to it (and organic meat wasn’t available at the time).
And I agree with you about the obscenity which is sold as tomato too.
It there room on your soap box for me too?
Hiss and spit.
“when one chicken breast can make three and four meals there is something very wrong.”
Or five or six meals. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
There’s ALWAYS room on my soapbox for you, EC.
Thank you. I suspect it may need to be a BIG soapbox. A humungous chicken breast sized soap box.
Well, you got my attention with the title! I was expecting a bird that puffs up and squalls. I love chicken but don’t eat the breast meat any longer, it’s gotten dry and seems to include cardboard fibers. Boneless thighs, which I used to turn up my nose at, are tender and juicy and make a fabulous fajita. My husband is the chef in the house, and he buys organic chicken. He still likes breast (pun impossible to avoid), but he makes what Emeril calls paillards (sp?). You slice them and pound them and marinate them in lemon juice and so on. And cook quickly on the stove top. Yum. Your fried chicken looks delicious. Haven’t had any since I left the South, about a century ago. Not even fried chicken can make Southern life palatable to me.
“Not even fried chicken can make Southern life palatable to me.”
I get that, Sallie.
Those “cardboard fibers” you mention are what the chicken industry calls “woody breast”.
I sympathize, even though I’m not much of a chicken breast fan. I have noticed that the organic ones tend to look more like the size I grew up with.
Agreed, Robyn. Organic tastes much better after you’ve robbed the bank to pay for it.
I was already laughing reading the headline and was wondering what we were going to see. I was picturing some wild bird that has a huge puffed-out breast. Definitely was surprised to see chicken breasts frying in the pan. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis and no longer eats chicken, but if she did it would have to be free range. She lives on a very strict anti-inflamatory diet that does not include chicken etc. I am betting though that you grew up on free range chicken and eggs and grass feed cows and beef.
Heading out shortly, but will read the eagle update when I get back.
“I was already laughing reading the headline and was wondering what we were going to see’
Good, that was exactly my intention, Everett. I wanted this post to be both serious and a little…titillating..
This headline is GOLDEN!!!
Thanks, Heidi. I carefully considered both my title and introduction and how they played together… 🙂
It IS ridiculous particularly if you aren’t feeding an army. Also sad what they’ve bred the chickens into to get those huge breasts – can’t hardly walk let alone roost and gets worse all the time…….. 🙁
I agree, Judy.
I am so glad you had a picture to go along with the title! VBG!!
Dick, you can probably imagine some of the photos and even memes I considered using but in the end I decided to remain an adult about it. I was sure as hell tempted though… 🙂
Oh, what the heck, this is coronavirus time, your allowed to be childish again! We are, I was going to say all, but most of us are cooped up with minimal travel and social distancing, we all need a physcological sense of humor!!
Sorry, my bad, some of my spelling is awful.