![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/a-single-half-chicken-breast.jpg\" "\\"a-single-half-chicken-breast\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis was what I started out with, a chicken breast that looked like it had been hacked out of a brontosaurus.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
There are six generous sized portions for use on oversized hamburger buns (with sesame seeds of course) from a single breast!<\/em> I should have waited to take the photo until I turned the chicken so it would look more golden and appetizing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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..<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yeah, I know\u00a0 – 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.<\/p>\n OK, chicken boob rant over. And yes, I feel better.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A rant about size.<\/p>\n\n