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As someone who has pasture raised, organically fed and medicated the very same birds the industry uses-Cornish Cross, if you don't harvest them by around 8 weeks, they will start growing their adult feathers which makes it harder to pluck but the biggest reason you want to harvest them by around 8 weeks is because they literally can get too fat to walk, have a heart attack, or heatstroke. They will literally eat all the freaking time. Also, sorry to share this with folks who are delicate, but they LOVE meat. They are the most dinosaur of birds, lol.
The home raised roaster chicken can easily weigh as grocery store purchased, so don't assume that those chickens are loaded full of growth hormones. If there's a weight difference, it's usually just water content. Good fried chicken requires a brine for me. Either 12-24 hrs in buttermilk or about 6 hrs in pickle juice, like Chick fil a.
Can't you just put the cheap chicken to dry out in the fridge for a few hours or overnight? That would make the crust adhere to the chicken. Also, this is just fried chicken. What about pan-seared, or grilled? The preparation should make a difference. No?
I love that this is a comparison between cheap and expensive foods that is between the actual reasonable extremes that most people, at least in the US, encounter shopping. I'm so tired of the comparison videos all over youtube that are like "how does this $1 food compare to this $500 food" lol
For anybody on a budget who doesn’t want to sacrifice flavor/texture, if you purchase the $3/lb chicken, slice it thin, and salt brine it overnight, you break down some of the larger muscle fibers and lose a lot of that excess water. It’s not a perfect solve, but it’s a workaround that greatly improves some of the drawbacks of the cheaper chicken. Hope this helps somebody!
actually at that point, it would be interesting to weight the chicken after purge of the excess water, and get the new cost / lbs + salt and energy required to do that. who knows, maybe we get so close to the $9 chicken breast, might as well buy it instead lol (doubt it, but it could be interesting)
i was thinking 'dry brine' during the video, since most of the stuff i good in on the grill i do dry brine quite a bit already. if i can think of it next time, i'll take before and after measures.
Just wanted to say, I walked past you at a local grocery store a few weeks back, but you looked very focused so I thought I'd leave you alone and come here to say how much I enjoy your channel!
I have found the best way to evaluate spices is to go to a good organic, bulk food section. It’s usually way cheaper than prepackaged, and also fresher. Plus you can A) choose to only buy small amounts to try things, and B) affordably throw away and replace spices that are past the six-month or whatever window of optimal flavor. Never settle for crappy dried out spices again! You will want to buy a set of one or two dozen spice shakers. Makes life easy. This is so inexpensive to do, it pretty much answers your questions. Fresh ground is generally better, but even preground fresh from the bulk store is 100%. Yes, I know sometimes Ethan uses fresh cumin seed, etc. for specific things. And you can’t beat having a good pepper grinder with fresh organic black pepper corns. Frontier brand makes a lot of spices I like.
Interesting comparison. I'm glad this study was done. I think that the majority of the people who are buying the pasture raised chicken are doing so because they want the chicken to be better treated. At least you also get better texture as well.
for some of us who are still eating meat, the welfare of how the animal is treated is still an important part of knowing where our food comes from. chicken is the only meat I eat, so I like to know.
Good job Ethan. You cited research, used informative elements, and had a practical application for viewers. Thank you for making this, and I can tell you put a lot of work into this.
Would be interesting to look at dark meat - in past videos you've mentioned how much of the flavor / aroma of meat comes from the fat and since the breast is so lean it would make sense that there's not a significant difference in flavor there. But maybe in the fattier pieces it will be a more pronounced difference.
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Dark chicken meat is the best anyway, yes, compare those 🙂
agree with the above commenters, I am all about the dark meat use it. Every chance I get as opposed to the white meat would love to see a look at this as well.
When looking at pasture raised, you are not only supporting quality chicken husbandry but also sustainable farming practices. Rotating the field space is a very important part of this practice. It creates healthier pastures for farming animals and plants. A true ecosystem if you will.
unfortunately there are not nearly enough regenerative farmers out there as this is truly the only sustainable way to maintain a layer of topsoil that can be used for cultivation
“Pasture raised” can also be misleading phrase honestly, just like alot of “organic” or “all natural” products. While I completely agree with your statements I would urge people to seek *certified humane* pasture raised chicken to ensure you are not becoming the victim of some companies shady marketing practice.
@@brewtalitykthere actually are alot of small independent farms capable of creating a sustainable and humane ecosystem. The problem is seed contracts. Say a farmer is growing tomatoes or something, well corpos will come and offer that farmer a large payday in exchange for ensuring they only use said corpos seeds. I think it would be wise for the US government to step in and subsidize farms under a certain size and number of workers, while also legislating away the ability of seed and crop monopolies from corporations.
That certainly is an optimistic view of pasture raised. I am not sure I can trust something as potentially divergent as just the statement pasture raised.
Excellent video! I think it is worth adding that the 'larger' breast is also more 'fibrous' because of how it was raised. Because it grows so quickly and is not allowed to freely roam about, its muscles aren't allowed to tighten. Thus, you get the more fibrous and separated structure. We used to raise chickens, and they definitely had a 'taste' when compared to store bought chickens. I loved this comparison! Thank you for sharing.
I get the more expensive chicken first and foremost cuz I want my meat to have been raised RESPONSIBLY. I want to know that chicken wasn't mistreated. When people say more expensive chicken tastes better, it's a placebo that the chicken's "happiness" is in the quality of the meat. You can make an even better comparison with cheap as hell pork vs wild pig.
@@nahor88 There's also the large health benefits you get over farm raised chicken. Chickens, unlike ruminants, do not possess multiple stomachs and cannot process the food to the extent that it alleviates poor feed. The composition of the cells of the chicken will reflect the feed it has to an extent, and if the feed comes from corn, seed oils, grains, etc., you can be sure that you are either getting that into your system or suffering the consequences of that.
I really like the technique from Kenji. He lets water chilled chicken rest uncovered in the fridge with baking soda and salt to draw the moisture out. This should fix the issue with the crust not adhering.
This. PROTIP: Go early right when H-E-B opens, and you can score some decent discounts on meat and produce. I got the spicy guacamole for $2.48 thanks to the yellow coupon and the 50% off.
Ill save my main thoughts til i finish the video but i wanted to say this while its fresh in my mind -- im really impressed by the choice of clips used for this video. Managing to show the colder mechanized/automated side of where our food comes from without showing anything inherently gory or hard to watch is a really impressive line to walk and i guarentee whoever collected the footage came across a lot that was hard to look at. Just wanted to give kudos for that
My editor Spencer found all of the extra footage for us! Agreed, he did a great job collecting those clips. I think it’s important to understand how these food systems really work.
My biggest purchase criteria is the humane certification. I’m glad to have this additional info. In the US, we’re not really given the option of purchasing fryer versus stewing chickens, which corresponds to length of time being raised. I understand the stewing chickens, are readily available in other countries. The older birds supposedly have much more flavor. Not quite as tender, so best stewed. I’d be interested to know if the flavor really is superior on the older chickens.
There are stewing hens all over the USA, but most western grocery stores don’t carry them. If you check Asian markets, you’ll almost always find them, along with roosters, heirloom breeds and the like. Stewing hens make the best chicken pot pie you’ll ever have.
You are right. My family raised chickens commercially when I was a kid. They still do but for their own consumption. Older hens will give you a more flavorful stew or soup. You may even need a pressure cooker.
I'm gonna need you to spin this into a series because I ALWAYS go for the fancy farmer's market chicken when it comes to making stocks that're the star of a dish, I literally watched this over a bowl of matzo ball soup my mom made for the holidays from a bird we picked out. I think that's where you can taste the biggest difference in flavor, since you're basically making chicken tea out of every component of the parts you use, right down to the cartilage and bones. even with those chickens there can be a huge difference in the savoriness and fat content between birds, and it's difficult to tell if that's down to species or season, age or something else.
I met this farmer who also would go, and buy meat, or produce from the grocery store when there was a good price. Then sell it as his own at a giant mark up. People gave him compliments like, 'so much better than the store. Worth the cost." I thought that hilarious. That can show how strong placebo can be, and why marketing is so important. Hell I just saw a short clip two days ago of a guy doing that with pies. Was selling it like 3 times what he got it for as, "Artisanal". Hah. With that said I don't doubt you. What live stock eats or doesn't eat can impart tastes, and textures. Nutritional value too, like how grass fed cattle have more of Omega 3 fatty acids. Which I guess people are saying is good, because you should have a ratio of 3:1 omega 6 versus 3. We get too much Omega 6 now from vegetable, and seed oils.
@@dianapennepacker6854 that guy is unethical. I actually don’t think it’s hilarious, but I also wonder how the chicken would pass when there’s a huge size and texture difference between commercial grocery store chicken breasts and small growers. If he is supplementing that way, I doubt it’s with breasts.
Would have loved to see a "middle ground" chicken. For now this is only a comparison between air chilled and water chilled chicken. Would be cool to compare the cheapest non organic air chilled with the most expensive air chilled to find out if pasture/ eating a lot of grass does something.
I’d argue most grocery retailers just have the two options: organic and non-organic, so this middle option wouldn’t represent a common shopping choice. Also, based on this test it’s pretty safe to assume water being absorbed is the main culprit for the negative points here.
From what I gathered, the water accounted for the shrinking and all that, the way it was raised accounted for the difference in texture (the difference in meat fiber size)
im not sure about the texture part. Im thinking the water is also a reason for the texture difference because when the fried chicken lost water he couldn't tell as much of a difference in the texture vs the sous vide wich retained the amount of water.( the extra water probably expands the fibers which results in a less tender texture)@@PatrikTheDev
I shop at the same grocery chain this guy got his chicken from, I know for a fact the cheap 3$ water-logged chicken is also frozen before being placed on shelf. Idk if 9$ chicken was also frozen cuz I don't buy it, but the water content freezing inside the chicken probably exacerbates the texture difference as well
I feel like the missing "middle ground" chicken in this instance would be to take of the water chilled breast and tenderize it. Tenderizing would help break down the meat fiber and release a lot of the excess water. Unfortunately, it seem that happen often with ethan's test. A well thought out, well prepared test but it's missing just a little bit to make it a really great comparison. That and coming to the conclusion that the more expensive chicken is better even though he couldn't tell them apart when cooked is puzzling.
Just wanted to mention as someone who strictly bakes chicken, I made the switch to the air chill brand mentioned in the video this year and never turned back. The air chilled chicken breasts at like 400ish for 30 or so minutes never are spongy yet never dry either. It is a night and day difference and worth the price. Although, I do feel the air chilled will spoil faster in the fridge. Thank you.
Why do you feel it'll spoil faster? It seems counter intutive for me because bacteria love moisture enviroments, so more moisture more bacteria and faster spoiling. Also surface area is important to consider in some cases, maybe not in this case if we are talking about an untouched chicken breast. I myself haven't tried this experiment because here there's like 2 brands of whole chicken and the already butchered parts are unbranded, and that's because you can only buy them through a butcher. Also no chicken had never spoiled in my freezer. And of course that's another main factor, temperature! the colder the slower it will spoil obviously. My wild guess is that inside a freezer there will be no difference, raw chiken on the fridge maybe the cheaper one will spoil first (with a day of difference), and cooked chicken again no difference. But idk I'm no expert, I'm just a cooking science enthusiast with mostly theoric knowledge. I would be interested to know what you think about what I said :) and sorry for my bad england
@@Adamcito. Well I don’t freeze my food because it lowers quality so I’m talking for the lasting days in fridge. In my experience even before best by date the chicken will quickly go bad
@@trevorcalvert1163 Very interesting, I now think it has more to do with that the bath the water chilled chikens go through having bleach in it, as someone said in another comment, so maybe those are actually cleaner than the air chilled ones
I can agree to this test. For years we would grill the cheap chicken breasts but just the past year we switched to the pasture raised chicken for health reasons but immediately noticed how much more tender it was.
@@jeremyrebel8931 so here the truth behind that. Pasture raised, free range chicken eggs do contain more omega 3s, but only a little bit more than conventional eggs. The nutritional difference is minimal when comparing the 2. The difference is in the amount of toxins within the eggs and over a long period of time the build up of those toxins inside your body.
Wouldve loved it if you sent samples to labs to compare nutritional content and maybe even heavy metal content etc. Very nice to have what Ive always thought be put into a video. Thank you, awesome video.
In the UK, when I was younger, say 15 years ago, cheaper supermarket breasts used to be very wet. A frying pan of it would stew as much as fry. These days, that seems to be much less of a problem. I wonder if regulation orsimple competition has changed things. Or maybe it's just me and nothing has changed at all.
As another UK resident, I find with current supermarket chicken breast when frying before adding sauce (eg curry in a jar) that it starts leaking liquid and hence doesn't brown readily (because water steaming off means temp is only 100C). I may be overloading the pan even with largest burner on full. Suppose I should try more expensive chicken and see if same occurs.
@@gleggett3817the chicken is generally quite wet but i think you may be over loading the pan. If the chicken starts dumping all its water your pan has gotten too cold.
@@gleggett3817 tenderizing by pounding removes water. Heavy salt the surface and let it sit for a few hrs then rinse off the salt and pat it dry. It will fry having the same density and moisture content as the 9 dollar breast. After you rinse the salt you can marinate it in cream for more tenderness too. Marinate in lemon to get it very tender ( problem is that it partially makes it digested because of acid so it may be too soft) . There are dozens of tricks you can use to change chicken density and tenderness.
You're right. I'd much rather stay in a line at my Local Government Bread Line™ in the middle of winter praying that the shortages have subsided a bit and I can get some bread this week. Now that's what I'm talking about.
I don't know if "expensive" matters (some of it could be just marketing, I don't trust that expensive=better), but there's definitely a taste difference between the chickens my grandma raised vs supermarket chicken. The taste is not even remotely similar, in fact. Probably different breed as she was mainly raising them for the eggs. Anyway, awesome video, Ethan!
I agree. It is very seldom that home grown isn't better. Growing up, we had fresh citrus, avocados, chickens, and eggs. It's been decades, and I can barely drink store bought orange juice.
I think a lot of it comes down to what the animals are fed. For instance in the Midwest, deer eat a lot of corn that was lost the the field during harvesting. As a result, the meat from the deer is less “gamey” than deer that’s not fed corn.
I was actually wondering why in the last year my love of chicken has diminished. I always have this weird undercooked texture no matter how I cook it. The rubbery/fiberous texture is probably what you are describing that I feel.
Gotta brine it bayyyybbeeeeeee!!!! But seriously, it makes a huge difference to have your chicken sit in a salt water brine overnight. If I ate gamey meats I'd do the same thing to it.
You may be experiencing Woody Chicken - Something new and seemingly becoming a larger problem. There is no way to resolve it from a manufacturing standpoint, seems to be some defect. It makes the texture terrible.
@@aurorajones908 Dry brining is far better for something like lamb, tbh lamb and other gamey meats brining isn't the real killer, it's more just cooking it super low and slow so it's super tender and the flavour comes and hits well.
I know I’m a bit late here but I’ve worked in food processing for over eight years, much of which was spent in chicken/meat country so I have an interesting perspective here. The first thing I’ll add is that nearly all of the “mega” breast are marinated right before packaging to ship. It’s a salty brine that varies in sodium content depending on the customer that’s pumped into the chicken with needles and if you look closely at the breast, you can usually see the holes. Secondly, most of the chicken of either kind is done at the same plants, just on different days. I’m able to tell what plant a product comes from by looking at the date code for the most part and plants are usually split up by either processed (molded or formed products) or sectioned (whole birds down to packs of tenders-yes they’re actually a muscle behind the breast) but some plants do a little of everything. If you’re looking for a “clean” product from a processing perspective, big names are the way to go. Tyson for example accounts for about 70-80% of all the chicken we consume, even if it doesn’t have Tyson on the label. They make money with or without the name since they sell it to other brands and restaurants. Also, you’ll here horror stories from people that have worked at any meat processing plant and from someone who has been to all different types from big label to mom and pop, big label is nearly ALWAYS cleaner. Small business plants (again, for the most part) are usually more run down and take more shortcuts because they don’t have the budgets of larger companies and these plants are expensive to run. Even larger brands like Pilgrims Pride or Perdue pale in comparison to Tyson and I’d rather work in any Tyson before either one of them. No, I don’t work for Tyson, I work with food contamination like metal or glass and dynamic scales that weigh the products. Also, just a quick aside-don’t be discouraged by companies that have frequent recalls. It just means that their quality department is doing their job. For things like salmonella the bacteria test comes back more positive than they would like after the food is sent out so they usually recall due to the risk, not from people reporting it. With contaminate like metal, they have practices in place to prevent it from leaving but if it does get by, they will to the recall after it’s reported.
This was actually way more interesting than I thought and I honestly didn't expect these results. I think it would be great for you to continue this series with even more types of meat.
Something to keep in mind with the cheaper high moisture chicken is that you can salt it and let it sit. It will expel some water, and the salt will go into the meat acting like a brine. If done for an extended period of time, and then dried on paper towel, you can get a lot of that excess moisture out of the chicken. This is also why sometimes chicken from the local butcher is better, because it's been sitting in that case all day on the tray, open to the refrigerator which dries it out a bit.
an observation i’ve made cooking locally raised vs supermarket chicken is how much tougher it is to fry the physically larger pieces from a superchicken. i’m sure i could use better technique but i had a tough time getting good browning and cooking the giant pieces all the way through
I get 2.3kg/5lb chickens here in Tokyo and cut the breasts into 2 thinner pieces before pan-frying or deep-frying, maybe even pounding them to be a bit thinner. I then deep fry these thinner cutlets for a shorter amount of time. Then I let them cook internally in their own heat while I cook the dark meat. Result is that the center is cooked while the outer meat isn't overcooked. Bigger chicken thighs aren't a worry of mine as dark meat is fine as it doesn't get horrible with a minute or two extra cooking. Also, lower temp keeps the breading from getting too browned before the inner meat is cooked, I think.
Similar to what lqr mentioned, one reason Korean chicken is so tender is that they fry it twice for much shorter periods and let the inside cook further while the outside has set shape-wise but is not fully brown/crispy yet… it is how you can keep enough chicken in each piece (instead of feeling like you are mostly eating breading-unless you really love the breading in which case popcorn chicken-small bite sized pieces-would work for you) while not overcooking the outside.
Use a twice-fried or triple-fried method like is used for Korean or Japanese fried chicken. It has 2-3 rounds of resting where the heat has a good long time to make it's way to the interior, and you're less likely to overcook the outside, which will also come out crunchier at the end without over-browning. Another thing you can do is cut slits in the large pieces to help the heat penetrate.
I love your channel. I first found you a couple months ago when your garlic comparison video popped up in my suggestions. I've watched most of these videos now and every video I learn something that has improved my food. For example the garlic video was awesome, I always used the garlic paste to substitute garlic thinking it was working but once I switched back to real garlic i noticed how much better it is and with your tip on keeping garlic in the pantry away from light my garlic lasts so much longer than when I just kept it on my counter. With this video I have made fried chicken 2 or 3 times now and every time my breaking separates from the chicken and I couldnt find anything that helped but seeing your results i am gonna try getting a higher quality chicken . Your videos are awesome please keep them coming!
One thing you should try is air drying the cheaper breast covered with salt in the fridge. Pulls out some of the water, then proceed as usual. I've found it helps a lot with fried chicken. I usually do a buttermilk bath after the fridge drying.
I own a poultry farm and processing plant that my grandfather started. We have been operating for 27 years. The video misses a few premises. We water chill our chicken and we use modern broiler birds. We have none of the problems he describes and our chicken is not cheap and we are world famous actually. The difference is the cheaper chicken lets the birds get much larger, older, and the breast gets tougher and more stringy, The market has a term for this called " woody breast" and the water bath is not really the problem. The cheaper chicken is actually injected with water and other item. I have seen cheap cases of chicken that have ingredient lists. If you bring a broiler bird to market earlier when it has a smaller breast you get the same advantages he is describing. It is age and the injection of water, not water baths and heritage breeds that make the difference. The quality of the water fed to the chickens since muscle is mostly water and the quality of the water in the baths is also important. Most cheap chicken is bathed in bleach water and then acids to neutralize the bleach.
Great video! A quick suggestion: I think if you ever revisit chicken and want to compare the merits of different qualities of chicken, I think a dish like Hainanese Chicken would perfectly suit it. It's a dish that really allows the tastes and textures of chicken to be at the forefront without hiding it in spices or cooking methods. You can definitely tell a massive difference between a good or bad chicken with that dish.
I would love a follow up video to this specifically focusing on the nutritional value of those heirloom or pasture raised chickens. I think when you take that into account too it more than closes the gap for many people when comparing the two options.
Dang this was a super educational video... Feel like I learned a ton about food, where it comes from, labels, and technicalities of cooking. Very amazing format going into the intricate details... Super informative, keep up the good work!
Air chilled, like Bell and Evans has so much less water expelled during cooking that it actually costs less than many chickens. Also the way it roasts is much better as your chicking isn't steaming in a pool of its own water.
I would love to see a comparison on tasting the difference between ground spices (like cinnamon, cumin, etc.) - are expensive spice brands better than generic? What about store-bought spices that are a year-old, are they better than fresh? And what about freshly ground at home vs. store bought pre-ground?
If you buy in-expensive whole spices and heat them up and/or crush them (depending on which ones) yourself just before cooking, they will taste much much better than an expensive pre-ground spice mix.
My main takeaway is that there are a lot of variables to consider here, but i think the main one that will actually effect the quality of your dish is the fact that it was air chilled. I think the breed will obviously change it, but in a way thats less objectively good or bad. I also wonder if there are techniques that could draw out more water to solve some of the issues with water chilling (overnight dry brine comes to mind) Other than that, i think the main value is in knowing your food was treated more humanely and i think thats definitely a valid thing to spend more money on if its important to you and you can afford it. Its not secret that theres some dark shit happening with the three dollar breast My biggest issue is the damn non gmo sticker. I refuse to pay extra to support an anti-science group who will use that money to lobby AGAINST things that combat global food shortages and nutrient deficiencies (golden rice, for example)
Agreed on most points. The anti-GMO BS is saddening. Something else to consider is that the slow-grow birds mean that more land is devoted to growing meat. Do we want a 1-acre forest and 9-acre slow-grow pasture chickens, or a 7-acre forest with 3-acre fast-grow birds?
@@firelow sort of! (US persoective) The FDA is only just now considering allowing livestock to enter the market after recombinant gene therapy (your typical "mess with the genes in a laboratory" style gmo), so the non gmo sticker on meat products USUALLY isnt referring to the animal, but to its feed. But what a lot of ppl who say gmos are evil dont seem to address is that even somrthing like selective breeding for positive traits is a form of genetic modification. As my plant biology professor in college told us - "If your mom found Dad attractive when they first met, then YOU are a genetically modified organism"
@@wulfywulfynrir1296 humans are creatures from nature therefore everything we make is natural therefore GMOs are natural thanks for coming to my ted talk
I came to the comments to say pretty much the same thing ... the takeaway from the video is that only air chilling made a difference. A well-treated chicken is a thing to strive for, but there are a lot of people who have to decide between well-raised chickens and feeding their children. Factory food is not the best food, but it's far better than malnutrition or starvation. For the same reason, I'm not against all GMO practices. I do not like mono-culture, and the way we currently handle it, GMO=mono-culture, but it doesn't have to be that way. Saying all that, I personally am going to look for air chilled chicken that were able to act like chickens for their short life. I can afford to buy these, I don't need to settle for cheap chicken calories.
I hope you do a deep dive into whether the expensive chicken is healthier than the less expensive. What does that mean? Do GMOs have any impact on us? What are the differences in nutrition, are they meaningful? etc
My aunt works at a chicken factory here in Bulgaria, and they sell an organic yellow chicken that is fed only with grain and let me tell you once you taste it, the "normal" chicken meat just has 0 taste, with fired chicken the breading masks the taste a little bit, but with baking there is a world of difference between the two.
Maybe it’s like grain-finished beef, which many people prefer, but is being fed a diet bad for its health. Of course it’s being slaughtered soon… Chickens are omnivores and they seem to like catching and eating prey. Feeding a chicken nothing but grain might result in chicken meat that many people prefer, but it’s arguably cruel.
I’ve actually done a broth test between the cheap stuff vs the smart chicken brand air chilled chicken. The results were very telling. The smart chicken broth was gold and much more vibrant tasting. The cheap stuff was a muddy light brown color and not bad but very flat.
That's probably because broth taste depends heavily on chicken fats and bones/cartilages, and this taste probably differ a lot between factory-fed and organic (same as salmon/steak, I assume). Chicken breasts are as bland and basic as it gets, so difference there is minimal. I think you're right but the video has also correct verdict
@@ItBurnsWhenIP_ I think he is actually making his own chicken broth with the whole chicken, not buying the powder. I make chicken broth whenever I am sick for more then 2 days, and I always use a whole pasture-raised chicken.
Thank you for your efforts, Ethan! As I dst here eating a leftover restaurant chicken enchilada for lunch, it occurres to me that the cheap stringy breast might make much better pulled chicken than the expensive one. Likewise extra water wont really matter in soups, stews, or casseroles. Like you said, it depends on how you want to cook it.
I love that you did this! The only thing I wish you had added was a Cornish cross that was raised naturally on a natural diet like the small chicken breast. I raise my own meat chickens on my farm and I raised the fast growing breed (which is referred to as a jumbo Cornish cross). I was shocked at the flavor difference between what I raised and what you can buy at the store. We do use a water bath because we like to brine the chicken before we freeze them but the flavor is fantastic. I think that those fast growing birds get a bad rap because most people don't try them when they're raised properly.
As a former butcher, I will say that ABF Chicken is definitely worth the extra money. Most people don't realize that chickens are carnivorous, they're little T-Rexes. The only reason to give chickens antibiotics is when they are raised in cages. Chickens raised in cages quite frequently die from disease and the other chickens in the cage will eat the dead chicken thus spreading the disease. Which is why cage free, ABF (antibiotic free) chicken costs more. Also, if you've ever cut into a piece of chicken and found a hard or tough spot, that's most likely Cancer or some type of tumor. You don't want to eat that. It doesn't need to be organic though.
I appreciate this video. I’ve tried both and so many in between. Overall it’s chicken breast. Minor differences but for so much more I’m sticking with low or mid priced chicken breast. If I had an endless budget I’d buy the premium one, but for a middle class or lower class person go with what you can afford. It’s still good
we raise a few chicken where i'm from, and they're the slow growing kinds of chickens. I can definitely tell from experience, the ones we raised has a lot more flavor to them especially in a soup base dish (tinolang manok). store bought ones has less flavor and the texture of the meat is less "meaty" while the ones we raised are otherwise. I think the cook time also takes a part why the soup has much more flavor. The meat of the chickens we raised is usually much tougher (it is more "meaty") hence it needs much longer cook time, but that also makes the broth more umami. While if you try to cook the store-bought ones for a long time, the meat would just disintegrate.
While I do agree with this, the chicken breast is usually just bland no matter the chicken. Chicken thigh, and chicken bones, from chickens that are raised outside have WAY more complex flavors and aromas. I cook a lot with store chicken here in the States, and i remember going to Mexico and buying a chicken from a local ranch, the flavor was so much more complex and intense that I felt that the food I made didn't taste good/were off balance because I was used to seasoning bland supermarket chicken! I got better the more I cooked those kinds of chickens, but the breast was always easier to season since it was similarly bland
we call it ''arabic chicken'' here ( entirely organic chicken raised on kitchen left overs and free ranging ) the meat feels like that of entire different animal , even though it's literally the same factory farm chicken but raised free range . However unlike the stuff sold in super market , it's entire 100 % free range and not 51 % quota to hit , like the stuff they are trying there
I usually buy the cheap, then salt it and let it sit in fridge for hours uncovered in a drip pan. The sear you get on that dried out breast is amazing…but this method works on all kinds of chicken. Amazing video.
I wish you had gone over what do they actually feed the chickens with and nutritional differences between both like you did with eggs. They are definitely loading the cheap chicken with steroids
Most of the times there are federal regulations that prevent use of steroids. "fortunately" for the industry, chicken is very suitable to put a lot of fluid in, which is done a lot in cheap halal chicken in Europe. Also, those chickens are fed power food, and it's awful to see how they look after a couple of weeks. Very little feathers and they can't even walk anymore. And by the way, the slaughter of chicken can be really awful as well. Again, depending on what you're buying. I feel like most people are buying the cheapest food they can find or quit eating animals. But please, support humanly raised animals.
I stopped buying the cheap stuff because I kept having issues with "woody" chicken. This is when the bite feels rubbery similar to raw chicken, even though its cooked to temperature. When I finally took the leap and bought air chilled chicken (mainly Bell and Evans), I never had those issues againmaillard
Woody chicken can be fairly easy to spot, just look for and avoid the white striping. This has like a 95% success rate, when COVID first hit I remember it felt like every meal was woody, but since being more selective with which package we took home I can't remember the last time I had a tough chicken cut, at our home anyways
@@dmondra2 YES! Woody chicken skyrocketed at the beginning of covid. It was also around that time that McDonald's suddenly removed all the chicken breast items from their menu citing "supply chain issues". Looking back, it was definitely because they could no longer reliably source usable-quality chicken breast. Avoiding the white striping helps, but I still have a lot of times when I end up leaving the grocery story with pork or beef instead because they don't have any chicken without it.
Just made a comment about woody chicken wondering how not a single person here is mentioning it. God bless you sir. It's a nightmare. Can't tell you how many times I've had to spit out chicken after spending too much time preparing due to inedible woody breast syndrome. I've sous vide cooked breasts from the same package side by side and had one come out tender and the other you couldn't cut through with an axe. Stuff of nightmares. The only brand I've found that has guaranteed no woody chicken is Cooks Venture (shown in this video). Too bad they just went out of business. I'm back on the hunt now and feeling rather hopeless tbh. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that it wasn't mentioned or seemingly even known about in this video.
Personally the reason I'm willing to pay extra for chicken breast has to do with exactly what you mentioned first. Working in the restaurant industry for years our food supply here in the states is plagued with "woody" chicken breasts which is an unpleasant texture you get in these mass farmed chicken breasts. If I don't want to splurge to avoid this id rather just buy thighs to avoid even chancing wasting my money on one of these chickens
I don't mind paying a premium, living in the developed world and being able to afford it, for humanely raised animal products. It would be nice to see more of those without the bs, anti-science "organic" and "non-GMO" markings. For your testing (and it's excellent work as always, btw), I think it's not "more expensive" vs cheaper, but rather water injected/added chicken vs not. Of course, the non-water added chicken will just be naturally more expensive anyway, but all of the problems with texture and frying seems to be solely because of the added water.
I was going to say almost the same! Non-gmo is absolute bullshit, gmo has saved millions of lives from starvation. For vegetables, organic is worse for the environment and yields inferior products, but for meat and eggs it's usually better (at least where I'm from) because of the standards in raising. I would hope you could get non-organic products with the same standards, but it's such an effective marketing trick you might as well go for it if you're abiding anyway.
I'd say the biggest variable is the chilling method. Air chilled seems to do better for fried and grilled processes. If you plan on shredding and saucing, the water chilled seems like it would make it easier.
Meat and vegetables are the things I never cheap out on. I have no issue getting store/cheaper brands for most things but usually didn’t go cheaper on the chicken. That being said, seeing that there’s not much of a difference on the actual food front makes me rethink that a bit.
Would love to see a test of how easy or difficult browning is for the different chicken breasts, and if dry brining can make up for the difference. Water release tends to give me a hard time, and I end up with a pool of it in my pan that needs to be removed for any browning to happen. Most of the time I think I'm just crowding the pan or not managing heat right, but I've been wondering if the cheapo chicken is sabotaging my efforts.
As someone who's baked a lot of chicken in their life, I do appreciate water chilled chicken thighs for baking on a broiler pan, they shrink down and brown up perfectly where air chilled chicken would overcook and become leathery. Generally I'm using this for something like chicken salad, however. Thank you so much for this deep dive on how it changes properties for frying, as I hadn't made the connection.
Turn down the oven temp for the air chilled chicken. The one pumped with water is going to take longer to heat up and cook, than the one that is air chilled. Just have to adjust your temp to get the same results.
It's always great seeing the same products I see at my HEB in your videos. Haven't watched the video yet, but we always get the cook's venture heirloom chicken breasts for ethical reasons, so I'm looking forward to this video.
Bro thank you for making this, I can definitely tell that by just 12 min I know exactly what type Chicken I like lol. I don’t like that fibrous chewiness some chicken has & I know it’s not always gonna be that way, but I can tell by the texture of the chicken that - that is the type chicken I like
On the fried chicken test, one variable id like to have seen is in the preparation. Most fried chicken recipes often call for a brine… be that a water based brine or a buttermilk. Especially as breast meat being so bland when compared with dark meat, brining is almost essential when frying chicken. I would think the advantages of the smaller breast would disappear as brining or marinating is going to introduce moisture into the meat and yield very similar results
I've noticed exactly this in my own fried chicken sandwiches at home. When I've just used salt, the batter just shed right off. Buttermilk brine and that shit is sticky. Haven't varied the chicken up like he did though, it would be an interesting experiment
@@magical11 It may not absorb as much brine, but the salt concentration will likely be the same since the salt will travel into the meat due to osmotic pressure
If you're looking to impart some flavor with the brine, the more dry air dried breast would be better. A salty brine would just suck the moisture out of a wet breast without imparting any flavor.
@@fairbanj It's counter-intuitive, but the salt won't move into the breast meat to equalize the concentration; it's the water that moves. So if we assume that chicken meat acts as a semi-permeable membrane, the water will actually leave the meat and into the brine.
I would be curious if the differences (other than texture since the fibers are larger to begin with) might narrow if you salted the mega breast and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to pre-expel some of the excess moisture before cooking?
It's very interesting video. After watching this, now I have more clear standard what chicken that I would bought. If I want to make more watery dish, or if I don't want my chicken too dry, then I would choose one with water. If I want more crispy texture for the dish, then I would choose air chilled one. Thanks for the experiment.
00:00 🍗 Exploring the differences between expensive and cheaper chicken breasts for taste, texture, and production factors. 01:07 🐔 Factors influencing chicken prices: breed, raising methods, processing, and certifications. 02:21 🐣 Testing two chicken breasts from different breeds: one from a fast-growing modern breed and another from a slower-growing breed. 03:30 🌿 Differences in raising methods: slower growth, free-range, and pasture-raised definitions and their impact on cost. 04:56 🏷 Understanding chicken packaging labels and certifications: organic, humane, Global Animal Partnership, and non-GMO. 09:33 👅 Impact of breed, raising, and processing on chicken flavor: organic might offer better texture but not necessarily better taste. 12:53 🍖 Chicken breasts tend to be bland due to low fat content; seasoning and preparation methods significantly influence taste and aroma. 14:42 🍔 More expensive chicken may produce better-fried chicken due to better adherence of breading, but differences in taste and aroma might not be significant. 22:07 🤔 Purchasing considerations: Expensive chicken might not offer a distinct taste advantage, but texture and ethical considerations could impact choices.
After having several bad experiences with "Woody Chicken Breast" I will always go for expensive breast now. Woody chicken is the one of the most disgusting textures possible.
One item of note, as a chef I could alleviate the water issue by simply applying a dry brine to the cheaper breast(cover in salt/seasonings in the fridge open) and it would definitely fix the issue while saving the money.
@@Li1190 on a baking sheet with a wire rack, season both sides liberally (the salt especially, most will be lost) place them in the fridge for minimum 2 hours , 4-6 hours maximum (overnight works for whole birds/larger cuts of beef etc) you are looking for the salt to effectively "disappear" and moisture to either pool in the tray beneath or simply evaporate. You may need to wipe or even rinse off the meat afterwards to ensure it isn't too salty, make sure to pat it dry regardless before cooking.
@@billykann7725 I'm going to try this next time with a before/after weigh-in to see how much moisture was removed. Wonder if we can come close to extracting that 10% of water?
@@stevehoge I would be interested to see the difference between a Just salt dry brine and a salt+seasoning one. Does it remove more water, and does the flavor penetrate the meat more than just adding the spices right before cooking?
I didn't expect this much. Thought it was going to be just some dude in his kitchen cooking chicken😂. Great video. I just have to watch it later because I'm eating chicken..
I've both noticed and read about one issue with these very large chicken breasts you see a lot in the stores, and that's their texture. Once they get too big they often take on a sort of "woody" texture that is really unpleasant. When I first noticed it I thought it was that the meat had been frozen and thawed a couple times or something, but I read that it was due to their size and ever since then I've avoided the freakishly large ones, and it seems to be that that was the issue.
Yea woody chicken is awful. Look for the striations in the meat, if there's a lot of thick white striping that very clearly denotes the muscle grain of the breast look for a different package. The less white striping you see the better.
The good part is that this is only on the top few millimeters of breast. The bad news is if you accidentally make a sandwich out of it, you're gonna be disappointed....
Back at the beginning of covid there was a point when suddenly ALL of the chicken available for sale in my area was woody, even more expensive brands. I ate very little chicken for a good two years. It's gotten a little better now, but you still have to look over chicken carefully before you buy it.
What a great video that strengthens my argument that when friends say “why are you getting those, that’s expensive; and the cheaper meat is good enough!?” I can tell them that besides my personal opinion of why I chose it more often, this video also explains it in more depth.
YES! People will buy those cheap mega-breasts that are almost the size of turkey breasts because they're cheaper and they think there isn't any difference. But then they end up throwing away a huge portion of it because it's peeling apart and has that disgusting woody texture. People don't believe me that paying a little extra gets you chicken that's actually edible and doesn't make a nasty "crunch" sound when you cut it.
Great video. Would it be possible to buy the water chilled chicken then in effect air dry it in your fridge? Say, remove it from the package, stick it in a cooking rack over a plate to catch any drops, then letting water evaporate?
You can to some extent. If you salt it and leave it on a rack uncovered, it’ll dry out and you’ll get crisper skin. It most likely will retain chlorinated water on the inside though.
This was my thought. I’d use salt though to help draw out the moisture in the fridge overnight. We use the same technique for steaks or roasts in the fridge
In my opinion, it is not so much price but where you buy it. There are a couple major stores where I bought meat where it was...not good. But if something is on sale at a place where I know it will be good, that is fine and a bonus
As someone who pasture-raises for my home use and not to sell, the TASTE is markedly more intense. However, I do cook with skin on and the fat that does develop (although it isn't much because pasture-raised) is MUCH darker yellow than the fat you had on your pasture chicken in the video, this fat and skin is what probably makes it so noticeably more flavorful. Heck, you can just fry the wings of the pasture raised without a dredge or spices and they're amazing by themselves! Taste is a BIG check difference for me.
This is so true! When I first ate my own free ranged chicken that we raised ourselves, I realized everything in the store is a bland imitation- even the expensive "organic" ones. My kids refused to eat chicken from the store after eating our own chickens- it's so bland and mushy.
I would really like to see you compare these chicken breasts to ones that were flash frozen at the slaughterhouse and shipped frozen. I have a theory that these will not retain as much water as the refrigerated ones and this should result in a better, cheaper chicken because frozen shipping and transport is much more highly regulated than refrigerated transport.
Related memory about how fast chickens grow. We bought some tiny chicks from a local farm store. The chickens grew to full-sized faster than I thought possible... much faster than a cat, dog, or person comes to size. The hens seemed to be full-sized after about 3 months. We had 5 of them but the other chickens targeted one of them and pecked it to death. They were super-loud so we gave them away. We lived on a farm and had children at the time.
Really enjoyed your “objective” experiment and candidness. Very well articulated. To me, the question isn’t “is the $9 chicken better”, but is it 3x better than the $3 chicken? For example, we’ve had world class $500 sushi in Vegas. We’ve also had great $30 all you can eat sushi. The $500 sushi is certainly better, but not 15x better. With the same budget, I’d rather have 15 great meals than 1 amazing meal.
Forgot to mention the water soaked chicken is soaked in chlorine water that has 40 or more times chlorine than the average pool and then you eat that chlorine
But that's ALWAYS the case. If you spend twice the amount of money on a computer it won't perform twice as well. If you spend twice as much on tomatoes it won't be twice as good. At the very bottom of the barrel, that might be the case but other than that it never will. The further up the pyramid you go, the more difficult it'll be to make it better and the price rises quickly. People pay a lot of money on electronics to make it 10% more efficient for example.
That's a very selfish approach considering the bad reality of animal mass production. Not only for the animals but also for the environment and yourself. You'll pay FAR MORE for the cheap alternative with your health and long-term consequences.
@@enoyna1001 love the judgmental people these days. Shaming people and calling them selfish. Only raise and slaughter animals for my consumption on my terms. Spend what I spend, eat what I eat, wear my kind of clothes, and drive what I drive etc. How privileged and self absorbed.
@@loganlasvegas If you raise animals for your own consumptions, then why would you even consider the initial question ($3 vs $9 for chicken)? I'm just curious.
Love these comparisons. Hope you do the whole chicken/thigh version. As roasting whole expensive chicken instantly takes me back to my nans kitchen the smell is so strong and distinctive. Smells so good, and just don't get taht from the cheap chickens. Pork for me is by far the biggest difference in taste and texture between cheap and expensive, they don't even taste like the same animal. To the point my mates are split 50/50 on if they like it or not. Pork is such a strong taste when you get heirloom, slow grown well looked after. Where cheap pork is like chicken pretty bland.
Lol - your mouth is watering so much when you're preparing to eat the sandwiches. It's hilarious. I love how much you enjoy eating the food it's so delicious
Awesome video, I'm glad you added the footage on how the chicken are processed It's always important to know what we eat and how these animals are treated, specially when our wallet is a big factor on our decisions
I would argue that doing a pickle brine or a buttermilk brine would be better than doing salt for the fried chicken test. I've noticed a major difference in shedding of the fried batter between just salting and doing a buttermilk brine(Which is my favorite for fried chicken). I might have to try this test myself and try different brining methods
These comparisons are gold. There are lots of creators doing comparisons but almost no one is actually doing proper tests and somewhat scientific methods. Cheers🎉
This explains why when I switched chicken brands to Tyson for fried chicken that the tenders shrunk so much. I was aghast, because the regular Walmart brand turned out so well. I am now remembering the one time I bought Tyson frozen chicken tenders (already made) in the bag and the quality was really bad. Repeat issues like this is what makes me begin to question the quality of the brand. I think I might try out pastured raised now though. That sounds the best.
You could try two techniques to minimize water: 1. Let the breast dry on a wire rack in the fridge for 24 hours 2. Par-cook the breast sous vide to expel water before breading and frying
This is exactly what I think should be done. Just sous vide the thing at 155f for 2 hours, slight chill in fridge/cold water before removing from bag, pat dry bread it and then fry it. You can get crispier chicken that way as well because you keep the batter from becoming drenched in oil as much.
I do know there is a huge difference for beef! Grain fed beef is very inflammatory because of the over abundance of omega 6 vs omega 3. Grass fed is much better. Chickens can naturally digest grain so the omega 6 balance isn't as big of an issue with beef.
I opt for the pasture-raised chicken so that I know my chickens had a better life. It's great to hear that it makes for a better eating experience also!
1) Some parts of mass-produced chicken have 'woody breast' or really tough unpleasant fibers. This is the biggest reason to buy heritage breeds, and not something that shows up on a triangle test eating small portions. 2) Costco has very cheap air chilled chicken, and I wonder how well that performs. 3) I would assume you could remove the water from water-chilled chicken (maybe by salting or just leaving it open to air in the fridge) and it would fry just as well.
I usually buy the cheapest chicken I can find and I have definitely had some just as you described. Fortunately in my area that's fairly rare. Usually, they are just fine and what little difference there is isn't worth the three times price increase.
@@wingracer1614 In my area the math definitely works out on getting the more expensive chicken. When you get those cheap packages with 6-7 breasts in them, you're very lucky to end up with a full breast worth of edible meat once you cut away the parts that feel like a literal chunk of wood in your hand. It ends up being several dollars more per pound that way than just getting the nominally more expensive brands that you can confidently use all of.
@@pacoramirez7363 Doesn't surprise me, I'm just saying that in my area, the cheap stuff is usually very good. I certainly have had some bad stuff from time to time but it's rare. Though around super bowl time, it can be near impossible to find good wings. Seriously, the crap they have left in the grocery shouldn't even be legal to sell, LOL
I had the same problem when making fried chicken, with the breading coming off. I don't buy expensive chicken, just cheap store brand. But I discovered that it's not the chicken itself that causes it (i.e. I don't think it's the water in the chicken). You have to dry the chicken really well (I just use a kitchen towel and pat it down, then wrap it and let it sit in there for a minute), and then coat the dried breast with only cornstarch. THEN start your normal process of dipping it in milk/egg wash, seasoned flour mix, etc. Follow this and it'll stick perfectly every time. Don't believe me? All the evidence you need is KFC -- do you think they're buying organic, pasture-raised, air cooled chicken so the breading will stick? Hell no. They follow a similar process to the one I just described.
Don't think the coating peeling off is from the breast "shrinking" as part of the frying process. Pretty likely it generated more steam from the water in the breast, and that steam gets trapped in the dredge and inflated like a balloon during cooking.
I disagree. A tempura style batter would puff up and catch steam (think a funnel cake or beer battered fish), but for a breading like this with no gluten development it’s going to let the free water + steam out as it fries. I’ve also done testing on wet vs dry brined grilled chicken and the wet brined chicken has more absorbed free water that is let off after cooking. So a 200 g wet brined chicken will lose more weight than a 200 g dry brined chicken because part of that weight is free absorbed water from the brine that is easily squeezed out as the chicken cooks. Maybe shrinks is the wrong word but, essentially with equal size portions the water chilled chicken has more water weight and less protein weight so you structurally lose more volume.
Great video! FYI learned to perfect chicken-fried chicken from another channel. She uses similar method to yours (just more spices in the flour and an egg in buttermilk). After pounding the cutlets, she emphasizes to make sure the chicken is very dry so the breading crust doesn’t fall off later. I drain mine super well on paper towels for a few minutes, until dry, before dredging and it totally works.
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What if you brine the cheaper piece? Will the salt extract added water from the meat?
Any chance you could buy a Lazy Susan or something .... would make the randomization a little more efficient.
As someone who has pasture raised, organically fed and medicated the very same birds the industry uses-Cornish Cross, if you don't harvest them by around 8 weeks, they will start growing their adult feathers which makes it harder to pluck but the biggest reason you want to harvest them by around 8 weeks is because they literally can get too fat to walk, have a heart attack, or heatstroke. They will literally eat all the freaking time. Also, sorry to share this with folks who are delicate, but they LOVE meat. They are the most dinosaur of birds, lol.
The home raised roaster chicken can easily weigh as grocery store purchased, so don't assume that those chickens are loaded full of growth hormones. If there's a weight difference, it's usually just water content.
Good fried chicken requires a brine for me. Either 12-24 hrs in buttermilk or about 6 hrs in pickle juice, like Chick fil a.
Can't you just put the cheap chicken to dry out in the fridge for a few hours or overnight? That would make the crust adhere to the chicken. Also, this is just fried chicken. What about pan-seared, or grilled? The preparation should make a difference. No?
I love that this is a comparison between cheap and expensive foods that is between the actual reasonable extremes that most people, at least in the US, encounter shopping. I'm so tired of the comparison videos all over youtube that are like "how does this $1 food compare to this $500 food" lol
this is a tutorial and that's entertainment.
I don’t watch those comparisons but I just can’t appreciate these food science videos :/ I miss Ethan’s healthy and creative recipes
@@MLGBGermanymiss? The last video he put out was a healthy recipe video...
@@MLGBGermanyi'm the complete opposite hah only here for the food science. i think he has a good balance
What the better value? This microwave bean and cheese burrito? Or this Wagyu steak burrito that's wrapped in gold foil instead of a tortilla?
For anybody on a budget who doesn’t want to sacrifice flavor/texture, if you purchase the $3/lb chicken, slice it thin, and salt brine it overnight, you break down some of the larger muscle fibers and lose a lot of that excess water. It’s not a perfect solve, but it’s a workaround that greatly improves some of the drawbacks of the cheaper chicken. Hope this helps somebody!
actually at that point, it would be interesting to weight the chicken after purge of the excess water, and get the new cost / lbs + salt and energy required to do that. who knows, maybe we get so close to the $9 chicken breast, might as well buy it instead lol (doubt it, but it could be interesting)
@@nekogami87 that is a really interesting point. Plus factoring in the time required. All good considerations.
i was thinking 'dry brine' during the video, since most of the stuff i good in on the grill i do dry brine quite a bit already. if i can think of it next time, i'll take before and after measures.
@@IzziedeDPersonally not a fan of a wet brine, but a dry brine is easy and helps so much! 👍🏻
refrigerating for 2 hours or overnight after breading will make it adhere more.
Just wanted to say, I walked past you at a local grocery store a few weeks back, but you looked very focused so I thought I'd leave you alone and come here to say how much I enjoy your channel!
I have found the best way to evaluate spices is to go to a good organic, bulk food section.
It’s usually way cheaper than prepackaged, and also fresher.
Plus you can A) choose to only buy small amounts to try things, and B) affordably throw away and replace spices that are past the six-month or whatever window of optimal flavor.
Never settle for crappy dried out spices again!
You will want to buy a set of one or two dozen spice shakers. Makes life easy.
This is so inexpensive to do, it pretty much answers your questions. Fresh ground is generally better, but even preground fresh from the bulk store is 100%.
Yes, I know sometimes Ethan uses fresh cumin seed, etc. for specific things. And you can’t beat having a good pepper grinder with fresh organic black pepper corns.
Frontier brand makes a lot of spices I like.
@@j_freedwho asked?
U should’ve said hi you only have one life and u may never meet him again
A lil weird but okay 😀
The average person only meets and engages with only 80,000 people (excluding online) in their lifespan.
Interesting comparison. I'm glad this study was done.
I think that the majority of the people who are buying the pasture raised chicken are doing so because they want the chicken to be better treated.
At least you also get better texture as well.
Idk, I actually think most people buy pasture raised chicken because it's healthier and more nutrient dense. How it's treated is a nice bonus.
I agree w both of these points
for some of us who are still eating meat, the welfare of how the animal is treated is still an important part of knowing where our food comes from. chicken is the only meat I eat, so I like to know.
This is my total reason. I'd sacrifice taste for it.
How the chicken was treated but we're eating it's flesh. In not vegetarian or anything but we need to get off our high horses.
Good job Ethan. You cited research, used informative elements, and had a practical application for viewers. Thank you for making this, and I can tell you put a lot of work into this.
Would be interesting to look at dark meat - in past videos you've mentioned how much of the flavor / aroma of meat comes from the fat and since the breast is so lean it would make sense that there's not a significant difference in flavor there. But maybe in the fattier pieces it will be a more pronounced difference.
Dark chicken meat is the best anyway, yes, compare those 🙂
@ I'm surprised he didn't just include dark meat in the test. would've probably been more reasonably priced to buy whole chickens too.
agree with the above commenters, I am all about the dark meat use it. Every chance I get as opposed to the white meat would love to see a look at this as well.
I expect differences are more pronounced in fattier cuts. I've found caged chicken thighs to sometimes have quite an unpleasant aroma/flavour.
Thighs are the best cut of chicken.
When looking at pasture raised, you are not only supporting quality chicken husbandry but also sustainable farming practices. Rotating the field space is a very important part of this practice. It creates healthier pastures for farming animals and plants. A true ecosystem if you will.
unfortunately there are not nearly enough regenerative farmers out there as this is truly the only sustainable way to maintain a layer of topsoil that can be used for cultivation
“Pasture raised” can also be misleading phrase honestly, just like alot of “organic” or “all natural” products. While I completely agree with your statements I would urge people to seek *certified humane* pasture raised chicken to ensure you are not becoming the victim of some companies shady marketing practice.
@@brewtalitykthere actually are alot of small independent farms capable of creating a sustainable and humane ecosystem. The problem is seed contracts. Say a farmer is growing tomatoes or something, well corpos will come and offer that farmer a large payday in exchange for ensuring they only use said corpos seeds. I think it would be wise for the US government to step in and subsidize farms under a certain size and number of workers, while also legislating away the ability of seed and crop monopolies from corporations.
That certainly is an optimistic view of pasture raised.
I am not sure I can trust something as potentially divergent as just the statement pasture raised.
I for one do not support chicken marriage in any form.
Excellent video! I think it is worth adding that the 'larger' breast is also more 'fibrous' because of how it was raised. Because it grows so quickly and is not allowed to freely roam about, its muscles aren't allowed to tighten. Thus, you get the more fibrous and separated structure. We used to raise chickens, and they definitely had a 'taste' when compared to store bought chickens.
I loved this comparison! Thank you for sharing.
I get the more expensive chicken first and foremost cuz I want my meat to have been raised RESPONSIBLY. I want to know that chicken wasn't mistreated. When people say more expensive chicken tastes better, it's a placebo that the chicken's "happiness" is in the quality of the meat.
You can make an even better comparison with cheap as hell pork vs wild pig.
@@nahor88 There's also the large health benefits you get over farm raised chicken. Chickens, unlike ruminants, do not possess multiple stomachs and cannot process the food to the extent that it alleviates poor feed. The composition of the cells of the chicken will reflect the feed it has to an extent, and if the feed comes from corn, seed oils, grains, etc., you can be sure that you are either getting that into your system or suffering the consequences of that.
I just found your channel and I must say this is high quality. The raw info behind everything you do is amazing.
🥚I’d love to see the same comparison and deep dive in eggs! 🙏
Yes!!!
Yes me to
I would love that too! Pasture raised eggs are so good.
imo this should have come first. :P
🥁@@stumbling
I really like the technique from Kenji. He lets water chilled chicken rest uncovered in the fridge with baking soda and salt to draw the moisture out. This should fix the issue with the crust not adhering.
Baking soda also helps browning because of maillard reaction
Which video of his are you talking about? I wanted to see his process to learn from.
@@QuestChanible it's extra crispy baked wings from kenji I believe.
I wish Ethan would have tried an experiment to see if you can dry out the mega chickens and then compare them.
Nice thank you I was thinking cant you just try to render the liquid out somehow then youve elevated the quality of the chicken? Lol
As a fellow Texan, I love that this was a comparison between H‑E‑B branded chicken and Central Market branded organic chicken 😂
Same lol
yup
This.
PROTIP: Go early right when H-E-B opens, and you can score some decent discounts on meat and produce. I got the spicy guacamole for $2.48 thanks to the yellow coupon and the 50% off.
Yeah, I noticed that too lol
Heb brings all Texans together I guess, at least from what I’ve seen
That's what I've noticed. HEB has considerably better meat and produce than most states. You're basically getting the top of the line cheap stuff.
Ill save my main thoughts til i finish the video but i wanted to say this while its fresh in my mind -- im really impressed by the choice of clips used for this video. Managing to show the colder mechanized/automated side of where our food comes from without showing anything inherently gory or hard to watch is a really impressive line to walk and i guarentee whoever collected the footage came across a lot that was hard to look at. Just wanted to give kudos for that
I'm glad he included it. Part of me wanted to skip but seeing where our food actually comes from is a healthy dose of reality we need now and then.
@@jamessullivan1227yea we need more gore because it’s reality. People know very little about where there food comes from
Agreed however gore is a good thing, its learning about auschwitz but then not showing any pictures
My editor Spencer found all of the extra footage for us! Agreed, he did a great job collecting those clips. I think it’s important to understand how these food systems really work.
@@Gronkiy There are lots of books about Auschwitz that don't have pictures.
My biggest purchase criteria is the humane certification. I’m glad to have this additional info.
In the US, we’re not really given the option of purchasing fryer versus stewing chickens, which corresponds to length of time being raised. I understand the stewing chickens, are readily available in other countries. The older birds supposedly have much more flavor. Not quite as tender, so best stewed. I’d be interested to know if the flavor really is superior on the older chickens.
There are stewing hens all over the USA, but most western grocery stores don’t carry them. If you check Asian markets, you’ll almost always find them, along with roosters, heirloom breeds and the like.
Stewing hens make the best chicken pot pie you’ll ever have.
My biggest requirement is buying chicken that’s gonna get me swole
You are right. My family raised chickens commercially when I was a kid. They still do but for their own consumption. Older hens will give you a more flavorful stew or soup. You may even need a pressure cooker.
Animals don't have feelings
I'm gonna need you to spin this into a series because I ALWAYS go for the fancy farmer's market chicken when it comes to making stocks that're the star of a dish, I literally watched this over a bowl of matzo ball soup my mom made for the holidays from a bird we picked out. I think that's where you can taste the biggest difference in flavor, since you're basically making chicken tea out of every component of the parts you use, right down to the cartilage and bones. even with those chickens there can be a huge difference in the savoriness and fat content between birds, and it's difficult to tell if that's down to species or season, age or something else.
I met this farmer who also would go, and buy meat, or produce from the grocery store when there was a good price. Then sell it as his own at a giant mark up.
People gave him compliments like, 'so much better than the store. Worth the cost."
I thought that hilarious. That can show how strong placebo can be, and why marketing is so important.
Hell I just saw a short clip two days ago of a guy doing that with pies. Was selling it like 3 times what he got it for as, "Artisanal". Hah.
With that said I don't doubt you. What live stock eats or doesn't eat can impart tastes, and textures. Nutritional value too, like how grass fed cattle have more of Omega 3 fatty acids. Which I guess people are saying is good, because you should have a ratio of 3:1 omega 6 versus 3. We get too much Omega 6 now from vegetable, and seed oils.
@@dianapennepacker6854 that guy is unethical. I actually don’t think it’s hilarious, but I also wonder how the chicken would pass when there’s a huge size and texture difference between commercial grocery store chicken breasts and small growers. If he is supplementing that way, I doubt it’s with breasts.
@pithygrapefruit just call then big boned and exotic. Everybody likes hot dogs, no one wants to know how their made. That quote applies here too
@@omicronrho9951 At farmer’s markets and CSA’s, people are there to see how the sausage is made so to speak. It’s even more true with meats.
free Palestine
Would have loved to see a "middle ground" chicken. For now this is only a comparison between air chilled and water chilled chicken. Would be cool to compare the cheapest non organic air chilled with the most expensive air chilled to find out if pasture/ eating a lot of grass does something.
I’d argue most grocery retailers just have the two options: organic and non-organic, so this middle option wouldn’t represent a common shopping choice. Also, based on this test it’s pretty safe to assume water being absorbed is the main culprit for the negative points here.
From what I gathered, the water accounted for the shrinking and all that, the way it was raised accounted for the difference in texture (the difference in meat fiber size)
im not sure about the texture part. Im thinking the water is also a reason for the texture difference because when the fried chicken lost water he couldn't tell as much of a difference in the texture vs the sous vide wich retained the amount of water.( the extra water probably expands the fibers which results in a less tender texture)@@PatrikTheDev
I shop at the same grocery chain this guy got his chicken from, I know for a fact the cheap 3$ water-logged chicken is also frozen before being placed on shelf. Idk if 9$ chicken was also frozen cuz I don't buy it, but the water content freezing inside the chicken probably exacerbates the texture difference as well
I feel like the missing "middle ground" chicken in this instance would be to take of the water chilled breast and tenderize it. Tenderizing would help break down the meat fiber and release a lot of the excess water. Unfortunately, it seem that happen often with ethan's test. A well thought out, well prepared test but it's missing just a little bit to make it a really great comparison. That and coming to the conclusion that the more expensive chicken is better even though he couldn't tell them apart when cooked is puzzling.
Just wanted to mention as someone who strictly bakes chicken, I made the switch to the air chill brand mentioned in the video this year and never turned back. The air chilled chicken breasts at like 400ish for 30 or so minutes never are spongy yet never dry either. It is a night and day difference and worth the price. Although, I do feel the air chilled will spoil faster in the fridge. Thank you.
Why do you feel it'll spoil faster? It seems counter intutive for me because bacteria love moisture enviroments, so more moisture more bacteria and faster spoiling. Also surface area is important to consider in some cases, maybe not in this case if we are talking about an untouched chicken breast.
I myself haven't tried this experiment because here there's like 2 brands of whole chicken and the already butchered parts are unbranded, and that's because you can only buy them through a butcher.
Also no chicken had never spoiled in my freezer. And of course that's another main factor, temperature! the colder the slower it will spoil obviously. My wild guess is that inside a freezer there will be no difference, raw chiken on the fridge maybe the cheaper one will spoil first (with a day of difference), and cooked chicken again no difference.
But idk I'm no expert, I'm just a cooking science enthusiast with mostly theoric knowledge. I would be interested to know what you think about what I said :)
and sorry for my bad england
@@Adamcito. Well I don’t freeze my food because it lowers quality so I’m talking for the lasting days in fridge. In my experience even before best by date the chicken will quickly go bad
@@trevorcalvert1163 Very interesting, I now think it has more to do with that the bath the water chilled chikens go through having bleach in it, as someone said in another comment, so maybe those are actually cleaner than the air chilled ones
It last longer
400F for 30 mins? That would make really dry chicken... Just cook it to 165F, at 350-400F, however long that takes.
I can agree to this test. For years we would grill the cheap chicken breasts but just the past year we switched to the pasture raised chicken for health reasons but immediately noticed how much more tender it was.
It matters more with eggs
@@torilessI’d say it’s equally important
@@torilesspasture raised eggs are more tender? Hmmph
Yes we also switched to the pasture raised eggs do to the fact they contain a lot more omega 3s.
@@jeremyrebel8931 so here the truth behind that. Pasture raised, free range chicken eggs do contain more omega 3s, but only a little bit more than conventional eggs. The nutritional difference is minimal when comparing the 2. The difference is in the amount of toxins within the eggs and over a long period of time the build up of those toxins inside your body.
Wouldve loved it if you sent samples to labs to compare nutritional content and maybe even heavy metal content etc. Very nice to have what Ive always thought be put into a video. Thank you, awesome video.
enjoyed the video! just wish there was a section on health/nutritional differences.
In the UK, when I was younger, say 15 years ago, cheaper supermarket breasts used to be very wet. A frying pan of it would stew as much as fry. These days, that seems to be much less of a problem. I wonder if regulation orsimple competition has changed things. Or maybe it's just me and nothing has changed at all.
As another UK resident, I find with current supermarket chicken breast when frying before adding sauce (eg curry in a jar) that it starts leaking liquid and hence doesn't brown readily (because water steaming off means temp is only 100C). I may be overloading the pan even with largest burner on full. Suppose I should try more expensive chicken and see if same occurs.
@@gleggett3817the chicken is generally quite wet but i think you may be over loading the pan. If the chicken starts dumping all its water your pan has gotten too cold.
In the USA they still inject them full so it’s about 20% less meat vs steaming in water.
@@gleggett3817 tenderizing by pounding removes water. Heavy salt the surface and let it sit for a few hrs then rinse off the salt and pat it dry. It will fry having the same density and moisture content as the 9 dollar breast. After you rinse the salt you can marinate it in cream for more tenderness too. Marinate in lemon to get it very tender ( problem is that it partially makes it digested because of acid so it may be too soft) . There are dozens of tricks you can use to change chicken density and tenderness.
inject them full of what??? @@hbgriss
Peak america is standing in the middle of the chicken isle deciding how much chicken happyiness you can afford.
Inflation sucks ass dude
It would be an illusion to think this is an american thing
You're right. I'd much rather stay in a line at my Local Government Bread Line™ in the middle of winter praying that the shortages have subsided a bit and I can get some bread this week. Now that's what I'm talking about.
I don't really get this are you shaving Americans we can afford chicken well when people in places not like New York California etc
Organic and pasture raised labels are the only ones with any meaning
I don't know if "expensive" matters (some of it could be just marketing, I don't trust that expensive=better), but there's definitely a taste difference between the chickens my grandma raised vs supermarket chicken. The taste is not even remotely similar, in fact. Probably different breed as she was mainly raising them for the eggs. Anyway, awesome video, Ethan!
I feel the same way about farm fresh eggs. No comparison!
modern chickens (and pork/beef) have been bred to be more neutral in flavor. It loses it's character (gameyness) but it gains broader pallet appeal.
I agree. It is very seldom that home grown isn't better. Growing up, we had fresh citrus, avocados, chickens, and eggs. It's been decades, and I can barely drink store bought orange juice.
I think a lot of it comes down to what the animals are fed. For instance in the Midwest, deer eat a lot of corn that was lost the the field during harvesting. As a result, the meat from the deer is less “gamey” than deer that’s not fed corn.
Home raised pork is nothing like what they sell in the grocery store. It's like a whole different thing.
I was actually wondering why in the last year my love of chicken has diminished. I always have this weird undercooked texture no matter how I cook it. The rubbery/fiberous texture is probably what you are describing that I feel.
Gotta brine it bayyyybbeeeeeee!!!! But seriously, it makes a huge difference to have your chicken sit in a salt water brine overnight. If I ate gamey meats I'd do the same thing to it.
You may be experiencing Woody Chicken - Something new and seemingly becoming a larger problem. There is no way to resolve it from a manufacturing standpoint, seems to be some defect. It makes the texture terrible.
@@aurorajones908 Dry brining is far better for something like lamb, tbh lamb and other gamey meats brining isn't the real killer, it's more just cooking it super low and slow so it's super tender and the flavour comes and hits well.
@@KH-id2hr Huh, I swore chicken was getting worse, but I wonder if that's what it is.
I know I’m a bit late here but I’ve worked in food processing for over eight years, much of which was spent in chicken/meat country so I have an interesting perspective here.
The first thing I’ll add is that nearly all of the “mega” breast are marinated right before packaging to ship. It’s a salty brine that varies in sodium content depending on the customer that’s pumped into the chicken with needles and if you look closely at the breast, you can usually see the holes. Secondly, most of the chicken of either kind is done at the same plants, just on different days. I’m able to tell what plant a product comes from by looking at the date code for the most part and plants are usually split up by either processed (molded or formed products) or sectioned (whole birds down to packs of tenders-yes they’re actually a muscle behind the breast) but some plants do a little of everything. If you’re looking for a “clean” product from a processing perspective, big names are the way to go. Tyson for example accounts for about 70-80% of all the chicken we consume, even if it doesn’t have Tyson on the label. They make money with or without the name since they sell it to other brands and restaurants. Also, you’ll here horror stories from people that have worked at any meat processing plant and from someone who has been to all different types from big label to mom and pop, big label is nearly ALWAYS cleaner. Small business plants (again, for the most part) are usually more run down and take more shortcuts because they don’t have the budgets of larger companies and these plants are expensive to run. Even larger brands like Pilgrims Pride or Perdue pale in comparison to Tyson and I’d rather work in any Tyson before either one of them. No, I don’t work for Tyson, I work with food contamination like metal or glass and dynamic scales that weigh the products.
Also, just a quick aside-don’t be discouraged by companies that have frequent recalls. It just means that their quality department is doing their job. For things like salmonella the bacteria test comes back more positive than they would like after the food is sent out so they usually recall due to the risk, not from people reporting it. With contaminate like metal, they have practices in place to prevent it from leaving but if it does get by, they will to the recall after it’s reported.
Thanks for the sharing, this is a very unique perspective!
That's really interesting, thank you for sharing.
Monopolies are bad, I’ll accept the slightly higher risk of food poisoning.
@@CraigTheBrute-yf7no🤓
This was actually way more interesting than I thought and I honestly didn't expect these results. I think it would be great for you to continue this series with even more types of meat.
Something to keep in mind with the cheaper high moisture chicken is that you can salt it and let it sit. It will expel some water, and the salt will go into the meat acting like a brine. If done for an extended period of time, and then dried on paper towel, you can get a lot of that excess moisture out of the chicken. This is also why sometimes chicken from the local butcher is better, because it's been sitting in that case all day on the tray, open to the refrigerator which dries it out a bit.
an observation i’ve made cooking locally raised vs supermarket chicken is how much tougher it is to fry the physically larger pieces from a superchicken. i’m sure i could use better technique but i had a tough time getting good browning and cooking the giant pieces all the way through
I get 2.3kg/5lb chickens here in Tokyo and cut the breasts into 2 thinner pieces before pan-frying or deep-frying, maybe even pounding them to be a bit thinner. I then deep fry these thinner cutlets for a shorter amount of time. Then I let them cook internally in their own heat while I cook the dark meat. Result is that the center is cooked while the outer meat isn't overcooked. Bigger chicken thighs aren't a worry of mine as dark meat is fine as it doesn't get horrible with a minute or two extra cooking. Also, lower temp keeps the breading from getting too browned before the inner meat is cooked, I think.
Similar to what lqr mentioned, one reason Korean chicken is so tender is that they fry it twice for much shorter periods and let the inside cook further while the outside has set shape-wise but is not fully brown/crispy yet… it is how you can keep enough chicken in each piece (instead of feeling like you are mostly eating breading-unless you really love the breading in which case popcorn chicken-small bite sized pieces-would work for you) while not overcooking the outside.
Factory chickens hardly move, they're sick, stressed and killed within 3 weeks. The industry is abhorrent
Use a twice-fried or triple-fried method like is used for Korean or Japanese fried chicken. It has 2-3 rounds of resting where the heat has a good long time to make it's way to the interior, and you're less likely to overcook the outside, which will also come out crunchier at the end without over-browning.
Another thing you can do is cut slits in the large pieces to help the heat penetrate.
I love your channel. I first found you a couple months ago when your garlic comparison video popped up in my suggestions. I've watched most of these videos now and every video I learn something that has improved my food. For example the garlic video was awesome, I always used the garlic paste to substitute garlic thinking it was working but once I switched back to real garlic i noticed how much better it is and with your tip on keeping garlic in the pantry away from light my garlic lasts so much longer than when I just kept it on my counter. With this video I have made fried chicken 2 or 3 times now and every time my breaking separates from the chicken and I couldnt find anything that helped but seeing your results i am gonna try getting a higher quality chicken . Your videos are awesome please keep them coming!
0:15. There's a choice? In USA, there's only 2 companies that own the whole chicken chain.
One thing you should try is air drying the cheaper breast covered with salt in the fridge. Pulls out some of the water, then proceed as usual. I've found it helps a lot with fried chicken. I usually do a buttermilk bath after the fridge drying.
Healthy??
@@torilessDepends? If you cover it in butter, probably not.
@@RetirededKatInteresting take, because butter is not even unhealthy.
@@RetirededKatlol, it’s “fried chicken”, meaning it gets deep fried in fat
@@alc6370 good one
I own a poultry farm and processing plant that my grandfather started. We have been operating for 27 years. The video misses a few premises. We water chill our chicken and we use modern broiler birds. We have none of the problems he describes and our chicken is not cheap and we are world famous actually. The difference is the cheaper chicken lets the birds get much larger, older, and the breast gets tougher and more stringy, The market has a term for this called " woody breast" and the water bath is not really the problem. The cheaper chicken is actually injected with water and other item. I have seen cheap cases of chicken that have ingredient lists. If you bring a broiler bird to market earlier when it has a smaller breast you get the same advantages he is describing. It is age and the injection of water, not water baths and heritage breeds that make the difference. The quality of the water fed to the chickens since muscle is mostly water and the quality of the water in the baths is also important. Most cheap chicken is bathed in bleach water and then acids to neutralize the bleach.
Great video! A quick suggestion: I think if you ever revisit chicken and want to compare the merits of different qualities of chicken, I think a dish like Hainanese Chicken would perfectly suit it. It's a dish that really allows the tastes and textures of chicken to be at the forefront without hiding it in spices or cooking methods. You can definitely tell a massive difference between a good or bad chicken with that dish.
And don't chug soda between tastings.
Spices? Try Chicken Piccata, it should be the testing standard. I ALWAYS reduce the sauce so it is thicker and clings to the meat.
I would love a follow up video to this specifically focusing on the nutritional value of those heirloom or pasture raised chickens. I think when you take that into account too it more than closes the gap for many people when comparing the two options.
I would assume Ethan is interested in this too as it is a major point in the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan which he references at the end!
Dang this was a super educational video... Feel like I learned a ton about food, where it comes from, labels, and technicalities of cooking. Very amazing format going into the intricate details... Super informative, keep up the good work!
Air chilled, like Bell and Evans has so much less water expelled during cooking that it actually costs less than many chickens. Also the way it roasts is much better as your chicking isn't steaming in a pool of its own water.
Unless you're suggesting that the $3/lbs chicken expels 2/3rds of its weight in water while cooked, the maths doesn't add up.
I would love to see a comparison on tasting the difference between ground spices (like cinnamon, cumin, etc.) - are expensive spice brands better than generic? What about store-bought spices that are a year-old, are they better than fresh? And what about freshly ground at home vs. store bought pre-ground?
If you buy in-expensive whole spices and heat them up and/or crush them (depending on which ones) yourself just before cooking, they will taste much much better than an expensive pre-ground spice mix.
My main takeaway is that there are a lot of variables to consider here, but i think the main one that will actually effect the quality of your dish is the fact that it was air chilled. I think the breed will obviously change it, but in a way thats less objectively good or bad. I also wonder if there are techniques that could draw out more water to solve some of the issues with water chilling (overnight dry brine comes to mind)
Other than that, i think the main value is in knowing your food was treated more humanely and i think thats definitely a valid thing to spend more money on if its important to you and you can afford it. Its not secret that theres some dark shit happening with the three dollar breast
My biggest issue is the damn non gmo sticker. I refuse to pay extra to support an anti-science group who will use that money to lobby AGAINST things that combat global food shortages and nutrient deficiencies (golden rice, for example)
Agreed on most points. The anti-GMO BS is saddening. Something else to consider is that the slow-grow birds mean that more land is devoted to growing meat. Do we want a 1-acre forest and 9-acre slow-grow pasture chickens, or a 7-acre forest with 3-acre fast-grow birds?
Are there even GMO Chickens?
@@firelow sort of! (US persoective)
The FDA is only just now considering allowing livestock to enter the market after recombinant gene therapy (your typical "mess with the genes in a laboratory" style gmo), so the non gmo sticker on meat products USUALLY isnt referring to the animal, but to its feed.
But what a lot of ppl who say gmos are evil dont seem to address is that even somrthing like selective breeding for positive traits is a form of genetic modification. As my plant biology professor in college told us - "If your mom found Dad attractive when they first met, then YOU are a genetically modified organism"
@@wulfywulfynrir1296 humans are creatures from nature therefore everything we make is natural therefore GMOs are natural thanks for coming to my ted talk
I came to the comments to say pretty much the same thing ... the takeaway from the video is that only air chilling made a difference.
A well-treated chicken is a thing to strive for, but there are a lot of people who have to decide between well-raised chickens and feeding their children. Factory food is not the best food, but it's far better than malnutrition or starvation.
For the same reason, I'm not against all GMO practices. I do not like mono-culture, and the way we currently handle it, GMO=mono-culture, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Saying all that, I personally am going to look for air chilled chicken that were able to act like chickens for their short life. I can afford to buy these, I don't need to settle for cheap chicken calories.
I hope you do a deep dive into whether the expensive chicken is healthier than the less expensive. What does that mean? Do GMOs have any impact on us? What are the differences in nutrition, are they meaningful? etc
Your videos are so well done. I learn something every time I watch one.
My aunt works at a chicken factory here in Bulgaria, and they sell an organic yellow chicken that is fed only with grain and let me tell you once you taste it, the "normal" chicken meat just has 0 taste, with fired chicken the breading masks the taste a little bit, but with baking there is a world of difference between the two.
Bulgaria mentioned ‼️‼️🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬😈😈 българи юнаци ‼️‼️‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️💯💯 what the fuck is population growth 🗺️🗺️🗺️📈📈📈‼️‼️‼️‼️🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬❤️❤️❤️😈😈😈🔥🔥🔥
It’s all in your head.
are you implying grain diet leads to better tasting chicken?
Maybe it’s like grain-finished beef, which many people prefer, but is being fed a diet bad for its health. Of course it’s being slaughtered soon…
Chickens are omnivores and they seem to like catching and eating prey. Feeding a chicken nothing but grain might result in chicken meat that many people prefer, but it’s arguably cruel.
@@Juryoku_yea all chicken tastes the same regardless of what it was fed and how it was raised. You aren’t the brightest bulb are you?
I’ve actually done a broth test between the cheap stuff vs the smart chicken brand air chilled chicken. The results were very telling. The smart chicken broth was gold and much more vibrant tasting. The cheap stuff was a muddy light brown color and not bad but very flat.
That's probably because broth taste depends heavily on chicken fats and bones/cartilages, and this taste probably differ a lot between factory-fed and organic (same as salmon/steak, I assume). Chicken breasts are as bland and basic as it gets, so difference there is minimal. I think you're right but the video has also correct verdict
Yeah, he calls it out that testing whole chickens or even just thighs would be a different video. I want to see that video though!
I noticed that too and the grease was why more in the cheaper.
I also thought the bones looked stronger on the big money bird lol
So you made it wrong with the cheap stuff and blame it on the food versus your failure? Awesome work bud.
@@ItBurnsWhenIP_ I think he is actually making his own chicken broth with the whole chicken, not buying the powder. I make chicken broth whenever I am sick for more then 2 days, and I always use a whole pasture-raised chicken.
Thank you for your efforts, Ethan! As I dst here eating a leftover restaurant chicken enchilada for lunch, it occurres to me that the cheap stringy breast might make much better pulled chicken than the expensive one. Likewise extra water wont really matter in soups, stews, or casseroles. Like you said, it depends on how you want to cook it.
I'm thinking the same thing, @brucetidwell7715. All those layers of stringy muscle would make pulling chicken for BBQ much easier.
I love that you did this! The only thing I wish you had added was a Cornish cross that was raised naturally on a natural diet like the small chicken breast. I raise my own meat chickens on my farm and I raised the fast growing breed (which is referred to as a jumbo Cornish cross). I was shocked at the flavor difference between what I raised and what you can buy at the store. We do use a water bath because we like to brine the chicken before we freeze them but the flavor is fantastic. I think that those fast growing birds get a bad rap because most people don't try them when they're raised properly.
As a former butcher, I will say that ABF Chicken is definitely worth the extra money. Most people don't realize that chickens are carnivorous, they're little T-Rexes. The only reason to give chickens antibiotics is when they are raised in cages. Chickens raised in cages quite frequently die from disease and the other chickens in the cage will eat the dead chicken thus spreading the disease. Which is why cage free, ABF (antibiotic free) chicken costs more. Also, if you've ever cut into a piece of chicken and found a hard or tough spot, that's most likely Cancer or some type of tumor. You don't want to eat that. It doesn't need to be organic though.
Very helpful info!
That should be the lowest standard there is.
I appreciate this video. I’ve tried both and so many in between. Overall it’s chicken breast. Minor differences but for so much more I’m sticking with low or mid priced chicken breast. If I had an endless budget I’d buy the premium one, but for a middle class or lower class person go with what you can afford. It’s still good
we raise a few chicken where i'm from, and they're the slow growing kinds of chickens. I can definitely tell from experience, the ones we raised has a lot more flavor to them especially in a soup base dish (tinolang manok). store bought ones has less flavor and the texture of the meat is less "meaty" while the ones we raised are otherwise. I think the cook time also takes a part why the soup has much more flavor. The meat of the chickens we raised is usually much tougher (it is more "meaty") hence it needs much longer cook time, but that also makes the broth more umami. While if you try to cook the store-bought ones for a long time, the meat would just disintegrate.
While I do agree with this, the chicken breast is usually just bland no matter the chicken. Chicken thigh, and chicken bones, from chickens that are raised outside have WAY more complex flavors and aromas. I cook a lot with store chicken here in the States, and i remember going to Mexico and buying a chicken from a local ranch, the flavor was so much more complex and intense that I felt that the food I made didn't taste good/were off balance because I was used to seasoning bland supermarket chicken! I got better the more I cooked those kinds of chickens, but the breast was always easier to season since it was similarly bland
we call it ''arabic chicken'' here ( entirely organic chicken raised on kitchen left overs and free ranging )
the meat feels like that of entire different animal , even though it's literally the same factory farm chicken but raised free range . However unlike the stuff sold in super market , it's entire 100 % free range and not 51 % quota to hit , like the stuff they are trying there
I usually buy the cheap, then salt it and let it sit in fridge for hours uncovered in a drip pan. The sear you get on that dried out breast is amazing…but this method works on all kinds of chicken. Amazing video.
I wish you had gone over what do they actually feed the chickens with and nutritional differences between both like you did with eggs. They are definitely loading the cheap chicken with steroids
And kidney destroying antibiotics, I’m sure some of that leeches into us.
Most of the times there are federal regulations that prevent use of steroids. "fortunately" for the industry, chicken is very suitable to put a lot of fluid in, which is done a lot in cheap halal chicken in Europe. Also, those chickens are fed power food, and it's awful to see how they look after a couple of weeks. Very little feathers and they can't even walk anymore.
And by the way, the slaughter of chicken can be really awful as well. Again, depending on what you're buying.
I feel like most people are buying the cheapest food they can find or quit eating animals. But please, support humanly raised animals.
I like this video. That explains why I enjoy the pasture raised chicken more. I always found the mass produced one to be more rubbery
I stopped buying the cheap stuff because I kept having issues with "woody" chicken. This is when the bite feels rubbery similar to raw chicken, even though its cooked to temperature. When I finally took the leap and bought air chilled chicken (mainly Bell and Evans), I never had those issues againmaillard
Woody chicken can be fairly easy to spot, just look for and avoid the white striping. This has like a 95% success rate, when COVID first hit I remember it felt like every meal was woody, but since being more selective with which package we took home I can't remember the last time I had a tough chicken cut, at our home anyways
Exactly. I switched over to paying a bit more for my chicken and it is noticeably better for grilling.
@@dmondra2 YES! Woody chicken skyrocketed at the beginning of covid. It was also around that time that McDonald's suddenly removed all the chicken breast items from their menu citing "supply chain issues". Looking back, it was definitely because they could no longer reliably source usable-quality chicken breast.
Avoiding the white striping helps, but I still have a lot of times when I end up leaving the grocery story with pork or beef instead because they don't have any chicken without it.
Just made a comment about woody chicken wondering how not a single person here is mentioning it. God bless you sir. It's a nightmare. Can't tell you how many times I've had to spit out chicken after spending too much time preparing due to inedible woody breast syndrome. I've sous vide cooked breasts from the same package side by side and had one come out tender and the other you couldn't cut through with an axe. Stuff of nightmares. The only brand I've found that has guaranteed no woody chicken is Cooks Venture (shown in this video). Too bad they just went out of business. I'm back on the hunt now and feeling rather hopeless tbh. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that it wasn't mentioned or seemingly even known about in this video.
Personally the reason I'm willing to pay extra for chicken breast has to do with exactly what you mentioned first. Working in the restaurant industry for years our food supply here in the states is plagued with "woody" chicken breasts which is an unpleasant texture you get in these mass farmed chicken breasts. If I don't want to splurge to avoid this id rather just buy thighs to avoid even chancing wasting my money on one of these chickens
I don't mind paying a premium, living in the developed world and being able to afford it, for humanely raised animal products. It would be nice to see more of those without the bs, anti-science "organic" and "non-GMO" markings. For your testing (and it's excellent work as always, btw), I think it's not "more expensive" vs cheaper, but rather water injected/added chicken vs not. Of course, the non-water added chicken will just be naturally more expensive anyway, but all of the problems with texture and frying seems to be solely because of the added water.
Thanks for saving me from having to type out a couple paragraphs.
I was going to say almost the same! Non-gmo is absolute bullshit, gmo has saved millions of lives from starvation. For vegetables, organic is worse for the environment and yields inferior products, but for meat and eggs it's usually better (at least where I'm from) because of the standards in raising. I would hope you could get non-organic products with the same standards, but it's such an effective marketing trick you might as well go for it if you're abiding anyway.
Thanks for being scientifically aware. Non-GMO is pure marketing horse shit for the uninformed.
Anti GMO hysteria is a huge problem.
I'd say the biggest variable is the chilling method. Air chilled seems to do better for fried and grilled processes. If you plan on shredding and saucing, the water chilled seems like it would make it easier.
Meat and vegetables are the things I never cheap out on. I have no issue getting store/cheaper brands for most things but usually didn’t go cheaper on the chicken. That being said, seeing that there’s not much of a difference on the actual food front makes me rethink that a bit.
Would love to see a test of how easy or difficult browning is for the different chicken breasts, and if dry brining can make up for the difference. Water release tends to give me a hard time, and I end up with a pool of it in my pan that needs to be removed for any browning to happen. Most of the time I think I'm just crowding the pan or not managing heat right, but I've been wondering if the cheapo chicken is sabotaging my efforts.
As someone who's baked a lot of chicken in their life, I do appreciate water chilled chicken thighs for baking on a broiler pan, they shrink down and brown up perfectly where air chilled chicken would overcook and become leathery. Generally I'm using this for something like chicken salad, however. Thank you so much for this deep dive on how it changes properties for frying, as I hadn't made the connection.
Turn down the oven temp for the air chilled chicken. The one pumped with water is going to take longer to heat up and cook, than the one that is air chilled. Just have to adjust your temp to get the same results.
It wouldn't overcook if you didn't overcook it :)
It's always great seeing the same products I see at my HEB in your videos. Haven't watched the video yet, but we always get the cook's venture heirloom chicken breasts for ethical reasons, so I'm looking forward to this video.
Bro thank you for making this, I can definitely tell that by just 12 min I know exactly what type
Chicken I like lol.
I don’t like that fibrous chewiness some chicken has & I know it’s not always gonna be that way, but I can tell by the texture of the chicken that - that is the type chicken I like
10:10 this is how i cook for chicken breast for protein powder for on the go, blend with KFC seasonings and wuh lah😊
On the fried chicken test, one variable id like to have seen is in the preparation. Most fried chicken recipes often call for a brine… be that a water based brine or a buttermilk. Especially as breast meat being so bland when compared with dark meat, brining is almost essential when frying chicken.
I would think the advantages of the smaller breast would disappear as brining or marinating is going to introduce moisture into the meat and yield very similar results
The water chilled breast wouldn't absorb brine as well since it's already saturated, so it might still make a difference.
I've noticed exactly this in my own fried chicken sandwiches at home. When I've just used salt, the batter just shed right off. Buttermilk brine and that shit is sticky. Haven't varied the chicken up like he did though, it would be an interesting experiment
@@magical11 It may not absorb as much brine, but the salt concentration will likely be the same since the salt will travel into the meat due to osmotic pressure
If you're looking to impart some flavor with the brine, the more dry air dried breast would be better. A salty brine would just suck the moisture out of a wet breast without imparting any flavor.
@@fairbanj It's counter-intuitive, but the salt won't move into the breast meat to equalize the concentration; it's the water that moves. So if we assume that chicken meat acts as a semi-permeable membrane, the water will actually leave the meat and into the brine.
0:12 I, too, have 396262 flavours on the door of the fridge 🧐🎩
I would be curious if the differences (other than texture since the fibers are larger to begin with) might narrow if you salted the mega breast and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to pre-expel some of the excess moisture before cooking?
Depends, was it frozen and thawed or fresh, I find they cook different. Previously frozen does not retain moisture as well when cooked.
It's very interesting video. After watching this, now I have more clear standard what chicken that I would bought. If I want to make more watery dish, or if I don't want my chicken too dry, then I would choose one with water. If I want more crispy texture for the dish, then I would choose air chilled one. Thanks for the experiment.
The water should also mean you're paying for water weight. Meaning you're paying too much for your chicken.
You're overpaying 12% instead of 300% though.
00:00 🍗 Exploring the differences between expensive and cheaper chicken breasts for taste, texture, and production factors.
01:07 🐔 Factors influencing chicken prices: breed, raising methods, processing, and certifications.
02:21 🐣 Testing two chicken breasts from different breeds: one from a fast-growing modern breed and another from a slower-growing breed.
03:30 🌿 Differences in raising methods: slower growth, free-range, and pasture-raised definitions and their impact on cost.
04:56 🏷 Understanding chicken packaging labels and certifications: organic, humane, Global Animal Partnership, and non-GMO.
09:33 👅 Impact of breed, raising, and processing on chicken flavor: organic might offer better texture but not necessarily better taste.
12:53 🍖 Chicken breasts tend to be bland due to low fat content; seasoning and preparation methods significantly influence taste and aroma.
14:42 🍔 More expensive chicken may produce better-fried chicken due to better adherence of breading, but differences in taste and aroma might not be significant.
22:07 🤔 Purchasing considerations: Expensive chicken might not offer a distinct taste advantage, but texture and ethical considerations could impact choices.
You went the extra mile on this one. You have my respect. 😌🥃
This is actually generated by AI@@ShovelChef
i love ai
Salute to you
@@ShovelChefit’s called Tammy AI. You enter a TH-cam link and it spits out a summary
After having several bad experiences with "Woody Chicken Breast" I will always go for expensive breast now. Woody chicken is the one of the most disgusting textures possible.
Or you could try chicken thigh and have a way better time
What about the nutritional quality comparison between both. The most important part that wasn't discussed.
@@bideo-r1c Shhh, don't tell them. Getting tired of every good bargain getting "discovered" and then seeing the price shoot up.
One item of note, as a chef I could alleviate the water issue by simply applying a dry brine to the cheaper breast(cover in salt/seasonings in the fridge open) and it would definitely fix the issue while saving the money.
how long should we leave the chicken in the fridge?
@@Li1190 on a baking sheet with a wire rack, season both sides liberally (the salt especially, most will be lost) place them in the fridge for minimum 2 hours , 4-6 hours maximum (overnight works for whole birds/larger cuts of beef etc) you are looking for the salt to effectively "disappear" and moisture to either pool in the tray beneath or simply evaporate. You may need to wipe or even rinse off the meat afterwards to ensure it isn't too salty, make sure to pat it dry regardless before cooking.
Should the salt cover the breast completely? Also does the type of salt matter (kosher vs iodised)?
@@billykann7725 I'm going to try this next time with a before/after weigh-in to see how much moisture was removed. Wonder if we can come close to extracting that 10% of water?
@@stevehoge I would be interested to see the difference between a Just salt dry brine and a salt+seasoning one. Does it remove more water, and does the flavor penetrate the meat more than just adding the spices right before cooking?
I didn't expect this much. Thought it was going to be just some dude in his kitchen cooking chicken😂. Great video. I just have to watch it later because I'm eating chicken..
I've both noticed and read about one issue with these very large chicken breasts you see a lot in the stores, and that's their texture. Once they get too big they often take on a sort of "woody" texture that is really unpleasant. When I first noticed it I thought it was that the meat had been frozen and thawed a couple times or something, but I read that it was due to their size and ever since then I've avoided the freakishly large ones, and it seems to be that that was the issue.
Yea woody chicken is awful. Look for the striations in the meat, if there's a lot of thick white striping that very clearly denotes the muscle grain of the breast look for a different package. The less white striping you see the better.
Yeah ever since I've bought young whole chickens I've never come across the woody texture
The good part is that this is only on the top few millimeters of breast. The bad news is if you accidentally make a sandwich out of it, you're gonna be disappointed....
Back at the beginning of covid there was a point when suddenly ALL of the chicken available for sale in my area was woody, even more expensive brands. I ate very little chicken for a good two years. It's gotten a little better now, but you still have to look over chicken carefully before you buy it.
It's a nightmare finding good chicken breast, for that reason, to the point I've pretty much completely buying chicken breast meat
What a great video that strengthens my argument that when friends say “why are you getting those, that’s expensive; and the cheaper meat is good enough!?” I can tell them that besides my personal opinion of why I chose it more often, this video also explains it in more depth.
YES! People will buy those cheap mega-breasts that are almost the size of turkey breasts because they're cheaper and they think there isn't any difference. But then they end up throwing away a huge portion of it because it's peeling apart and has that disgusting woody texture. People don't believe me that paying a little extra gets you chicken that's actually edible and doesn't make a nasty "crunch" sound when you cut it.
Great video. Would it be possible to buy the water chilled chicken then in effect air dry it in your fridge? Say, remove it from the package, stick it in a cooking rack over a plate to catch any drops, then letting water evaporate?
You can to some extent. If you salt it and leave it on a rack uncovered, it’ll dry out and you’ll get crisper skin. It most likely will retain chlorinated water on the inside though.
This was my thought. I’d use salt though to help draw out the moisture in the fridge overnight. We use the same technique for steaks or roasts in the fridge
In my opinion, it is not so much price but where you buy it. There are a couple major stores where I bought meat where it was...not good. But if something is on sale at a place where I know it will be good, that is fine and a bonus
Super interesting video, thank you so much for the effort you put into making this!
This channel keeps delivering year after year. Thank you Ethan.
As someone who pasture-raises for my home use and not to sell, the TASTE is markedly more intense. However, I do cook with skin on and the fat that does develop (although it isn't much because pasture-raised) is MUCH darker yellow than the fat you had on your pasture chicken in the video, this fat and skin is what probably makes it so noticeably more flavorful. Heck, you can just fry the wings of the pasture raised without a dredge or spices and they're amazing by themselves! Taste is a BIG check difference for me.
This is so true! When I first ate my own free ranged chicken that we raised ourselves, I realized everything in the store is a bland imitation- even the expensive "organic" ones. My kids refused to eat chicken from the store after eating our own chickens- it's so bland and mushy.
Have you done a double-blind taste test?
@@kaldogorath My political views don't allow me to believe in the scientific method.
I would really like to see you compare these chicken breasts to ones that were flash frozen at the slaughterhouse and shipped frozen. I have a theory that these will not retain as much water as the refrigerated ones and this should result in a better, cheaper chicken because frozen shipping and transport is much more highly regulated than refrigerated transport.
Some of my favorite food videos I’ve come across recently I can actually use in my own shopping.. thanks for the content.
Related memory about how fast chickens grow. We bought some tiny chicks from a local farm store. The chickens grew to full-sized faster than I thought possible... much faster than a cat, dog, or person comes to size. The hens seemed to be full-sized after about 3 months. We had 5 of them but the other chickens targeted one of them and pecked it to death. They were super-loud so we gave them away. We lived on a farm and had children at the time.
Really enjoyed your “objective” experiment and candidness. Very well articulated. To me, the question isn’t “is the $9 chicken better”, but is it 3x better than the $3 chicken? For example, we’ve had world class $500 sushi in Vegas. We’ve also had great $30 all you can eat sushi. The $500 sushi is certainly better, but not 15x better. With the same budget, I’d rather have 15 great meals than 1 amazing meal.
Forgot to mention the water soaked chicken is soaked in chlorine water that has 40 or more times chlorine than the average pool and then you eat that chlorine
But that's ALWAYS the case. If you spend twice the amount of money on a computer it won't perform twice as well. If you spend twice as much on tomatoes it won't be twice as good. At the very bottom of the barrel, that might be the case but other than that it never will. The further up the pyramid you go, the more difficult it'll be to make it better and the price rises quickly. People pay a lot of money on electronics to make it 10% more efficient for example.
That's a very selfish approach considering the bad reality of animal mass production. Not only for the animals but also for the environment and yourself. You'll pay FAR MORE for the cheap alternative with your health and long-term consequences.
@@enoyna1001 love the judgmental people these days. Shaming people and calling them selfish. Only raise and slaughter animals for my consumption on my terms. Spend what I spend, eat what I eat, wear my kind of clothes, and drive what I drive etc. How privileged and self absorbed.
@@loganlasvegas If you raise animals for your own consumptions, then why would you even consider the initial question ($3 vs $9 for chicken)? I'm just curious.
I feel like the extra water is going to have a more dramatic negative effect if you freeze them too
Love these comparisons. Hope you do the whole chicken/thigh version. As roasting whole expensive chicken instantly takes me back to my nans kitchen the smell is so strong and distinctive. Smells so good, and just don't get taht from the cheap chickens.
Pork for me is by far the biggest difference in taste and texture between cheap and expensive, they don't even taste like the same animal. To the point my mates are split 50/50 on if they like it or not. Pork is such a strong taste when you get heirloom, slow grown well looked after. Where cheap pork is like chicken pretty bland.
Excellent video! This is a question and topic that needs to be addressed! Lots of value here
Lol - your mouth is watering so much when you're preparing to eat the sandwiches. It's hilarious. I love how much you enjoy eating the food it's so delicious
the 24 minute video on chicken i never knew I needed
Awesome video, I'm glad you added the footage on how the chicken are processed
It's always important to know what we eat and how these animals are treated, specially when our wallet is a big factor on our decisions
I would argue that doing a pickle brine or a buttermilk brine would be better than doing salt for the fried chicken test. I've noticed a major difference in shedding of the fried batter between just salting and doing a buttermilk brine(Which is my favorite for fried chicken). I might have to try this test myself and try different brining methods
Got that buttermilk brine recipe friend
These comparisons are gold. There are lots of creators doing comparisons but almost no one is actually doing proper tests and somewhat scientific methods. Cheers🎉
This explains why when I switched chicken brands to Tyson for fried chicken that the tenders shrunk so much. I was aghast, because the regular Walmart brand turned out so well. I am now remembering the one time I bought Tyson frozen chicken tenders (already made) in the bag and the quality was really bad. Repeat issues like this is what makes me begin to question the quality of the brand. I think I might try out pastured raised now though. That sounds the best.
You could try two techniques to minimize water:
1. Let the breast dry on a wire rack in the fridge for 24 hours
2. Par-cook the breast sous vide to expel water before breading and frying
ya exactly what I was thinking too, sous vide before frying would be amazing
dry brine too
This is exactly what I think should be done. Just sous vide the thing at 155f for 2 hours, slight chill in fridge/cold water before removing from bag, pat dry bread it and then fry it. You can get crispier chicken that way as well because you keep the batter from becoming drenched in oil as much.
Great video thanks! Curious are there any health benefits or differences among all the different ways the chicken is raised and processed?
I do know there is a huge difference for beef!
Grain fed beef is very inflammatory because of the over abundance of omega 6 vs omega 3. Grass fed is much better.
Chickens can naturally digest grain so the omega 6 balance isn't as big of an issue with beef.
I opt for the pasture-raised chicken so that I know my chickens had a better life. It's great to hear that it makes for a better eating experience also!
can you do one on butters, grassfed, supermarket brand, fancy brand etc>>
This is the content I live for. Also 23:14 is me at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels lazy river where the water rushes out 😂
1) Some parts of mass-produced chicken have 'woody breast' or really tough unpleasant fibers. This is the biggest reason to buy heritage breeds, and not something that shows up on a triangle test eating small portions. 2) Costco has very cheap air chilled chicken, and I wonder how well that performs. 3) I would assume you could remove the water from water-chilled chicken (maybe by salting or just leaving it open to air in the fridge) and it would fry just as well.
I usually buy the cheapest chicken I can find and I have definitely had some just as you described. Fortunately in my area that's fairly rare. Usually, they are just fine and what little difference there is isn't worth the three times price increase.
Yep - I’m find most chicken at the grocery store to be disgusting. Meat is one thing I’m willing to spend extra on if I’m able to buy from local farms
@@wingracer1614 In my area the math definitely works out on getting the more expensive chicken. When you get those cheap packages with 6-7 breasts in them, you're very lucky to end up with a full breast worth of edible meat once you cut away the parts that feel like a literal chunk of wood in your hand. It ends up being several dollars more per pound that way than just getting the nominally more expensive brands that you can confidently use all of.
@@pacoramirez7363 Doesn't surprise me, I'm just saying that in my area, the cheap stuff is usually very good. I certainly have had some bad stuff from time to time but it's rare. Though around super bowl time, it can be near impossible to find good wings. Seriously, the crap they have left in the grocery shouldn't even be legal to sell, LOL
I had the same problem when making fried chicken, with the breading coming off. I don't buy expensive chicken, just cheap store brand. But I discovered that it's not the chicken itself that causes it (i.e. I don't think it's the water in the chicken). You have to dry the chicken really well (I just use a kitchen towel and pat it down, then wrap it and let it sit in there for a minute), and then coat the dried breast with only cornstarch. THEN start your normal process of dipping it in milk/egg wash, seasoned flour mix, etc. Follow this and it'll stick perfectly every time. Don't believe me? All the evidence you need is KFC -- do you think they're buying organic, pasture-raised, air cooled chicken so the breading will stick? Hell no. They follow a similar process to the one I just described.
Don't think the coating peeling off is from the breast "shrinking" as part of the frying process. Pretty likely it generated more steam from the water in the breast, and that steam gets trapped in the dredge and inflated like a balloon during cooking.
I disagree. A tempura style batter would puff up and catch steam (think a funnel cake or beer battered fish), but for a breading like this with no gluten development it’s going to let the free water + steam out as it fries.
I’ve also done testing on wet vs dry brined grilled chicken and the wet brined chicken has more absorbed free water that is let off after cooking.
So a 200 g wet brined chicken will lose more weight than a 200 g dry brined chicken because part of that weight is free absorbed water from the brine that is easily squeezed out as the chicken cooks.
Maybe shrinks is the wrong word but, essentially with equal size portions the water chilled chicken has more water weight and less protein weight so you structurally lose more volume.
What would be the best way to dehydrate the water bound chicken before cooking to avoid shrinking?
Great video! FYI learned to perfect chicken-fried chicken from another channel. She uses similar method to yours (just more spices in the flour and an egg in buttermilk). After pounding the cutlets, she emphasizes to make sure the chicken is very dry so the breading crust doesn’t fall off later. I drain mine super well on paper towels for a few minutes, until dry, before dredging and it totally works.