I am sure this video will ruffle some feathers because as it turns out... happy chickens
aren’t necessarily tasty chickens. If you splurged on a pasture-raised chicken at your
local farmer’s market and had a hard time chewing it, you are not alone. So today we
are going to talk about how to buy chicken.
There is no one chicken that will fit everyone. The story most people like to hear is that
what’s good for the chicken is good for the environment, and for your health, and
for your taste buds. But that’s just not true. Even if you take the price out of the
equation, there are still many trade offs to consider.
First let’s discuss the marketing claims you’ll see on chicken packaging and what
they mean. If you hear claims like cage-free and pasture-raised
and picture something like this, I don’t blame you. That’s what I used to imagine
until I did a little research. I contacted the department of Agriculture at the University
of Massachusetts and they sent me a very helpful document that explains these marketing claims.
It is linked in the description below. Keep in mind that this applies only to the US,
other countries regulate these terms differently.
There are two big questions you should ask about these claims. Does the claim have a
legal definition and does it have any third party verification. If not, how useful is
it really?
Take Cage-free for example. It’s a perfect example of a term with no legal definition
or third party verification. It’s also taking something that’s the default and making
it sound really progressive and wonderful.
Labeling chicken meat as “cage-free” is like labeling orange juice as fat-free. All
orange juice is fat-free and all chickens raised for their meat are cage-free. Even
the companies that try to cut every corner do not use cages for meat chickens.
This claim has a somewhat different implication for the egg laying hens. Most laying hens
are raised in cages, so at least “cage-free” is not the default. But it’s totally fine
to label eggs or meat as “cage-free” even if the chickens are raised indoors in overcrowded
barns.
These two terms sound like they mean the same thing, but they don’t. “Humanely raised”
has no legal definition or third party verification, so anyone can slap it on their package. But
“certified humane” has third party verification so to get it, farmers need to meet some standards
of what the animals are fed and how they are raised and slaughtered. In case you are back
to the image of chickens running around outdoors, sorry to burst your bubble. Giving chickens
outdoor access is not a requirement for the certified humane label.
Even claims like free-range and pasture-raised don’t guarantee outside time because they
aren’t legally defined or verified by the third party. This means that there are no
minimums for the amount of space or the amount of time the chickens need to spend outdoors.
Here is how these terms are often used. A chicken producer creates an opening in the
barn that allows chickens access to the outdoors of some sort. The outdoor space could be grass
or cement. It could be large or small. The chickens might or might not use it. But because
the option for outdoors was given, the chickens can be labeled free-range or pasture-raised.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any farms that let their chickens roam on grass
and lead the kind of life that humans consider to be happy. Many small farmers that only
sell locally do give their chickens this kind of life. I am sure it’s wonderful for the
chicken. But what does it do to the taste? Unfortunately, nothing wonderful because the
more the chicken moves, the tougher it gets.
This is the first reason that the truly pastured farmer’s market chickens are tough. The
second reason is that in order to sell their chicken at a farmer’s market, the farmers
have to freeze them. At least that’s the regulation in most states. If the chicken
is frozen immediately after slaughter, it is still in rigor mortis and will taste extremely
tough. Ideally, the chickens would be chilled in the fridge for several days and only then
frozen, but that is rarely the case.
Is this kind of chicken hopeless from the culinary perspective? For roasting, yes. But
for braising, there is hope. If you cook it low and slow for a long time, it will eventually
soften. It will likely be very dry, but most braises produce a plentiful sauce so the dryness
won’t be as noticeable.
If your primary concern is animal welfare, your local farmer’s market is the best place
to buy your chicken, but if your primary concern is taste, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
From my experience, the easiest way to track down tasty chicken is to check out the menus
of your local pricey restaurants to see which brands they are serving. You don’t need
to actually eat at these restaurants. Most of them post their menus online. Many of them
will list the chicken brand on their menu making it sound like it’s the name of the
farm. They want their customers to think that they have this close relationship with their
chicken farmer and of course we are all eating it up with a spoon. The brands you see the
most in the Boston area are Bell & Evans, Giannone, and Misty Knoll.
These brands do produce very tasty chickens and it probably won’t come as a surprise
at this point in the video that none of these producers give chickens access to the outdoors.
The only exception to that is Bell & Evans Organic. Here is how I’d rate these brands
in terms of taste:
Misty Knoll and Giannone would tie for the first place
Bell & Evans Conventional would be in the second place
And Bell & Evans Organic in a very very distant third
I was as shocked as you probably are that Bell & Evans organic chicken is so much tougher
than their conventional chicken. But guess what I found out from digging around Bell
& Evans’ website? Their conventional chickens don’t get access to the outdoors, but their
organic chickens do. Is that a USDA requirement for the chicken to be certified organic? Nope.
That’s just a Bell & Evans thing. I am guessing the added exercise makes them tougher, but
of course, that’s just my hypothesis. There is no easy way for me to test it.
Another term that I wanted to talk about is “air-chilled.”
In Canada and Europe, chickens are normally chilled with air after slaughter and in the
US they are normally chilled in a water bath. But that’s gradually changing and some American
producers are choosing to air chill. All else being equal, air is definitely better because
the chicken skin stays dryer making it easier to crisp. Bell & Evans and Giannone both air-chill
and Misty Knoll water chills. So I’ve had delicious air-chilled chicken and delicious
water-chilled chicken. But here is what’s nice about the air-chilling claim. It has
nothing to do with making you feel ethical. It’s a signal to the consumer that this
brand is concerned with taste. If I found myself in another state with completely unfamiliar
chicken brands, the first chicken I would try would be the air-chilled one.
I know that this kind of video is very easy to misinterpret. I am sure that I’ll be
getting comments saying that I support factory farming and cruelty to animals. Look, I have
complete respect for people who choose to eat locally raised pastured meat, or not to
eat animal products at all. We all have different priorities, and I don’t judge anyone’s
choices. The reason I made this video is that I noticed that people often look for their
ideal chicken in the wrong place. If your primary concern is taste, it’s understandable
to go looking for it at the farmer’s market. It never fails when it comes to the produce,
right? But for chicken that’s rarely a path to culinary success. If your primary concern
is animal welfare, it’s understandable to head to Whole Foods looking for the package
with the most ethical sounding words. But the reality of these animals might not be
nearly as pretty as the package makes it sound, so your best bet might be a local meat CSA
or a farmer’s market.
Here are more thought provoking culinary videos for you to check out and a link to my online
classes is in the description below.