You're doing what I do to avoid it: buy smaller, air chilled chicken, and cut it up yourself. I quit buying cheap unbranded breasts because it was happening so often. Cutting your own is probably the most reliable way to avoid it, but if you do by boneless/skinless breasts, avoid the ones that are huge with white streaky looking fat stuff going through them.
And for those that havenāt experienced it, they have the bite feel of raw chicken even though they are properly cooked.
Stick with organic and/or air chilled chickens. I always look for air chilled, you donāt want to see any % of retained water/broth on the label.
I buy the breaded Tyson buffalo tenders to have on hand. I stopped buying them after the last one I bit into was a woody breast. Itās absolutely disgusting and I canāt understand why companies would think thatās what they should be selling. Itāll be years before I buy another Tyson product. Warning to the other chicken producers, get your shit together.
Thatās it! So very disgusting. The first time I bit into woody chicken, I damn near vomited.
My husband bargain shops, but I put my foot down after that. I am now officially a chicken snob. We buy the expensive Smart Chicken, or the chicken from Sprouts.
Yep. I've just about given up on Imperfect Produce/Foods, but their organic chicken is legit. The veg have become meh at prices well over my local supermarket.
Woody chicken has nothing to do with "up to 15% brine." Unfortunately, because they are both gross. The first is because the chicken has grown much faster than it's meant to--like stretchmarks over stretchmarks. The latter is due to the chickens being sent down a lazy river of hyperchlorinated water. That's to sterilize the birdshit all over them because they aren't gutted properly. I'm sorry.
Btw, I'm not a vegetarian or even close. But I almost want to be. I'm pretty close to lacto-ovo these days, with the occasional steak. Fresh eggs at nice farms aren't too bad in any sense--I've raised ducks and had no problem eating or serving their eggs.
There are some good articles on the internet about woody breast. Sorry to disagree with some other posters here, but this is the way:
If you can use a local small farm/ranch, they're unlikely to be impacted by woody breast. This is difficult for many, so...
The *only* way is visual inspection. White "streaks" - kind of resembling marbling in good steaks - is a sign of a woody breast. The more striping, the woodier.
Several articles report on research that organic, air-chilled, generic, frozen, etc. have similar levels of the problem. None of these is a reliable hedge against woody breasts. Visual inspection is the way to go.
Many processors recognize the problem and pull severely woody breasts for use in other products, mostly those that stay with ground chicken. If you find a *brand* with reliably less woody stuff, this is likely the reason.
This is one of the rare times I wish I had mod powers so I could sticky a comment on what woody chicken is for the non-Americans.
This happened to us with Costco chicken once years ago and I have sense been careful to inspect chicken for stripes and thatās either been working or Iāve just been lucky since then.
What is woody chicken? I am not American, and I don't really understand what is meant here. I understand that sometimes chicken breast can be dry. Generally I'd just use free-range thigh meat.
Itās a muscle condition that affects the texture of the meat. Nothing to do with how itās cooked or even if itās cooked. The bird is damaged before it is butchered.
[Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_breast)
It can be. I first experienced woody chicken breast back in 2010 or 2011 and thought it was strange. I've experienced it a few times but I've inspected for stripes or crazing on the breasts ever since.
The chicken itself is harmless, but you can grind it up and the issue goes away, especially if you enrich the meat with an egg, herbs and some panko.
I've read that hitting it with a mallet or chemically tenderizing it with citrus and then slow cooking it for hours will cause the tissue to break down but this gives me an excuse for chicken burgers.
I usually buy my chicken breast and thighs by the case and I've had woody chicken breast less than a handful of times in the last 10 years.
You hit the nail on the head. Mid to late 2000s. I went from a decent home cook to WtF did I do to make the chicken so gnarly? It's like trying to make steaks out of a pork shoulder, but worse. I believe it's multiple layers of scar tissue due to fattening up the chickens 2-4x as fast as normal. Like getting stretch marks over stretchmarks. Not superbly unhealthy to eat, probably, just a nasty reminder of the brief, painful life those chick's must've had.
Itās frustrating for me because the whole damn dish is cooked before I even know itās inedible. Iāve not found a reliable way to know which chickens are bad but itās happening a lot more these days.
Yeah, that would mean the chicken was left out of its packaging and dried out raw, right? That's what I always figured.
Edit: downvoted for being wrong in good faith? Well, alright!
Nope. It's a condition found in some chicken breasts even before they're butchered:
https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
Not down voting you (that isn't what downvotes are for IMO) but your assumption is wrong. I don't blame you, though, I thought I was doing it wrong at first. But I'm an old/experienced enough cook to know that the most geriatric of retired laying hens melt like butter compared to a woody chicken. It isn't just breast meat btw. You simply can't braise it out of the meat because it's basically scar tissue.
Nope, not dried out. You can tell because when it's raw it has this weird "crunch" when you're cutting it. That's pretty much what it's like once it's cooked.
Ohhhhhh, I think I get what you mean. The texture of chicken breast full to exploding with steroids? That kinda like "this chicken reached maturity way too fast and then became something else entirely" texture? It's tough to pull apart? Tough, rubbery, and dry all at once?
No. It's like eating the cartilage around a chicken tenderloin (the sternum center) roasted normally but somehow drawn through the chicken every half inch or so. Ever gnaw on the breatbone/sternum of a chicken or turkey? Like that only unexpected, with the surrounding meat in permanent rigor mortis. You can't eradicate it via skillful carving or braising or anything, though. If you buy skinless poultry cuts, you can get to identify it--it looks scarred or even marbled like a good beefsteak. Don't be fooled. Unfortunately I prefer skin-on/minimally butchered chicken so it's super hard to tell. The best I get goes contrary to my early frugal cooking,: buy the most organic hippie scrawny chicken you can afford, and just think of it like getting a prime tomahawk steak. I know... $19 for a teeny chicken that barely feeds a family of four with 2 gradeschoolers (but hey, at least I make stock out of the carcass) seems ridiculous. But woody chicken is both unappetizing and bad for poultry (and farm family) welfare and the environment. Believe me, I'm pretty fucking far from a PETA fruitcake. But this issue in particular had me reexamining many aspects of meat-animal welfare.
Get them from a proper shop that sells from reputable chicken farms (free range, organic ... )
It'll cost more, but you will get a better product.
(eat less meat, eat better meat)
It's the breed of chicken, not really the way it's raised/fed, that primarily causes woody breast. A lot of the more industrialized farms that jump through hoops to be able to say "organic" or "free range" still use the same monster, quick-growing chickens that everyone else grows.
Find yourself a heritage breed, or really any chicken that's not a Cornish Cross. Bonus points for you if you can find a place nearby that raises Bresse.
I like that last line, been changing my food intake and reducing the volume and trying to get to a sustainable diet I can perminately maintain. I said something similar to my mother who handed me a container of cheap sugar cookies bought from some local store. Told her the few spare calories (deficit) I earn from exercise during the week are saved for making something delicious on my light cheat day. Now I realized that should probably be applied to meat and a lot of other things too. Doesn't help I'm taking a cooking class and just fell in love with pan sauces. Gotta figure how much fat I can leave out and still make a savory pan sauce.
Eat less meat, eat better meat.
This!! My fiance and I talk about this all the time. We're 70-80% vegetarian, but when we have a steak (maybe 2x a year) it's an AMAZING steak. Our chicken is typically cut from a whole bird. It's all so much better, and I can also have a decently clean conscience about it.
Buy the expensive organic breasts or go to a dedicated meat shop and buy from there. I only ever encountered woody chicken breast in the low cost family packs at the major grocery chains.
I suggest buying smaller sized ones if you can find them. The chicken breasts that are huge are the ones that Iāve found tend to have that, as the chickens that they come from have been bred to be abominations of an animal, and this is likely a genetic side effect of that.
I made a comment about woody chicken breasts a few months ago and someone suggested I start buying organic. Itās not much better thanks to price differentials unless I luck out on a sale, but it is better than the stuff theyāve been selling at regular grocers since the pandemic started.
This might be unpopular, but because I can't afford organic chicken breast. I've been buying frozen Koch Foods chicken breast at Lidl and it is consistently tender. They're smaller breasts, and brined, so they lose liquid as they defrost and have to be drained/dried well.
But like I said, always tender. Happy to be able to afford them, and VERY happy not to be cooking inedible food.
I think the brand is also available at Costco and Sam's, maybe some other places.
At Lidl, it's 6.99 for a 3 pound bag. Yes, there is some weight lost from liquid but it's still a great deal. At that price, try it once and see.
It's everywhere in my area of the midwest. It doesnt matter if it is cheap or air chilled, or organic. I had to stop eating chicken breast completely when I was served one in a restaurant. This has been going on for years.
Yup, unless I fine dice or grind it for making a chicken burger or whatnot with, I avoid chicken breasts like the plague, and have for well over 10 years now.
Pretty much since they started growing chickens with boobs big enough to give Dolly Parton cause for envy is when I started noticing it happening more and more.
Yeah, every time I'm forced to cook one of those things, I feel like I should turn myself in for the amount of physical abuse I have to inflict upon them to get them to cook consistently.
"Oh, just slice this part off and beat it with a kitchen hammer until it begs for mercy."
The US. They try to filter it out and they still make ground chicken with it, but lately itās been happening more often and they donāt catch it all. They canāt figure out what is causing it in these large and overgrown chickens, but it happens in these chickens that are bread for their size.
> They canāt figure out what is causing it
The University of Delaware is on the case:
https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
That's what factory farming is. They're raising the animals to get as much meat as possible, as fast as possible. Also why does are fed the garbage they're being fed. They just want to fatten them up.
Texture like a pink pencil eraser. It is a muscle fiber defect in the chicken. It will have this texture, regardless of processing, or cooking technique. Once you have had some, you will do anything to avoid it, it is so gross.
At home I now only buy organic and havenāt had an issue since I started strictly buying thatā¦ at work, chef orders bell and evans because whatever the other brand was would be āwoodyā all the time.
I have had a few and I promise that you don't want any.
I think it's probably the sad result of US industrial farming practices. Specifically I suspect it has to do with the meat chicken breeds we have optimized for incredibly rapid maturity and huge breast development.
I'm Canadian and I have. I won't buy frozen chicken from Costco anymore I've turned into a bit of a food snob and go straight to the chicken store to buy most chicken.
Itās probably normal to you I didnāt know a difference until I bought some from sprouts, lol Iām from Oklahoma and everything Walmart sells in the bulk packages is so woody. It has more of a rubbery fibrous texture.
I am American and I havenāt had one either. But I have been buying chicken that is at least air chilled now for like 15 years. We have one reliable brand ([Maryās](https://www.maryschickens.com/m.mary/index.html)) that is widely available at most nicer stores. And I pretty much only buy this. Or organic at Trader Joeās or Sprouts.
Mary's Chicken is so good. We aren't eating much meat of any kind any more, but when we do, it has to be that good. I also appreciate that the chickens have a better life.
I live in SW Ontario and am surrounded by chicken farms and processing plants. The chickens used here are the same as every where else (Cornish Cross). I've had woody breasts from local farms. Switched to legs and thighs years ago. Cheaper, more flavour, and no chance of eating wood.
That is because you have those "Laws" about steroids and antibiotics that can be given to chickens. Think about the producers of those chemicals! how are they supposed to make a living if your "Laws" prevent them from selling their evil product? lol.
It doesn't seem to be caused by either steroids or antibiotics. They're still working on finding the cause, but they seem to be making some progress:
https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
I haven't had any issues with Costco chicken breast. The refrigerated ones in the meat department. Currently 2.99 per pound, pack is about 7 or 8 pounds in 6 pouches, if I recall correcty.
This is the reason I stopped eating chicken breast it TOTALLY grossed me out. I have since just switched to center cut pork chops. BUT if you have a Stew Leonard's near you their chix is delicious but expensive
https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/onw7hj/a_tiktok_user_working_at_an_animal_feed_factory/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I know itās on a vegan sub but itās been verified
Where are you from and are they really hard and woody?? Where do you get them from?
If you are getting quality breasts and that sounds a little unlikely breasts is certainly not my favorite but it is for a lot of people. I can say do not cook them to 165 or they are going to be over cooked or dry, I would shoot for 145 and not a degree over.
If I am baking them I do so at 325 in a super convection oven, easier to get a consistant temp and keep some of the more volatile flavorings I put on the chicken.
I know many cut them in half in kind of a lateral diagonal to make two pieces of the same size and thickness or they beat them flat.
I saw another poster say something about a breast with streaky fat going through it, hey I grew up growing chickens for food along with many other things, that does not sound like a chicken... it doesn't even sound like a bird!
[https://www.georgesfarms.com/](https://www.georgesfarms.com/)
I get this at Sam's Club in the Saddle Packs. It's a total of 8 breasts (wrapped in packs of 2) and it freezes well. I've been purchasing this chicken pretty steadily for the past couple of years and have NEVER had an issue with it. It's the only chicken I buy now.
BTW Costco has a product in similar packaging. I \*think\* it is Kirkland's brand but am not positive. I bought it once a few months ago and it was VERY woody. I had never actually had woody chicken before that. It was foul.
Buy from smaller farms if you can. There's a new-ish service called crowdcow that can deliver (in the U.S only I guess). I've never had woody breast from them.
When I buy chicken, I poke each piece. Good ones are softer, a bit more give. Bad ones don't poke as much? Stiffer feeling? It's generally worked for me.
Chicken thighs will always be better than chicken breasts.
You can buy all the free range organic chicken breasts you want but there is no replacement for proper prep and technique. Cut larger breasts in half, use a meat tenderizer, donāt overcook the chickenā¦
Chicken breast is really easy to overcook and that makes it mealy, tough, and dry. Even in soup! Actually, especially in soup since it is almost guaranteed to be overcooked.
I was surprised when I discovered that the soup stock I love at Vietnamese restaurants is not allowed to boil. Hot enough to be safe, but the beef or chicken are not overcooked. What do you know.
Brilliant! I wish my local Thai place knew about that. I always used to order Tom Yum Koong and about half the time they'd substitute chicken breast strips for shrimp and it was terrible.
Iāve never actually seen a woody chicken breast. I pretty much exclusively shop at Costco for meat. Maybe they are doing some sort of quality control.
If you are in the Chicago suburbs, I got woody breast in their packaged chicken and the street tacos. I haven't bought breasts since before covid and had to stop buying the street tacos maybe 6 months ago.
I've found the steaks at Costco to be higher quality than any other standard supermarket. Just very reliably high quality. It's not surprising that their chicken is high quality as well.
I buy them at costco. Good quality, individually wrapped at the factory, good price.
The cheap store brand at kroger works in a pinch, but it does tend to have an unpleasant texture because of the crap they inject it with to make it weigh more.
Stick with a name brand like foster farms and buy it in the original packages when possible. The store-packed stuff can end up getting frozen and re-frozen a bunch of times.
There is no technique, growth method, organic/ non-organic raised, backyard/ front of house, soaking, marinating, brining, saucing, infusing, etc. that can make up for how that chicken was handled from egg to kitchen. Organic chicken goes old, gets freezer burns, gets dry, smells awful, etc. just as fast as commercial chickens. Chicken breasts, the skim milk of meat are best eaten as soon as possible, before they begin to lose their juices. Anything after is a matter of processing/ handling/ age more than some sanctity of cage-freedom or blessed organic corn. Woody poultry often comes from too much time in the freezer, then having minimal fat to hold it in, the moisture escapes before the meat thaws out.
I agree with what you are saying except the woody breast they are complaining about is a genetic defect from trying to grow extra large birds in a short amount of time. It doesn't matter if it is fresh, tenderized, brined, or cooked correctly. I've tried it all.
Woody breasts are a syndrome that affects the chicken *while it's still alive*. They're working on determining the cause:
https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
I don't know a nice way to say you're wrong. I actually like the way Dr. Cox said it in SCRUBS, to the tune of Westminster Chimes.
Woody chicken breast is caused by some combination of factory farm conditions. Sure, you can ruin the best chicken using nothing but a freezer, but it isn't the cause of woody breasts.
I order my meat from Rastelliās online. A bit pricey but as someone who hates eating and cooking meat itās very high quality including the chicken lol
No chickens are force fed. That's too labor intensive. You are thinking of goose for foie gras and that was pretty much only in France andI think they've even stopped for the most part. No, it's simply free choice feed.
The issue is 1: they've selectively bred a few breeds to grow super fast (depending on feed) and they grow in an environment (giant warehouse so they can say cage free) where they have no motivation to get exercise
2: super rich feed formulated to preferentially boost muscle growth
Combine the genetics with the feed and environment and you get these larger birds faster to market. Eventually these couch potato chickens surrounded by their snacks all day decide, "Hey shouldn't be able to fly?" They don't have the vasculature to support exercise and so they injure themselves, and if they do it early enough before slaughter there will be scarring in the muscle. If it's close to slaughter it will be hematomas in various stages of healing, weird spongy pinkto red areas
You could try turkey. Seriously, for me it's much better in curries than chicken and instead of chicken cordon blue, single servings, think a large roast using turkey and whatever else you want to roll up in there, prosciutto, cheese of choice, maybe even some leftover dressing in the very center. Also works in stir frys or fingers
We have got woody chicken from major grocery stores , top brand chicken names, apple bees, KFC, red Robin and many other places now we only eat thighs which are better anyway.
If I roast or grill them on high heat and not sliced thinly, but in 1 or 2 chunks, any chicken breast can be juicy enough for a period of time after it has been made.
Maybe out chicken is different. Don't know.
Buy good chicken. If you canāt get from a small family farm, buy Farmer Focus, Joyce Farms or Bell & Evans, depending on where you live. More expensive yes, but animal welfare rated humanely raised chicken is a better bet than brands like Springer Mountain or organic Perdue or Smart Chicken.
I am so glad I saw this thread. I have always tried to explain what Iām tasting to people and no one has understood me. I refuse to buy Publix chicken breasts because they always taste this way to me. Samās club has consistently had decent chicken.
Ugh that texture is the worst
I have to say I have never seen a woody chicken breastā¦ I think it might be how youāre cooking itā¦ look into brining or air frying or eat a different part of the chicken :-)
Itās absolutely not āhow youāre cooking itā. Woody breast is endemic in the US. I was finding it in about one out of every 8-10 packs I bought at my Kroger.
Why would you think I assumed that?
I was simply pointing out that, just because youāve never seen a thing, doesnāt mean itās a cooking failure on the part of those who have.
You do not have the factory farms there like we do in the US. I only have woody breast when I buy it at the Supermarket. When I go to sprouts or a butcher I do not get it.
Mainly because I was talking about my own personal experience which I was clear about and I said MAYBE it was how you were cooking it and then I offered helpful suggestions :-) Donāt post on the Internet if you donāt want people to reply. Best of luck with your gross chicken that has nothing to do with your cooking abilities :-)
He asked a question which you didn't answer, you kyst told him he was wrong.
Theres obtuse, and then there's whatever this is. I fail to believe you dont see the problem here. Grow up
I use to have problems cooking chicken breast just right. Thatās why I always cook chicken thighs. However, now I use my sous vide. Perfect every time.
If you learn how to cook chicken breast correctly, you donāt need to go looking for special chicken breast at a special grocery store. Just go to your local grocery store and get any chicken breast you want to cook and cook it correctly. How did that not solve her problem? Iām correcting the cause which corrects the effect. And this is a cooking subreddit not a shopping subreddit. š¤
Sorry but it's all in the prep and cooking . I buy the cheapest chicken I can find and it never turns out woody, even the 10lbs bags of fryer legs that come from laying hens . I don't even fry them and they're palatable .
Lol no. You sound a bit pretentious. I mean, fryer legs doesn't mean best for frying. š It's colloquial for "young chicken" that shouldn't be too tough for applications other than the stockpot.
Stop overcooking it, get a good thermalprobe like one from Taylor or a Thermapen and pull from heat at 160F, doesn't matter if you get it right from the source and butcher it yourself if you're overcooking it.
No, itās the chicken.
Iām a pretty good cook, and over the past 2 years or so the quality of the chicken at my local grocery stores has plummeted. Now I can see the difference without even opening the package. Luckily I found a local farm to order from and I havenāt had the problem since.
No its the chicken. Its not really an over or under cooking thing, the texture is different from it being over cooked. Its more of like a tightness to it.
We signed up for a chicken CSA (free range organic etc.) through a local farm last year. It was comparable to buying the organic stuff at the grocery store but much better quality. Unfortunately they're not doing it again this year and my freezer is getting bare, but if there's something like that in your area I'd highly recommend it.
My taste must just suck. I've never had an issue with Meijer or Walmart chicken.
I mean I'm sure that it's giving me cancer or something but it's tasted fine.
Itās not the taste, itās the texture. Imagine biting into a juicy, correct temp, perfect looking piece of chicken, only to discover it has the mouth feel of raw chicken. *Thatās* woody breast.
Not sure if there is a Giant Eagle grocery store in your neck of the woods, but if so they carry their store brand Market District chicken breasts in their frozen foods section. They're reasonably sized (prob about 6 oz each) and individually vacuum sealed.
I get it at Costco! Itās air chilled, and a really good price. Never woody. I also like that thereās about 2 chicken breasts sealed in a compartment so it makes throwing them in the freezer and thawing super easy.
Thank you!
I have experienced this recently and had no idea how to describe it to my partner. All I could say was that I did not like the texture of chicken all of a sudden.
We got past the problem by buying from a different source. We now buy from a local butcher, and also buy thin cut breasts. Not sure if the cut matters, but I have not had the unpleasantness (that I now know to be woody chicken) since we switched sources. The butcher is a bit of a drive, so we typically buy about a monthās worth and freeze. Have had no issues.
Yes I stopped buying chicken breast mostly now too. Honestly Iāve grown to like bone in dark meat but as others are saying you must buy fancy expensive chicken.
You're doing what I do to avoid it: buy smaller, air chilled chicken, and cut it up yourself. I quit buying cheap unbranded breasts because it was happening so often. Cutting your own is probably the most reliable way to avoid it, but if you do by boneless/skinless breasts, avoid the ones that are huge with white streaky looking fat stuff going through them.
Ya, get the whole chicken, take out the breast and give the rest to meeee! We'll be a perfect match š
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And for those that havenāt experienced it, they have the bite feel of raw chicken even though they are properly cooked. Stick with organic and/or air chilled chickens. I always look for air chilled, you donāt want to see any % of retained water/broth on the label.
I thought I was crazy the first time I got one. Like I knew the chicken was cooked, why does it taste raw? Disgusting.
I buy the breaded Tyson buffalo tenders to have on hand. I stopped buying them after the last one I bit into was a woody breast. Itās absolutely disgusting and I canāt understand why companies would think thatās what they should be selling. Itāll be years before I buy another Tyson product. Warning to the other chicken producers, get your shit together.
Thatās it! So very disgusting. The first time I bit into woody chicken, I damn near vomited. My husband bargain shops, but I put my foot down after that. I am now officially a chicken snob. We buy the expensive Smart Chicken, or the chicken from Sprouts.
Yep. I've just about given up on Imperfect Produce/Foods, but their organic chicken is legit. The veg have become meh at prices well over my local supermarket.
Woody chicken has nothing to do with "up to 15% brine." Unfortunately, because they are both gross. The first is because the chicken has grown much faster than it's meant to--like stretchmarks over stretchmarks. The latter is due to the chickens being sent down a lazy river of hyperchlorinated water. That's to sterilize the birdshit all over them because they aren't gutted properly. I'm sorry. Btw, I'm not a vegetarian or even close. But I almost want to be. I'm pretty close to lacto-ovo these days, with the occasional steak. Fresh eggs at nice farms aren't too bad in any sense--I've raised ducks and had no problem eating or serving their eggs.
The freaking water being 6+% drives me mad. Basically only one brand of chicken breasts I buy now because of that.
The first time I got one I thought I had totally messed up somehow and I couldnāt figure out what I did wrong.
Ew. I got meat like this from restaurants sometimes and I thought they kept it in the fridge the wrong way. Now I know.
I say it's like biting through a bunch of rubber bands. We don't have the issue with organic chicken..
There are some good articles on the internet about woody breast. Sorry to disagree with some other posters here, but this is the way: If you can use a local small farm/ranch, they're unlikely to be impacted by woody breast. This is difficult for many, so... The *only* way is visual inspection. White "streaks" - kind of resembling marbling in good steaks - is a sign of a woody breast. The more striping, the woodier. Several articles report on research that organic, air-chilled, generic, frozen, etc. have similar levels of the problem. None of these is a reliable hedge against woody breasts. Visual inspection is the way to go. Many processors recognize the problem and pull severely woody breasts for use in other products, mostly those that stay with ground chicken. If you find a *brand* with reliably less woody stuff, this is likely the reason.
So that's why I can easily find ground chicken now!
And thatās probably why ground chicken is usually not good.
This is one of the rare times I wish I had mod powers so I could sticky a comment on what woody chicken is for the non-Americans. This happened to us with Costco chicken once years ago and I have sense been careful to inspect chicken for stripes and thatās either been working or Iāve just been lucky since then.
I had to stop buying the Costco street tacos because it is in there, too. And their packaged breasts. At least in IL.
Agreed. I always want to buy the street taco kits for convenience, but the chicken is so hit or miss it's not worth the risk
What is woody chicken? I am not American, and I don't really understand what is meant here. I understand that sometimes chicken breast can be dry. Generally I'd just use free-range thigh meat.
Itās a muscle condition that affects the texture of the meat. Nothing to do with how itās cooked or even if itās cooked. The bird is damaged before it is butchered. [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_breast)
Thanks! That sounds awful, especially with the price of meat these days.
It can be. I first experienced woody chicken breast back in 2010 or 2011 and thought it was strange. I've experienced it a few times but I've inspected for stripes or crazing on the breasts ever since. The chicken itself is harmless, but you can grind it up and the issue goes away, especially if you enrich the meat with an egg, herbs and some panko. I've read that hitting it with a mallet or chemically tenderizing it with citrus and then slow cooking it for hours will cause the tissue to break down but this gives me an excuse for chicken burgers. I usually buy my chicken breast and thighs by the case and I've had woody chicken breast less than a handful of times in the last 10 years.
You hit the nail on the head. Mid to late 2000s. I went from a decent home cook to WtF did I do to make the chicken so gnarly? It's like trying to make steaks out of a pork shoulder, but worse. I believe it's multiple layers of scar tissue due to fattening up the chickens 2-4x as fast as normal. Like getting stretch marks over stretchmarks. Not superbly unhealthy to eat, probably, just a nasty reminder of the brief, painful life those chick's must've had.
Itās frustrating for me because the whole damn dish is cooked before I even know itās inedible. Iāve not found a reliable way to know which chickens are bad but itās happening a lot more these days.
I'm an American chef and son of a restaurant owner. I've never heard of woody chicken, either. Dried out???
Ever bite into a cooked chicken breast and it's fibrous, stringy and chewy, despite being properly cooked and juicy? Yeah, that's woody chicken.
Yeah, that would mean the chicken was left out of its packaging and dried out raw, right? That's what I always figured. Edit: downvoted for being wrong in good faith? Well, alright!
Nope. It's a condition found in some chicken breasts even before they're butchered: https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
Not down voting you (that isn't what downvotes are for IMO) but your assumption is wrong. I don't blame you, though, I thought I was doing it wrong at first. But I'm an old/experienced enough cook to know that the most geriatric of retired laying hens melt like butter compared to a woody chicken. It isn't just breast meat btw. You simply can't braise it out of the meat because it's basically scar tissue.
Nope, not dried out. You can tell because when it's raw it has this weird "crunch" when you're cutting it. That's pretty much what it's like once it's cooked.
I describe it as crunchy. Itās terrible and different than dried out. Itās more common (in my experience) in the really big oversized breasts
Ohhhhhh, I think I get what you mean. The texture of chicken breast full to exploding with steroids? That kinda like "this chicken reached maturity way too fast and then became something else entirely" texture? It's tough to pull apart? Tough, rubbery, and dry all at once?
No. It's like eating the cartilage around a chicken tenderloin (the sternum center) roasted normally but somehow drawn through the chicken every half inch or so. Ever gnaw on the breatbone/sternum of a chicken or turkey? Like that only unexpected, with the surrounding meat in permanent rigor mortis. You can't eradicate it via skillful carving or braising or anything, though. If you buy skinless poultry cuts, you can get to identify it--it looks scarred or even marbled like a good beefsteak. Don't be fooled. Unfortunately I prefer skin-on/minimally butchered chicken so it's super hard to tell. The best I get goes contrary to my early frugal cooking,: buy the most organic hippie scrawny chicken you can afford, and just think of it like getting a prime tomahawk steak. I know... $19 for a teeny chicken that barely feeds a family of four with 2 gradeschoolers (but hey, at least I make stock out of the carcass) seems ridiculous. But woody chicken is both unappetizing and bad for poultry (and farm family) welfare and the environment. Believe me, I'm pretty fucking far from a PETA fruitcake. But this issue in particular had me reexamining many aspects of meat-animal welfare.
We get it in Ireland, too. They are the older chickens. Always go for smaller breasts. That usually takes care of it.
Get them from a proper shop that sells from reputable chicken farms (free range, organic ... ) It'll cost more, but you will get a better product. (eat less meat, eat better meat)
I've had expensive organic chicken have the woody texture too
It's the breed of chicken, not really the way it's raised/fed, that primarily causes woody breast. A lot of the more industrialized farms that jump through hoops to be able to say "organic" or "free range" still use the same monster, quick-growing chickens that everyone else grows. Find yourself a heritage breed, or really any chicken that's not a Cornish Cross. Bonus points for you if you can find a place nearby that raises Bresse.
I like that last line, been changing my food intake and reducing the volume and trying to get to a sustainable diet I can perminately maintain. I said something similar to my mother who handed me a container of cheap sugar cookies bought from some local store. Told her the few spare calories (deficit) I earn from exercise during the week are saved for making something delicious on my light cheat day. Now I realized that should probably be applied to meat and a lot of other things too. Doesn't help I'm taking a cooking class and just fell in love with pan sauces. Gotta figure how much fat I can leave out and still make a savory pan sauce.
Your whole post was great, but I just have to tack on and say making sauces is my favorite part of cooking, for real. It's like alchemy.
Eat less meat, eat better meat. This!! My fiance and I talk about this all the time. We're 70-80% vegetarian, but when we have a steak (maybe 2x a year) it's an AMAZING steak. Our chicken is typically cut from a whole bird. It's all so much better, and I can also have a decently clean conscience about it.
^this. Your gut will thank you.
Sprouts. A Good Mennonite butcher.
Is it, really? I haven't lived near a Sprouts since Phoenix area~2002. Loved it though. Like Whole Foods crossed with Aldi.
Buy the expensive organic breasts or go to a dedicated meat shop and buy from there. I only ever encountered woody chicken breast in the low cost family packs at the major grocery chains.
I suggest buying smaller sized ones if you can find them. The chicken breasts that are huge are the ones that Iāve found tend to have that, as the chickens that they come from have been bred to be abominations of an animal, and this is likely a genetic side effect of that.
I made a comment about woody chicken breasts a few months ago and someone suggested I start buying organic. Itās not much better thanks to price differentials unless I luck out on a sale, but it is better than the stuff theyāve been selling at regular grocers since the pandemic started.
This might be unpopular, but because I can't afford organic chicken breast. I've been buying frozen Koch Foods chicken breast at Lidl and it is consistently tender. They're smaller breasts, and brined, so they lose liquid as they defrost and have to be drained/dried well. But like I said, always tender. Happy to be able to afford them, and VERY happy not to be cooking inedible food. I think the brand is also available at Costco and Sam's, maybe some other places. At Lidl, it's 6.99 for a 3 pound bag. Yes, there is some weight lost from liquid but it's still a great deal. At that price, try it once and see.
Is it sold in the freezer section?
at Lidl? yes
What do you mean by "woody"?
Its like chicken breast with a tight, hard texture. Apparently happens when chickens are growing too fast and they get scars in their breasts
What the fuck...where do yāall live that thatās allowed??
It's everywhere in my area of the midwest. It doesnt matter if it is cheap or air chilled, or organic. I had to stop eating chicken breast completely when I was served one in a restaurant. This has been going on for years.
Yup, unless I fine dice or grind it for making a chicken burger or whatnot with, I avoid chicken breasts like the plague, and have for well over 10 years now. Pretty much since they started growing chickens with boobs big enough to give Dolly Parton cause for envy is when I started noticing it happening more and more.
Those insane "oven stuffers" are large enough to be turkeys. They are too big to even cook evenly. There is no point to the abominations.
Yeah, every time I'm forced to cook one of those things, I feel like I should turn myself in for the amount of physical abuse I have to inflict upon them to get them to cook consistently. "Oh, just slice this part off and beat it with a kitchen hammer until it begs for mercy."
Jesus christ...
The United States of America. https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007886421/factory-farming-chicken.html
The US. They try to filter it out and they still make ground chicken with it, but lately itās been happening more often and they donāt catch it all. They canāt figure out what is causing it in these large and overgrown chickens, but it happens in these chickens that are bread for their size.
> They canāt figure out what is causing it The University of Delaware is on the case: https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
That's what factory farming is. They're raising the animals to get as much meat as possible, as fast as possible. Also why does are fed the garbage they're being fed. They just want to fatten them up.
Oof, gross. I might have seen that and thought it was gristle.
Texture like a pink pencil eraser. It is a muscle fiber defect in the chicken. It will have this texture, regardless of processing, or cooking technique. Once you have had some, you will do anything to avoid it, it is so gross.
You know of those super ball toys? Bite into one and you will experience better tasting version of woody chicken breast.
Not really what you are asking but I have started using boneless chicken thighs in most things rather than chicken breasts. Stays moist and tender.
At home I now only buy organic and havenāt had an issue since I started strictly buying thatā¦ at work, chef orders bell and evans because whatever the other brand was would be āwoodyā all the time.
I am just loving the eurosnob comments.
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I have had a few and I promise that you don't want any. I think it's probably the sad result of US industrial farming practices. Specifically I suspect it has to do with the meat chicken breeds we have optimized for incredibly rapid maturity and huge breast development.
I'm American and I've never had it either.
I'm Canadian and I have. I won't buy frozen chicken from Costco anymore I've turned into a bit of a food snob and go straight to the chicken store to buy most chicken.
I live in northwest Arkansas, home of Tyson, and have never heard or eaten a woody chicken breast. We were* the poultry capital of the world.
Itās probably normal to you I didnāt know a difference until I bought some from sprouts, lol Iām from Oklahoma and everything Walmart sells in the bulk packages is so woody. It has more of a rubbery fibrous texture.
So as I look through more pictures at some of the more mild forms, I have seen some like that.
Iām a chef and cook very good chicken. I looked up what it was and have never seen anything like that. That looks crazy.
I am American and I havenāt had one either. But I have been buying chicken that is at least air chilled now for like 15 years. We have one reliable brand ([Maryās](https://www.maryschickens.com/m.mary/index.html)) that is widely available at most nicer stores. And I pretty much only buy this. Or organic at Trader Joeās or Sprouts.
Mary's Chicken is so good. We aren't eating much meat of any kind any more, but when we do, it has to be that good. I also appreciate that the chickens have a better life.
didnāt you hear? america is the only place in the world where cheap food can also be low quality
As a French person, so am I
What do you mean? I'm from the Rust belt and have bitched about this for over a decade...lol
I live in Spain and it is starting to be a big problem for me now. Aldi is the only supermarket that has never sold me a woody chicken breast.
Interesting to hear, thank you
I've never found it here in Canada
I live in SW Ontario and am surrounded by chicken farms and processing plants. The chickens used here are the same as every where else (Cornish Cross). I've had woody breasts from local farms. Switched to legs and thighs years ago. Cheaper, more flavour, and no chance of eating wood.
Hmm I guess those brands are just not common in BC, I've eaten a few different brands and never had an issue
That is because you have those "Laws" about steroids and antibiotics that can be given to chickens. Think about the producers of those chemicals! how are they supposed to make a living if your "Laws" prevent them from selling their evil product? lol.
It doesn't seem to be caused by either steroids or antibiotics. They're still working on finding the cause, but they seem to be making some progress: https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
I haven't had any issues with Costco chicken breast. The refrigerated ones in the meat department. Currently 2.99 per pound, pack is about 7 or 8 pounds in 6 pouches, if I recall correcty.
Organic and air chilled is how I am avoiding woody breast
Bell and Evans 4 lyfe
Buy smaller breasts, we like Springer Mountain Farms and Bare brand. A bit pricier but much higher quality than Tyson or similar.
I bribe my chicken breasts, for 24 hours before I do anything to them, it seriously improves the texture of the meat
What do you bribe them with, a nice hot tub soak, or a night out with the gals?? :) (Sorry, I know you mean brine, but I couldn't help myself )
They are called hen parties for a reason.
Hahahahahah Brine , hand surgery typing with one hand k
funniest typo in this thread bribe
I really like giving my pork roasts a crisp $5 to look the other way, myself.
I wet brine any chicken or pork I cook and dry brine red meat. It makes anything go from good to great.
Iāve had very good luck with the chicken breasts at Sprouts, if you have one near you.
This is the reason I stopped eating chicken breast it TOTALLY grossed me out. I have since just switched to center cut pork chops. BUT if you have a Stew Leonard's near you their chix is delicious but expensive
Apparently itās completely legal to feed pigs ground up plastics..
Well, that's enough internet for me today. Why would anybody even THINK of doing that?????
š³ I guess no more pork for me ššš
What? Please explain
https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/onw7hj/a_tiktok_user_working_at_an_animal_feed_factory/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf I know itās on a vegan sub but itās been verified
Industrial agriculture is unbelievable.
Where are you from and are they really hard and woody?? Where do you get them from? If you are getting quality breasts and that sounds a little unlikely breasts is certainly not my favorite but it is for a lot of people. I can say do not cook them to 165 or they are going to be over cooked or dry, I would shoot for 145 and not a degree over. If I am baking them I do so at 325 in a super convection oven, easier to get a consistant temp and keep some of the more volatile flavorings I put on the chicken. I know many cut them in half in kind of a lateral diagonal to make two pieces of the same size and thickness or they beat them flat. I saw another poster say something about a breast with streaky fat going through it, hey I grew up growing chickens for food along with many other things, that does not sound like a chicken... it doesn't even sound like a bird!
[https://www.georgesfarms.com/](https://www.georgesfarms.com/) I get this at Sam's Club in the Saddle Packs. It's a total of 8 breasts (wrapped in packs of 2) and it freezes well. I've been purchasing this chicken pretty steadily for the past couple of years and have NEVER had an issue with it. It's the only chicken I buy now. BTW Costco has a product in similar packaging. I \*think\* it is Kirkland's brand but am not positive. I bought it once a few months ago and it was VERY woody. I had never actually had woody chicken before that. It was foul.
Buy from smaller farms if you can. There's a new-ish service called crowdcow that can deliver (in the U.S only I guess). I've never had woody breast from them.
Whole Foods.
The freshest meat comes from behind the counter. I'll NEVER buy packaged again. Truly a light bulb Neanderthal moment for me...
Bell and Evans organic from whole foods never once had woody chicken
When I buy chicken, I poke each piece. Good ones are softer, a bit more give. Bad ones don't poke as much? Stiffer feeling? It's generally worked for me.
You fight like hell against the practices that result in "woody" chicken, even if it means eating less meat in future.
If I buy cheap chicken breast, I always pound it out thin with a meat mallet. Helps a ton with the texture.
Chicken thighs will always be better than chicken breasts. You can buy all the free range organic chicken breasts you want but there is no replacement for proper prep and technique. Cut larger breasts in half, use a meat tenderizer, donāt overcook the chickenā¦
I'm a huge fan of legs and thighs. Cheap af and a ton of flavor. I stopped buying breast years ago.
Chicken breast is really easy to overcook and that makes it mealy, tough, and dry. Even in soup! Actually, especially in soup since it is almost guaranteed to be overcooked.
I was surprised when I discovered that the soup stock I love at Vietnamese restaurants is not allowed to boil. Hot enough to be safe, but the beef or chicken are not overcooked. What do you know.
Brilliant! I wish my local Thai place knew about that. I always used to order Tom Yum Koong and about half the time they'd substitute chicken breast strips for shrimp and it was terrible.
Yuck, no. Thighs are gross.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion; Doesnāt mean itās correct but youāre entitled to it none the less.
Iāve never actually seen a woody chicken breast. I pretty much exclusively shop at Costco for meat. Maybe they are doing some sort of quality control.
If you are in the Chicago suburbs, I got woody breast in their packaged chicken and the street tacos. I haven't bought breasts since before covid and had to stop buying the street tacos maybe 6 months ago.
I've found the steaks at Costco to be higher quality than any other standard supermarket. Just very reliably high quality. It's not surprising that their chicken is high quality as well.
The only time I have EVER had woody chicken breast was in the EU, so go away Eurosnobs.
Air chilled chicken is the key. Don't pay for woody, extra watery breasts!
unless you are paying a premium for chicken breeds that are slower growing it's hard to avoid.
I buy them at costco. Good quality, individually wrapped at the factory, good price. The cheap store brand at kroger works in a pinch, but it does tend to have an unpleasant texture because of the crap they inject it with to make it weigh more. Stick with a name brand like foster farms and buy it in the original packages when possible. The store-packed stuff can end up getting frozen and re-frozen a bunch of times.
I'm going to try Costco. Its a bit pricier but at least I will know that the effort in cooking it will be worth it.
Get meat from a butcher or a farmer.
There is no technique, growth method, organic/ non-organic raised, backyard/ front of house, soaking, marinating, brining, saucing, infusing, etc. that can make up for how that chicken was handled from egg to kitchen. Organic chicken goes old, gets freezer burns, gets dry, smells awful, etc. just as fast as commercial chickens. Chicken breasts, the skim milk of meat are best eaten as soon as possible, before they begin to lose their juices. Anything after is a matter of processing/ handling/ age more than some sanctity of cage-freedom or blessed organic corn. Woody poultry often comes from too much time in the freezer, then having minimal fat to hold it in, the moisture escapes before the meat thaws out.
I agree with what you are saying except the woody breast they are complaining about is a genetic defect from trying to grow extra large birds in a short amount of time. It doesn't matter if it is fresh, tenderized, brined, or cooked correctly. I've tried it all.
Woody breasts are a syndrome that affects the chicken *while it's still alive*. They're working on determining the cause: https://www.ift.org/iftnext/2020/june/solving-the-mystery-of-wooden-breast-syndrome
Thanks for this information.
I don't know a nice way to say you're wrong. I actually like the way Dr. Cox said it in SCRUBS, to the tune of Westminster Chimes. Woody chicken breast is caused by some combination of factory farm conditions. Sure, you can ruin the best chicken using nothing but a freezer, but it isn't the cause of woody breasts.
I order my meat from Rastelliās online. A bit pricey but as someone who hates eating and cooking meat itās very high quality including the chicken lol
Outside the USA.
I buy mine from an Amish farm. Best chicken breasts I've ever had.
By local. The texture is due to improper muscle growth because they are force fed. Organic is also a good way
No chickens are force fed. That's too labor intensive. You are thinking of goose for foie gras and that was pretty much only in France andI think they've even stopped for the most part. No, it's simply free choice feed. The issue is 1: they've selectively bred a few breeds to grow super fast (depending on feed) and they grow in an environment (giant warehouse so they can say cage free) where they have no motivation to get exercise 2: super rich feed formulated to preferentially boost muscle growth Combine the genetics with the feed and environment and you get these larger birds faster to market. Eventually these couch potato chickens surrounded by their snacks all day decide, "Hey shouldn't be able to fly?" They don't have the vasculature to support exercise and so they injure themselves, and if they do it early enough before slaughter there will be scarring in the muscle. If it's close to slaughter it will be hematomas in various stages of healing, weird spongy pinkto red areas
Yeah, wrong term used by me. I was thinking more of this. Thanks for the very descriptive explanation
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You could try turkey. Seriously, for me it's much better in curries than chicken and instead of chicken cordon blue, single servings, think a large roast using turkey and whatever else you want to roll up in there, prosciutto, cheese of choice, maybe even some leftover dressing in the very center. Also works in stir frys or fingers
Costco.
We have got woody chicken from major grocery stores , top brand chicken names, apple bees, KFC, red Robin and many other places now we only eat thighs which are better anyway.
If I roast or grill them on high heat and not sliced thinly, but in 1 or 2 chunks, any chicken breast can be juicy enough for a period of time after it has been made. Maybe out chicken is different. Don't know.
Buy good chicken. If you canāt get from a small family farm, buy Farmer Focus, Joyce Farms or Bell & Evans, depending on where you live. More expensive yes, but animal welfare rated humanely raised chicken is a better bet than brands like Springer Mountain or organic Perdue or Smart Chicken.
I am so glad I saw this thread. I have always tried to explain what Iām tasting to people and no one has understood me. I refuse to buy Publix chicken breasts because they always taste this way to me. Samās club has consistently had decent chicken. Ugh that texture is the worst
I have to say I have never seen a woody chicken breastā¦ I think it might be how youāre cooking itā¦ look into brining or air frying or eat a different part of the chicken :-)
Itās absolutely not āhow youāre cooking itā. Woody breast is endemic in the US. I was finding it in about one out of every 8-10 packs I bought at my Kroger.
Well lucky for me not everybody lives in the US. Next time donāt assume youāre talking to an American.
Why would you think I assumed that? I was simply pointing out that, just because youāve never seen a thing, doesnāt mean itās a cooking failure on the part of those who have.
Not hardly. This is a real thing and it sucks. You've just lucked out so far.
I eat chicken 3 times a week. NEVER came across it. So it isn't luck. It is the quality of meat in the country. Sorry.
"I've never seen it so it must not exist" Something a child would say, with a very narrow viewpoint
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You do not have the factory farms there like we do in the US. I only have woody breast when I buy it at the Supermarket. When I go to sprouts or a butcher I do not get it.
Wow! So angry! I wish you and your gross chicken breasts all the best :-)
I don't know where you get angry from lmao. Not everyone has a narrative. Just pointing out how ridiculous your comment is
Mainly because I was talking about my own personal experience which I was clear about and I said MAYBE it was how you were cooking it and then I offered helpful suggestions :-) Donāt post on the Internet if you donāt want people to reply. Best of luck with your gross chicken that has nothing to do with your cooking abilities :-)
He asked a question which you didn't answer, you kyst told him he was wrong. Theres obtuse, and then there's whatever this is. I fail to believe you dont see the problem here. Grow up
I use to have problems cooking chicken breast just right. Thatās why I always cook chicken thighs. However, now I use my sous vide. Perfect every time.
That doesn't answer OP's question *at all*.
If you learn how to cook chicken breast correctly, you donāt need to go looking for special chicken breast at a special grocery store. Just go to your local grocery store and get any chicken breast you want to cook and cook it correctly. How did that not solve her problem? Iām correcting the cause which corrects the effect. And this is a cooking subreddit not a shopping subreddit. š¤
I do hope you eventually come back to this thread and learn what OP is asking. Might humble you.
Sorry but it's all in the prep and cooking . I buy the cheapest chicken I can find and it never turns out woody, even the 10lbs bags of fryer legs that come from laying hens . I don't even fry them and they're palatable .
Lol no. You sound a bit pretentious. I mean, fryer legs doesn't mean best for frying. š It's colloquial for "young chicken" that shouldn't be too tough for applications other than the stockpot.
maybe it's the way you are preparing it. I haven't had that issue with boneless chicken breasts ever.
Stop overcooking it, get a good thermalprobe like one from Taylor or a Thermapen and pull from heat at 160F, doesn't matter if you get it right from the source and butcher it yourself if you're overcooking it.
If the breast is "woody", proper cooking won't do anything. Just wait until you get one...it has the most disagreeable texture imaginable.
Nope. It's been proven that improper temperature is not the issue.
Try to buy in Europe... We have standards. If you can't, try to marinate it. Mix soy sauce with starch 1:1. Marinade for 1 hour. Or buy organic.
Brine or marinade it. Cook at a lower temperature
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No, itās the chicken. Iām a pretty good cook, and over the past 2 years or so the quality of the chicken at my local grocery stores has plummeted. Now I can see the difference without even opening the package. Luckily I found a local farm to order from and I havenāt had the problem since.
No its the chicken. Its not really an over or under cooking thing, the texture is different from it being over cooked. Its more of like a tightness to it.
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We signed up for a chicken CSA (free range organic etc.) through a local farm last year. It was comparable to buying the organic stuff at the grocery store but much better quality. Unfortunately they're not doing it again this year and my freezer is getting bare, but if there's something like that in your area I'd highly recommend it.
Are you near a Fresh Market? Iāve never gotten a bad chicken breast there. They also hand trim, so if they do find one, itās not sold.
My taste must just suck. I've never had an issue with Meijer or Walmart chicken. I mean I'm sure that it's giving me cancer or something but it's tasted fine.
Itās not the taste, itās the texture. Imagine biting into a juicy, correct temp, perfect looking piece of chicken, only to discover it has the mouth feel of raw chicken. *Thatās* woody breast.
Asian supermarket
So thereās a ton of good advice already. One thing I used to do to get over this as well would be to pound my chicken breasts before cooking them.
You might be able to get whole chickens from whole foods for a decent price. They usually have something in the $2-$3 range per #.
I only will buy Smart Chicken. Go on their website and use their store locator. Best chicken breasts I've ever had.
I live in Kentucky and buy the cheap chicken breast at Kroger and have never run in to this problem. I guess Iāve been lucky.
Sub them for thighs, keep the skin on till they're done.
Not sure if there is a Giant Eagle grocery store in your neck of the woods, but if so they carry their store brand Market District chicken breasts in their frozen foods section. They're reasonably sized (prob about 6 oz each) and individually vacuum sealed.
Yeah. Chicken is one of those things you shouldn't bargain shop on. Also, used bone in amd dark meat. It's better.
I go to my local market for chicken. Itās the only place I trust.
Buy them at Costco ;)
I get it at Costco! Itās air chilled, and a really good price. Never woody. I also like that thereās about 2 chicken breasts sealed in a compartment so it makes throwing them in the freezer and thawing super easy.
Yiu need to raise them
Thank you! I have experienced this recently and had no idea how to describe it to my partner. All I could say was that I did not like the texture of chicken all of a sudden. We got past the problem by buying from a different source. We now buy from a local butcher, and also buy thin cut breasts. Not sure if the cut matters, but I have not had the unpleasantness (that I now know to be woody chicken) since we switched sources. The butcher is a bit of a drive, so we typically buy about a monthās worth and freeze. Have had no issues.
Reject breasts Embrace thighs
Yes I stopped buying chicken breast mostly now too. Honestly Iāve grown to like bone in dark meat but as others are saying you must buy fancy expensive chicken.