4 ms·

> After all, even pastured chicken tastes wildly better than conventional chicken. As a farmer who used to raise pastured chicken, I was always happy to conver

> After all, even pastured chicken tastes wildly better than conventional chicken. As a farmer who used to raise pastured chicken, I was always happy to convert people to what real chicken is supposed to taste like.

Waterluvian 10y ago
Is the difference simply that the meat is meat from a well fed, exercised chicken vs. a force fed obese monstrosity? Kind of like eating me vs. eating an Olympian.
- sprocket 10y ago
  I pastured Cornish Cross, which is the standard broiler barn chickens. They are genetically predisposed to pack on as much muscle in as short a time span as possible. By the time they're ~ 9 to 10 weeks old, they are waddling giants, and I'd definitely not characterize them as exercised. :) That said, the difference that being able to forage green grass and insects in the short period they were out on pasture (usually 4-6 weeks, weather dependent) was so remarkable in terms of the flavour and the texture of the meat, that we're effectively ruined for eating any other non-pastured chickens. The fat was rich and velvety, the dark meat was meaty and deep in flavour; everything was just moist and juicy and delicious. We didn't do many on a yearly basis (about 1000 +/-), and I was primarily using them for fertilizing pasture that I was grazing with our dairy herd. The fact that they were spectacular eating was just a side benefit. If you're ever able to track one down, I'd highly recommend giving one a go.
  - ethbro 10y ago
    And as a quick point out, the feed conversion ratio [1] on poultry is pretty stellar. Anywhere from 1.5-3.5:1 is normal for feed:body weight increase. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio
    - sprocket 10y ago
      Cornish Cross in particular are fantastic at converting feed into weight gain. In 10 weeks, you can go from a fluffy little ping pong ball sized chick to an almost 10lb live-weight bird. It's often unwise to raise them past that age, because the rate of weight gain puts so much stress on their internals that they'll frequently keel over from a heart condition. By the 8 to 9 week stage, they're already so heavy that they can only take a handful of steps because having to plop down and have a rest for a bit.
debacle 10y ago
I always thought good chicken tasted a bit like pork and peanut butter. It's a strange taste, but it makes store bought chicken always feel like it's missing something.
david-given 10y ago
I love chicken. Finding a chicken I love is surprisingly hard. ...so my father lives in a village in the north-west of Scotland; the butcher there did locally sourced everything (you could buy venison that had come off the local hills; he did amazing venison burgers, made from scrap venison cut with pork). His chickens came from, I think, Black Isle? But they were fantastic. Stuff half a lemon up its backside, rub with olive oil and rosemary, roast, serve with potatoes and plain boiled carrots and peas... sadly, he retired, and the place closed. I haven't had roast chicken for ages. Dammit, I'm hungry now.

Waterluvian 10y ago

Is the difference simply that the meat is meat from a well fed, exercised chicken vs. a force fed obese monstrosity? Kind of like eating me vs. eating an Olympian.

sprocket 10y ago
I pastured Cornish Cross, which is the standard broiler barn chickens. They are genetically predisposed to pack on as much muscle in as short a time span as possible. By the time they're ~ 9 to 10 weeks old, they are waddling giants, and I'd definitely not characterize them as exercised. :) That said, the difference that being able to forage green grass and insects in the short period they were out on pasture (usually 4-6 weeks, weather dependent) was so remarkable in terms of the flavour and the texture of the meat, that we're effectively ruined for eating any other non-pastured chickens. The fat was rich and velvety, the dark meat was meaty and deep in flavour; everything was just moist and juicy and delicious. We didn't do many on a yearly basis (about 1000 +/-), and I was primarily using them for fertilizing pasture that I was grazing with our dairy herd. The fact that they were spectacular eating was just a side benefit. If you're ever able to track one down, I'd highly recommend giving one a go.
- ethbro 10y ago
  And as a quick point out, the feed conversion ratio [1] on poultry is pretty stellar. Anywhere from 1.5-3.5:1 is normal for feed:body weight increase. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio
  - sprocket 10y ago
    Cornish Cross in particular are fantastic at converting feed into weight gain. In 10 weeks, you can go from a fluffy little ping pong ball sized chick to an almost 10lb live-weight bird. It's often unwise to raise them past that age, because the rate of weight gain puts so much stress on their internals that they'll frequently keel over from a heart condition. By the 8 to 9 week stage, they're already so heavy that they can only take a handful of steps because having to plop down and have a rest for a bit.

debacle 10y ago

I always thought good chicken tasted a bit like pork and peanut butter. It's a strange taste, but it makes store bought chicken always feel like it's missing something.

david-given 10y ago

I love chicken. Finding a chicken I love is surprisingly hard. ...so my father lives in a village in the north-west of Scotland; the butcher there did locally sourced everything (you could buy venison that had come off the local hills; he did amazing venison burgers, made from scrap venison cut with pork). His chickens came from, I think, Black Isle? But they were fantastic. Stuff half a lemon up its backside, rub with olive oil and rosemary, roast, serve with potatoes and plain boiled carrots and peas... sadly, he retired, and the place closed. I haven't had roast chicken for ages. Dammit, I'm hungry now.