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I struggle to eat chicken anywhere now due to white striping and woody chicken. Raw chicken breast where the fibers looks like spaghetti is the worst. I've bi

I struggle to eat chicken anywhere now due to white striping and woody chicken. Raw chicken breast where the fibers looks like spaghetti is the worst. I've bitten into fast food chicken sandwiches that I've thrown out immediately. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579122000529 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003257912... "Spaghetti meat (SM), woody breast (WB), and white striping (WS) are myopathies affecting breast muscle of broiler chickens, and are characterized by a loss of myofibers and an increase in fibrous tissue. The conditions develop in intensive broiler chicken production systems, and cause poor meat process-ability and negative customer perception leading to monetary losses. "

hammock 4y ago
Gotta switch to dark meat, friend
- testfoobar 4y ago
  I've switched to chicken thighs for cooking at home. Higher fat content makes for more forgiving cooking. But chicken breast has/had a great protein/dollar/flexibility profile. Unfortunately, the number of woody chicken breasts that I find now in a pack of chicken is off-putting. Doesn't matter whether it is organic chicken or other brands. I've heard that local farmer's market heritage chickens don't suffer from this - I haven't tried any of those yet.
  - hammock 4y ago
    Yeah obviously the heritage chicken is way more money. I tend to look hard for the smallest breasts at the grocery, the big ones are always the worst. Smaller is better in general when it comes to food. Asparagus, potatoes, lobsters, lamb, veal etc. More flavor
    - testfoobar 4y ago
      For years, my goto strategy at Costco has been to buy the smallest package of raw chicken breasts. This strategy has begun to fail me recently - as even smaller breasts are beginning to suffer from issues found in larger chicken breasts. I've canvassed my local stores including Whole Foods and independent markets that buy chicken from regional suppliers. No one has a source of chicken free of woody breast. It is an industry wide problem having emerged from an ever growing need to supply chicken.
IOT_Apprentice 4y ago
What is woody chicken?
- testfoobar 4y ago
  It is really three conditions - spaghetti meat, woody chicken and white striping - all the result of chickens having been bred for rapid growth and size. Taste, texture and flavor are negatively affected. This site explains them with some pictures: https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/woody-breast-myopathy-and-white-striping https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/woody-breast-myopath... This is how I identify them: 1. Spaghetti Meat: Raw chicken breast fibers look like spaghetti strands. The top of the breast will look uniform. It is when I've cut into the breast that the spaghetti strands will become apparent. These breasts get boiled and fed to my dog. 2. Woody Breast: This is chicken breast that is tough in texture. Even when cooked, it feels raw or "crunchy". To me, this is really off-putting. I sometimes try to salvage raw breasts by cutting more off (also for my dog). But the taste is so off-putting that I don't care for them. 3. White Striping: You can see this before buying the breast - you'll see white lines across the breast. These breasts can be okay. But often woody breast and white striping coincide. I will cook the breasts if they only have white striping.
  - hnbear 4y ago
    So glad you posted this. I’d noticed the weird texture associated with more heavily striped meat when cooking, but had no idea what it was, and wasn’t sure if I was even correct in noticing it. I’ve sent food in restaurants/fast food places back with that texture because it tasted or feels raw. Now I know what to avoid at home.
    - testfoobar 4y ago
      Yeah - the texture is just off. I thought I was undercooking my chicken or that my tastebuds had changed. Lots of discussion of woody chicken on reddit. This reddit thread references a couple of additional items here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/vzuul8/what_are_woody_chicken_breasts/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/vzuul8/what_are_wo... https://zootecnicainternational.com/featured/understanding-the-woody-breast-syndrome-and-other-myopathies-in-modern-broiler-chickens/ https://zootecnicainternational.com/featured/understanding-t... https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/76893 https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/76893

hammock 4y ago

Gotta switch to dark meat, friend

testfoobar 4y ago
I've switched to chicken thighs for cooking at home. Higher fat content makes for more forgiving cooking. But chicken breast has/had a great protein/dollar/flexibility profile. Unfortunately, the number of woody chicken breasts that I find now in a pack of chicken is off-putting. Doesn't matter whether it is organic chicken or other brands. I've heard that local farmer's market heritage chickens don't suffer from this - I haven't tried any of those yet.
- hammock 4y ago
  Yeah obviously the heritage chicken is way more money. I tend to look hard for the smallest breasts at the grocery, the big ones are always the worst. Smaller is better in general when it comes to food. Asparagus, potatoes, lobsters, lamb, veal etc. More flavor
  - testfoobar 4y ago
    For years, my goto strategy at Costco has been to buy the smallest package of raw chicken breasts. This strategy has begun to fail me recently - as even smaller breasts are beginning to suffer from issues found in larger chicken breasts. I've canvassed my local stores including Whole Foods and independent markets that buy chicken from regional suppliers. No one has a source of chicken free of woody breast. It is an industry wide problem having emerged from an ever growing need to supply chicken.

IOT_Apprentice 4y ago

What is woody chicken?

testfoobar 4y ago
It is really three conditions - spaghetti meat, woody chicken and white striping - all the result of chickens having been bred for rapid growth and size. Taste, texture and flavor are negatively affected. This site explains them with some pictures: https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/woody-breast-myopathy-and-white-striping https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/woody-breast-myopath... This is how I identify them: 1. Spaghetti Meat: Raw chicken breast fibers look like spaghetti strands. The top of the breast will look uniform. It is when I've cut into the breast that the spaghetti strands will become apparent. These breasts get boiled and fed to my dog. 2. Woody Breast: This is chicken breast that is tough in texture. Even when cooked, it feels raw or "crunchy". To me, this is really off-putting. I sometimes try to salvage raw breasts by cutting more off (also for my dog). But the taste is so off-putting that I don't care for them. 3. White Striping: You can see this before buying the breast - you'll see white lines across the breast. These breasts can be okay. But often woody breast and white striping coincide. I will cook the breasts if they only have white striping.
- hnbear 4y ago
  So glad you posted this. I’d noticed the weird texture associated with more heavily striped meat when cooking, but had no idea what it was, and wasn’t sure if I was even correct in noticing it. I’ve sent food in restaurants/fast food places back with that texture because it tasted or feels raw. Now I know what to avoid at home.
  - testfoobar 4y ago
    Yeah - the texture is just off. I thought I was undercooking my chicken or that my tastebuds had changed. Lots of discussion of woody chicken on reddit. This reddit thread references a couple of additional items here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/vzuul8/what_are_woody_chicken_breasts/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/vzuul8/what_are_wo... https://zootecnicainternational.com/featured/understanding-the-woody-breast-syndrome-and-other-myopathies-in-modern-broiler-chickens/ https://zootecnicainternational.com/featured/understanding-t... https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/76893 https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/76893