Flavors between breeds

[kayceb]

Which breed of chicken do YOU think tastes the best? Or do you find they tend to be around the same? How about eggs? Who lays the tastiest?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Texture of meat varies. Jersey Giant and Asiatic breeds like Brahma, Cochin, etc. are said to be coarse.. Dorking and others are said to be fine grained. Then there is everything in between.

Taste of meat and eggs is effected by what the bird eats.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me the biggest factors in taste are age and sex. Once they hit puberty the hormones start for the cockerels which can affect flavor quite a bit. And the older they get (male or female) the more flavor and texture they develop. The same thing is true with beef, pork, mutton, and other animals we use for meat. Intact males develop a stronger flavor as they age and the females also get more flavor and texture. I don't know about differences in texture of meat due to breed but I'll take Egghead's word for that. That sounds logical.

And I agree, what they eat can affect flavor of the eggs and meat a lot more than any potential breed differences.

 

[RUNuts]

Flavor also varies by diet. When ducks eat more fish versus rice, the fish flavor permeates the meat. I'm told that fish meal does that to chicken.

So how do you finish a chicken for the table? Sweet feed? For pigs, they get corn.

 

[Birdinhand]

my experience with "dual purpose" birds so far and lots of Cornish Cross, has me coming to the conclusion that all around, a well fed and raised CX can't be beat for economy, texture and in terms of how flexible the meat is to various ways of cooking it. I guess I like a succulent meat that takes on the flavor of what it's seasoned with.