Dark Meat Breeds

[silkiechicken]

You are looking for dark meat in the form of slow twich muscle. Slow twich muscle are muscles with more fat stores thus juicier.

Since you are seeking juicy "dark" meat, go with duck. They are all slow twitch.

A silkie is not dark meat, silkies have a melanin defect resulting in dark pigmentation on all the connective tissues. It is physically dark to the eye, but not "dark" in terms of "dark meat".

 

[kfacres]

Quote:
isnt' 'visually' dark, the only common denominator to the average person? Does that person, (average speaking), actually know the difference b/w dark and light meat?

visual sells....

 

[silkiechicken]

Average person could probably not tell you what makes dark meat dark and white meat white.

However, a black meat silkie "on the hoof" can garner a pretty penny in the right asian market because of the belief that the meat is medicinal.

I figure most members on here are not part of that market. LOL

So maybe a few average people who may stumble across my post that simplifies dark vs light meat as slow vs fast twitch muscles may be inclined to remember that its more than appearance. It would be rather disappointing to slice into a "dark" silkie breast meat to find out it tastes just as dry and bland as a cochin breast meat.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Ducks are all dark meat and there are several breeds of duck that will lay more eggs than your average chicken.