Free Range Fried Chicken Dinner Today - Taste Test

[tackyrama]

We had fried chicken dinner today from our own flock. This was the first from our flock this year. We used up the ones from last year quite some time ago. So this was a taste test of sorts since all we have been having for 6 months is store bought. All our birds are completely free range all day, only in the coop at night.

We have a mixed breed flock of meat birds. Todays dinner was a cross between a Orpington & Australorp. OK, here's the critique:

Butchered at 16 weeks. Could have waited a couple of more weeks to fill out more. Forgot to weight it but estimate 5-6 lbs. Last years birds weighed more but we were much later butchering them.

Flavor: A much fuller, more "chickeny" flavor. For sure different than store bought. Not strong, gamey or wild tasting. Very delicious. My DW & I compared our thoughts and fully agreed on this. Some people prefere the store bought taste. We think this was better. If store bought is what you're after then go get it from a store.

Texture: A little tougher than store bought as expected - not much and not a problem. Baking would make it very tender which is how we prepared almost all the birds last year. Breast meat was just as tender as store bought. Color of course was darker except for the breast.

Conclusion: Aside from being a bit too small compared to last years birds we are again very happy with what has been produced. Two or three more weeks will fill the rest out to what we have come to expect. The end result this year is even more satisfying because all the birds are hatched out from our own eggs and birds.

 

[shadowpaints]

sounds great!! we ate our very first from our meat birds, a cornish cross and he was oh so yummy! i couldnt believe the difference!

 

[scooter147]

I find store bought to be mushy and competely flavorless compared to my birds.
My other half was convinced I could never tell the difference in a "blind" taste test.
So she fried a store bought and one of my cornish x's (I put on scratch and free range the last two weeks before processing) every piece I ate I knew which was which. She stopped giving me trouble about it all being "in my head"

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
That's impressive! There IS a definate taste difference. There is no mistaking the taste difference between CXs and dual purpose meat birds. Tastes differ from person to person with every kind of food and chicken is no exception. My wife and I agree that there is a noticable difference between the two. Aside from the taste there is the pride and satisfaction of raising your own and knowing exactly what you are eating. We may try raising a few of our own cx's next year just to see the difference ourselves. I have a personal aversion to cx's just because of what has been done to them in the breeding process. It's unnatural. The world needs cx's but I can get along without them.

 

[OSUman]

if you dont like the Cx's you could get dixie rainbows from S&G or some colored rangers from J.M. Hatchery

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
I'm not familiar with either one. Aren't they bred pretty much the same way the cx's were?

 

[scooter147]

They are breed for meat production but they do not have the "medical" issues of the cornish cross, they act and look more like a "chicken".
They do take a few weeks longer to grow out but I am told this is one factor in better flavor, longer growing period.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I believe that to be true, about the age factor. The store birds are 6 weeks old or less. Many who raise CX's let them grow 8-10 weeks. I think that makes a big difference in the flavor.

Diet has an effect on flavor as well, but whatever flavor the bird has, good or bad, will intensify with age. I love my 20 week old dual purp birds, they have incomparable flavor.

When we raised BBB turkeys, we let them grow a lot longer than the commercial birds are raised. Ours were around 8 months when we butchered. They were enormous, and the taste was amazing. So much better than those watery store birds. Ditto heritage breeds, but even more so.