Injected water in commercial chickens?

[Hoppelchen]

Maybe I'm imagining things, but, whenever I put a factory chicken into the slowcooker at low for 6 hours and then pull it out, ready to finish it in the oven, there seems to be two patches on either side of the breast where a lot of water accumulates in an unnatural way.

When I stab that part, a stream gushes out.

Am I right to assume that the factory injected the carcass with water(or perhaps something 'orrid)?

Or is this normal for chickens? I raise rabbits and they also 'sweat' a bit in the pan, maybe the puddle is natural and just a function of the way the slow cooker roasts the bird?

I also bought expensive 'organic' birds and had the same problem, then again, in the name of profit and perhaps with the arrogant idea that an injected bird 'roasts better' (I suppose it will, but, if I want that, I can inject it myself!) anything is possible.

So, do your home raised chickens also have 'water on the chest'?

 

[barrybro]

I have never experienced anything like that.

Barry

 

[bigredfeather]

Commercial chickens are brined in a salt solution before packaging. The brine water allows the birds to absorb some water. One reason they do this is it makes the window for cooking a little wider, resulting in a juicy bird, even if overcooked. The other thing it does is adds weight to the bird. I think that is one reason the price/pound of comeercial is lower, they're selling you water. I've seen packages of chicken in the store state "This product may contain up to 25% added sodium and water. So, it's logical that you could have more juices cook out of a store bird if you don't brine homegrown ones.

 

[SteveH]

Unless meat has been flash frozen , the natural water found in muscles works it way towards the outer surfaces before it ever gets to the consumer ; and vacumn packaging speeds this process . I think muscle is around 70% water so there's considerable water there naturally . Of course , the labels will tell you if water has been added , which is a common practise .