Store-Bought Chicken Breast Almost Too Large too Cook

[Bullitt]

My family had fried chicken breasts recently. The breasts were so big that we put the breasts in the microwave oven to make sure they were cooked in the center.

I know Cornish Cross chickens are used as commercial meat chickens. But the breasts are a little too big.

Has anyone else experienced this?

How does the breast of a Cornish Cross compare to say a White Plymouth Rock or another heritage chicken breed?

 

[DylansMom]

My family had fried chicken breasts recently. The breasts were so big that we put the breasts in the microwave oven to make sure they were cooked in the center.

I know Cornish Cross chickens are used as commercial meat chickens. But the breasts are a little too big.

Has anyone else experienced this?

How does the breast of a Cornish Cross compare to say a White Plymouth Rock or another heritage chicken breed?

Our local grocery store has started carrying boneless chicken breasts that are huge. They look like small turkey breasts and we have found that they are often incredibly tough. I do not buy them at all. I cannot speak to the size comparison as I only have chickens for eggs and have no idea how the various breeds are sized.

 

[CrazyTalk]

How does the breast of a Cornish Cross compare to say a White Plymouth Rock or another heritage chicken breed?

Full grown Cornish Cross will be 15+ lbs. They're big meaty birds. A Cornish cross at 6 weeks will have more breast meat than a full grown Rock. They're not really comparable.


Nothing converts food to meat even close to the rate that Cornish Cross do.

 

[Bullitt]

Full grown Cornish Cross will be 15+ lbs. They're big meaty birds. A Cornish cross at 6 weeks will have more breast meat than a full grown Rock. They're not really comparable.


Nothing converts food to meat even close to the rate that Cornish Cross do.

I understand that the Cornish Cross produces the most meat of any chicken.

I was trying to get an idea of how big a breast of a heritage breed like a Plymouth Rock would be compared to the Cornish Cross. For example, half as large, 70% of the size, or something else.

The Cornish Cross breast is a little too large to be good for fried chicken.

 

[Bullitt]

Our local grocery store has started carrying boneless chicken breasts that are huge. They look like small turkey breasts and we have found that they are often incredibly tough. I do not buy them at all. I cannot speak to the size comparison as I only have chickens for eggs and have no idea how the various breeds are sized.

I also think these large chicken breasts are tougher.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Yeah those cheap, huge, store bought breasts makes it hard to convince my wife to mess with my RIR type birds who's breasts look like they came from a scrawny buzzard. Mine probably have 1/4 the meat of the store bought.
Hell, store bought wings are bigger than my chicken's legs.

 

[CrazyTalk]

My 6lb roosters had breasts that were probably a 1/2" thick. Maybe 3/4". They were also on the tough side.

If you want fried chicken, the best option is Cornish cross, slaughtered at 5 or 6 weeks. If you want smaller breasts, do it earlier. They'll be more tender, grow faster, use less food, etc.

 

[pdirt]

Ditto...you can't compare the Cornish Cross to any other breed. It's apple and oranges. They've got more meat on them at 6 weeks (think normal size grocery store chicken breast) than you will get with a heritage bird at 16 or even 20 weeks.

If you want lots of white meat for less money, CX is the only way to go.
If you despise crock pots and chicken stew, CX is the way to go.
If you want flavor, avoid CX. Hertitage breeds tend to have more dark meat and even the thin breasts are tastier.
If you don't want the grotesque health issues inherent with CX, try just about any heritage breed.

Note, that's mostly my opinion. I know there are folks that are able to lower the number of health issues with CX by limiting feed and thus slowing their growth. Perhaps someday I will change my tune, but for now, I'm very turned off by CX. I don't even buy it at the grocery store anymore. Some folks are okay with the reality of a CX's life, but the more I learned of it, the more turned off I became.

 

[rainbowrooster]

If the breasts are too large you can cut them in half or even thirds before you cook them.

 

[Bullitt]

If the breasts are too large you can cut them in half or even thirds before you cook them.

Yes, of course.

It just seems like the commercial chicken breasts have gotten larger in recent years.

I was trying to get an idea about how large a breast from a heritage breed of chicken, such as Plymouth Rock, would be compared to these Cornish Cross chicken breasts sold in grocery stores.