Quality of chicken breasts in major supermarkets

[MattsCar]

Yes, I should buy organic...but as a powerfully built person (PH joke, not being serious) who eats lots of chicken breast I can't afford to.

Anyhow, problem is this. No matter where I buy chicken breasts from (UK, red tractor assured) there are always a couple of pieces within the pack that have a chewy/muscles/crunchy kind of texture. This tends to be the larger pieces. This is from all major supermarkets.

Any idea as to what is this cause of this, older chickens?

Edited by MattsCar on Monday 14th March 22:43

[Green1man]

Certainly unlikely to be older chickens. All supermarket chicken will be reared and slaughtered as soon as possible to meet the price point. Older chicken would, almost by definition be more expensive (and tastier).

I’m unsure what it is you are referring to exactly (we eat plenty of chicken) obviously as the breast is stripped off there will be some variation on how much of the surrounding flesh comes with it, this could result in some texture variation, but I havn’t specifically encountered your issue.

[Sheets Tabuer]

I read pretty much all our chicken breasts come from holland so you might as well buy bulk.

https://www.meatandco.co.uk/product/5kg-fresh-chic...

[MattsCar]

Yes, was my thinking, chicken reared for food would mean that once the chicken reaches of age to be slaughtered, it would be.

It is hard to describe what I am finding...more fiberous/ tougher to add to my original description.

[anonymous-user]

It’s connective tissue - tendon. You’ll get it on pretty much any chicken to a degree.

[Philplop]

We’ve noticed exactly the same thing over the last year or so. I try to avoid the packets with the enormous breasts (fnar) in them but still regularly get a tough one or two in a packet where you can feel the ‘grain’ of the meat. It’s really off putting.

[MattsCar]

Thanks Phil, yes that is exactly what it is. Problem is you buy a pack with what appears to be more breasts and you realise that they've just cut down a larger breast in to two fillets.

[hyphen]

Unless you are a competition bodybuilder do you need to focus on just chicken breasts.

Get whole chickens. Roast whole or cut up.

[MattsCar]

Sheets Tabuer said:

I read pretty much all our chicken breasts come from holland so you might as well buy bulk.

https://www.meatandco.co.uk/product/5kg-fresh-chic...

I don't think that applies to fresh chicken breast, pretty much all supermarkets sell UK chicken with the flag on the pack.

[MattsCar]

hyphen said:

Unless you are a competition bodybuilder do you need to focus on just chicken breasts.

Get whole chickens. Roast whole or cut up.

Oh, no I mix it up, pork, beef mince, turkey mince the lot...but just a bit disappointing when you purchase a pack of chicken breasts and a couple are inedible.

ASDA, CO-OP, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Aldi...all the same, but not surprising as they probably all come from the same supplier.

[m3jappa]

I got some recently, one of the breasts was larger. It did look a bit different as well to be fair.

Mrs complained hers was chewy (she had the larger one)

I tried it and my god it was like rubber, almost had a resistance when biting in and then a sort of crunch to it.

fking disgusting. It was the whole bit of breast.

So bad its put me off chicken breasts altogether.

Is this what your talking about? I have never experienced anything like it.

[hyphen]

MattsCar said:

hyphen said:

Unless you are a competition bodybuilder do you need to focus on just chicken breasts.

Get whole chickens. Roast whole or cut up.

Oh, no I mix it up, pork, beef mince, turkey mince the lot...but just a bit disappointing when you purchase a pack of chicken breasts and a couple are inedible.

ASDA, CO-OP, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Aldi...all the same, but not surprising as they probably all come from the same supplier.

Where does the halal stuff come from? As loads of Muslim shops around, plus the supermarkets also stock it. And Kosher too. As you could try that?

Killed slightly differently so perhaps comes from another place.

[.:ian:.]

Noticed this a lot too, I've taken to tenderising the breast with a rolling pin.
There is still the odd one that splits into layers with a tough outer layer and fibrous mushy inner. The dog gets those bits.

This is waitrose "essential", strangely the duchy organic free range fed on organic free range corn in an aircon luxury coop, range seems to also suffer from it based on the negative reviews.

[darreni]

We’ve had the same issue from mega expensive organic to budget breasts. You know as soon as you bite into it.

I do wonder if it’s because they have been previously frozen in transit/ storage.

The only ones we’ve not had the issue with are the Iceland 10 packs.

[MattsCar]

Yep, the past few comments are exactly what I have experienced and glad others have noticed.

Amazed that the supermarkets have not been pulled up on this.

Small breasts fine...most packs have 2 of them...then 2 massive breasts that have this problem. Just bizzare and there must be something going on as it as if the crap breasts are equally shared out in the packs.

[jfrf]

This has been going on for years although i would say its generally a rare problem.

Can normally spot them before cooking.
The meat texture is fibrous, tough and inedible.
Trying to cut them up when raw its also quite obvious which are bad ones as they are so tough.

Never had a problem taking the opened pack back for a refund or replacement at major supermarkets.

[43034]

I too have experienced the above, and this is why boneless thighs are the way forward. Tastier and cheaper.

[MattsCar]

43034 said:

I too have experienced the above, and this is why boneless thighs are the way forward. Tastier and cheaper.

Yep, exactly what I am doing!

Ever tried making schnitzels using them?

[trickywoo]

I’ve experienced the same. Much more in the last year but also before that.

Morrison’s used to be the worse for it but I’ve noticed it in lots of different outlets.

[Riley Blue]

O/H now insists on M&S, organic corn fed or something like that and I've never noticed any grotty bits when preparing them. The only other supermarket we've bought from recently was Sainsburys but they needed a lot of trimming and were tougher, hence the switch. Usually cooked whole or sliced in fajitas or Thai curry.