Is expensive Chicken actually worth it?

Every time I walk down the poultry aisle and pick up some organic or air-chilled chicken breast I have this question:

💡 Does the chicken breast actually have a better taste and texture or am I primarily paying for how it’s raised & processed?

📃 RECIPE Link:

📚 Videos & Sources mentioned:

▪ The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez Alt

▪ On Food & Cooking by Harold McGee

MY FAVORITE KITCHEN GEAR

⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:08 Sponsored by Babbel!
2:08 What makes chicken more or less expensive: The Breed
3:10 How chicken is raised
5:00 How chicken is processed
6:51 How chicken is certified?
9:22 What affects the flavor of chicken?
14:28 The Fried Chicken Test
22:28 Is expensive chicken actually worth buying?

MISC. DETAILS
Music: Provided by Epidemic Sound
Filmed on: Sony a6600 & Sony A7C
Voice recorded on Shure MV7
Edited in: Premiere Pro

Affiliate Disclosure:

[pielover]

I love that this is a comparison between cheap and expensive foods that is between the actual reasonable extremes that most people, at least in the US, encounter shopping. I'm so tired of the comparison videos all over youtube that are like "how does this $1 food compare to this $500 food" lol

[williamsimmons]

For anybody on a budget who doesn’t want to sacrifice flavor/texture, if you purchase the $3/lb chicken, slice it thin, and salt brine it overnight, you break down some of the larger muscle fibers and lose a lot of that excess water. It’s not a perfect solve, but it’s a workaround that greatly improves some of the drawbacks of the cheaper chicken. Hope this helps somebody!

[calebtaylor]

Good job Ethan. You cited research, used informative elements, and had a practical application for viewers. Thank you for making this, and I can tell you put a lot of work into this.

[jamesh]

Just wanted to say, I walked past you at a local grocery store a few weeks back, but you looked very focused so I thought I'd leave you alone and come here to say how much I enjoy your channel!

[snailzillascreator]

Would be interesting to look at dark meat - in past videos you've mentioned how much of the flavor / aroma of meat comes from the fat and since the breast is so lean it would make sense that there's not a significant difference in flavor there. But maybe in the fattier pieces it will be a more pronounced difference.

[crazyelf]

Interesting comparison. I'm glad this study was done.

I think that the majority of the people who are buying the pasture raised chicken are doing so because they want the chicken to be better treated.

At least you also get better texture as well.

[romeo]

Excellent video! I think it is worth adding that the 'larger' breast is also more 'fibrous' because of how it was raised. Because it grows so quickly and is not allowed to freely roam about, its muscles aren't allowed to tighten. Thus, you get the more fibrous and separated structure. We used to raise chickens, and they definitely had a 'taste' when compared to store bought chickens.
I loved this comparison! Thank you for sharing.

[Remted]

I really like the technique from Kenji. He lets water chilled chicken rest uncovered in the fridge with baking soda and salt to draw the moisture out. This should fix the issue with the crust not adhering.

[masterdftw]

I just found your channel and I must say this is high quality. The raw info behind everything you do is amazing.

[IslanderT]

When looking at pasture raised, you are not only supporting quality chicken husbandry but also sustainable farming practices. Rotating the field space is a very important part of this practice. It creates healthier pastures for farming animals and plants. A true ecosystem if you will.

[dameanvil]

00:00 🍗 Exploring the differences between expensive and cheaper chicken breasts for taste, texture, and production factors.
01:07 🐔 Factors influencing chicken prices: breed, raising methods, processing, and certifications.
02:21 🐣 Testing two chicken breasts from different breeds: one from a fast-growing modern breed and another from a slower-growing breed.
03:30 🌿 Differences in raising methods: slower growth, free-range, and pasture-raised definitions and their impact on cost.
04:56 🏷 Understanding chicken packaging labels and certifications: organic, humane, Global Animal Partnership, and non-GMO.
09:33 👅 Impact of breed, raising, and processing on chicken flavor: organic might offer better texture but not necessarily better taste.
12:53 🍖 Chicken breasts tend to be bland due to low fat content; seasoning and preparation methods significantly influence taste and aroma.
14:42 🍔 More expensive chicken may produce better-fried chicken due to better adherence of breading, but differences in taste and aroma might not be significant.
22:07 🤔 Purchasing considerations: Expensive chicken might not offer a distinct taste advantage, but texture and ethical considerations could impact choices.

[kristinb]

My biggest purchase criteria is the humane certification. I’m glad to have this additional info.

In the US, we’re not really given the option of purchasing fryer versus stewing chickens, which corresponds to length of time being raised. I understand the stewing chickens, are readily available in other countries. The older birds supposedly have much more flavor. Not quite as tender, so best stewed. I’d be interested to know if the flavor really is superior on the older chickens.

[wulfywulfynrir]

Ill save my main thoughts til i finish the video but i wanted to say this while its fresh in my mind -- im really impressed by the choice of clips used for this video. Managing to show the colder mechanized/automated side of where our food comes from without showing anything inherently gory or hard to watch is a really impressive line to walk and i guarentee whoever collected the footage came across a lot that was hard to look at. Just wanted to give kudos for that

[trevorcalvert]

Just wanted to mention as someone who strictly bakes chicken, I made the switch to the air chill brand mentioned in the video this year and never turned back. The air chilled chicken breasts at like 400ish for 30 or so minutes never are spongy yet never dry either. It is a night and day difference and worth the price. Although, I do feel the air chilled will spoil faster in the fridge. Thank you.

[xXelitegpXx]

Wouldve loved it if you sent samples to labs to compare nutritional content and maybe even heavy metal content etc. Very nice to have what Ive always thought be put into a video. Thank you, awesome video.

[hungrydude]

As a fellow Texan, I love that this was a comparison between H‑E‑B branded chicken and Central Market branded organic chicken 😂

[EdeClips]

This was actually way more interesting than I thought and I honestly didn't expect these results. I think it would be great for you to continue this series with even more types of meat.

[nataliella]

I'm gonna need you to spin this into a series because I ALWAYS go for the fancy farmer's market chicken when it comes to making stocks that're the star of a dish, I literally watched this over a bowl of matzo ball soup my mom made for the holidays from a bird we picked out. I think that's where you can taste the biggest difference in flavor, since you're basically making chicken tea out of every component of the parts you use, right down to the cartilage and bones. even with those chickens there can be a huge difference in the savoriness and fat content between birds, and it's difficult to tell if that's down to species or season, age or something else.

[uranium_donut]

Would have loved to see a "middle ground" chicken. For now this is only a comparison between air chilled and water chilled chicken. Would be cool to compare the cheapest non organic air chilled with the most expensive air chilled to find out if pasture/ eating a lot of grass does something.

[voldemort]

Peak america is standing in the middle of the chicken isle deciding how much chicken happyiness you can afford.