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POLL: White meat or dark?

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

There's a perfect roast chicken in front of you. Which piece are you going to take first?

I love dark meat and always go for the leg.
2
6%
I love dark meat and always go for the thigh.
14
39%
I love white meat and always go for the breast.
6
17%
I love white meat and always go for the wing.
5
14%
I don't really have a preference, and am more likely to take either the thigh or breast because they're bigger.
5
14%
Other
4
11%
 
Total votes : 36
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Jenise

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POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:04 pm

My husband and I are really compatible. I can roast just half a chicken when it's dinner for two because he wants the leg-thigh while I prefer the wing-breast. Now mind you, I buy drumsticks for the occasional barbecued chicken slathered with spicy red sauce, and I prefer thighs for many preparations, but when it comes to having the whole bird to choose from, I prefer white meat. (Providing it's cooked properly and moist, of course, and not all dried out.) I do get the impression I'm in the minority, though: it was certainly true the other night at a dinner party for six. I was the only one there who preferred white, but further investigation revealed that most of the others' preference for dark meat is based on a general impression that white meat is ALWAYS dried out. Perhaps, after awhile, that's how the dark preference begins and by the time it can be proven otherwise, it's too late. Even Bob, who knows how juicy and tender is the white meat I make, made the same out-of-desperation choice years ago and can't seem to be talked down from that ledge.

Where stand the rest of you?
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David M. Bueker

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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by David M. Bueker » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:11 pm

Dark meat please. My wife only likes white meat. (...must...resist...hijacking...Airplane...joke)
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by ScottD » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:25 pm

I went with the wing first, but not based on your reasoning, Jenise. If I don't my oldest will generally beat me to both of them. :)
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Melissa Priestley » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:45 pm

Legs all the way, because I like dark meat better - but more importantly, I like crunching on the cartilage/bone at the joint/end of the leg. This tends to gross out nearly everyone. I still do it.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Mark Lipton » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:51 pm

Jean and I both prefer dark meat, and it's thighs for us both. Andrew, OTOH, goes for the breast meat, so it all works out in our household.

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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:55 pm

Melissa Priestley wrote:Legs all the way, because I like dark meat better - but more importantly, I like crunching on the cartilage/bone at the joint/end of the leg. This tends to gross out nearly everyone. I still do it.


Truth be known I love those bony back pieces everybody saves for stocks the best--love chewing meat off the bone, love that little oyster piece, and I love the skin. The wine that I chose in my own poll is only the next best thing. :)
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jeff B » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:21 pm

Great poll topic Jenise!

Ideally, my all-time favorite manifestation is fried chicken! But I can enjoy roasted/baked too... :)

As usual, I'll answer by probably saying ten times more than is ever read or ever wanted... :lol:

I largely agree with your white meat philosophy but I ended up voting "other" because I typically like a variety of BOTH. One of the pleasures in eating great (fried) chicken is sort of the "one of each" mentality. I rarely take just three legs only, or three breasts only, etc. It's gotta be a mix :)

Having said that, I'd say I mostly gravitate, on average, more to breasts and thighs. They would likely be the first piece I'll grab. It's just the bigger, meatier thing that I most prefer I guess.

I do love legs and have grabbed them first on ocassion as well.

I'm definitely NOT a wings guy however. It's the one of the four I actually intentionally leave. I just don't like the sparse meat-searching that one has to do to get any meat out of wings. I definitely gravitate to the hearty substantial-ness of breasts, thighs or even legs.

But I agree that white meat can be "the best" when its great. As you mentioned, the trouble is its easier tendency for
dryness. Like many, if the dryness is there, I'd likely side with dark meat.

In a perfect world, both are hopefully delicious and simply play off one another and thus my preference for a mix of both ideally... :)

This is making me hungry again... :)

Jeff
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jeff Grossman » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:35 pm

I voted "other" because I like 'em all but I would gravitate towards wings and thighs.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jeff B » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:38 pm

P.S. After further study, I realize that the "can't decide so just take a breast or thigh" option can work well enough for me. So I just voted for that one instead of having to resort to the "other" option. :)

Now, back to our regular scheduled programming... :)

Jeff
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Robin Garr » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:42 pm

I can and will enjoy any part of the bird, but like many others here, I gravitate toward the darker meat on the basis of more intense flavor. Mary and I both prefer the thigh - and she does so strongly - because it's generally meatier, with fewer gristly bits. For this reason, when we're buying parts rather than a whole bird, it will invariably be a box-O-thighs.

Oh, and make it locavore, true free-range and certified humane, please. It's a delight to have good, year-round local sources for natural chicken, so we never, ever have to buy Perdue or Tyson again.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Karen/NoCA » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:55 pm

I'm with Jenise all the way. If the chicken is perfectly roasted and basted for additional flavor, I will grab the crispest looking wing first (before anyone else gets it...) then I try to get the first cut off the breast. I really do love the wings,, the browner the better. I love the oyster piece off the back, but I do save the bony back parts for stock. I am a bone chewer, and when I eat legs, I chew the soft parts off the ends!
Of course, this behavior is only done with family, because no one else is after the wings. I would not be so rude in other company. :twisted:
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Mike Filigenzi » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:17 pm

I voted no preference. As long as it's cooked with care, I love either color of chicken.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Maria Samms » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:19 pm

Ok...first, I never realized that wings were considered white meat. Learn something new everyday...I guess I never thought about it.

We are an all dark meat family. I love thighs and hubby loves the drumsticks. Kids like the thighs too. When I do a whole chicken, I save the white meat for chicken pot pie or chicken salad.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Robert Reynolds » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:58 pm

Put me down as a breast man. :wink: I will go for a thigh occasionally, as it does have more flavor overall.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:15 pm

Maria Samms wrote:We are an all dark meat family. I love thighs and hubby loves the drumsticks. Kids like the thighs too. When I do a whole chicken, I save the white meat for chicken pot pie or chicken salad.


So is one chicken enough then?
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:16 pm

Maria Samms wrote:Ok...first, I never realized that wings were considered white meat. Learn something new everyday...I guess I never thought about it.

We are an all dark meat family. I love thighs and hubby loves the drumsticks. Kids like the thighs too. When I do a whole chicken, I save the white meat for chicken pot pie or chicken salad.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:18 pm

Robert Reynolds wrote:Put me down as a breast man.


Somehow, I think we all knew this. :lol:

Say, you're doing all this looking into all this green stuff for your coming home construction, have you gotten into water heaters yet? Don't answer here, I'll ask the question again in The Basement. Looks like I have new water heaters in my future and I'd love to pick your brain.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Matilda L » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:42 pm

White meat, definitely! Breast and wing. (I love the crispy wings - but they are only possible to eat alone, or between consenting adults in private. You can't be polite and tidy when you eat wings.)

The argument about white meat always being dried out is one I've heard plenty of times - even more so applied to roast turkey. I don't mind if the meat is a bit dried out myself. I'm very tolerant of dry meat provided it is flavoursome.

What about eating the skin? Doctors always tell people not to eat the skin, it is full of fat, likely to prove fatal, clogs up your arteries, etc. I like the skin, when it's crispy and the fat has been cooked away.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jeff B » Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:10 am

Matilda L wrote:
What about eating the skin? Doctors always tell people not to eat the skin, it is full of fat, likely to prove fatal, clogs up your arteries, etc. I like the skin, when it's crispy and the fat has been cooked away.


As a lover of the "bad stuff" (fried chicken), eating those crispy skins can be a delicious pleasure indeed!

On the other hand, I'm NOT a fan of gobbling up the hard bones and tough fatty bits etc. Just turns me off if I bite into that hard tendon-like matter when I thought it was tender meat... :shock:

So the crispy skins, yes! Beyond that, I'm fairly "picky" and just attempt to gobble up all the pure tender meat within the piece... :)

I admit I hesitate to wonder what those skins might be doing to the arteries! Then again, I don't eat fried chicken EVERY day, unfortunately... :)

Jeff
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Maria Samms » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:20 am

Jenise wrote:
Maria Samms wrote:We are an all dark meat family. I love thighs and hubby loves the drumsticks. Kids like the thighs too. When I do a whole chicken, I save the white meat for chicken pot pie or chicken salad.


So is one chicken enough then?


No Jenise...it's not. I rarely make a whole chicken unless it's on my kooker, but when I do a roasted chicken for the the family, I also throw in 4 marinated chicken thighs as well. The kids eat 2 thighs each, and Chris and I will eat a thigh and leg from the whole chicken. We may have a small taste of the breast and the rest goes for chicken salad, chicken enchiladas, or chicken pot pie.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by David M. Bueker » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:33 am

I suddenly have a craving for chicken quesadillas!
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Howie Hart » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:26 am

David M. Bueker wrote:I suddenly have a craving for chicken quesadillas!
I suddenly have a craving for wings.
That being said, my big question is: When you buy leg quarters, how come every leg quarter has a back section with tail attached? What happens to the leg on the other side of the chicken that doesn't have a back section? I always remove the back sections and freeze them until I'm ready to make soup.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Dale Williams » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:57 am

I love both, but probably reach for a thigh first 60% of the time. I've never spent much time thinking about it, but maybe I'm more likely to reach for a breast half when it's fried (Betsy does a great batter with spices), more likely to grab thigh when roast.
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Re: POLL: White meat or dark?

by Jenise » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:27 am

Howie Hart wrote:That being said, my big question is: When you buy leg quarters, how come every leg quarter has a back section with tail attached?


That's easy: it adds weight.

But we don't see quartered chickens in this neck of the woods. Either whole, or trays of like pieces, like all thighs. At least, this is true of the organic chickens--I don't buy anything else.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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