Will they taste like chicken?

[GBov]

So far teh only home raised chicken I have had are year old roosters. They taste fantastic but NOTHING like chicken!

And now that I am about to order 25 meat chicks - well, in a month or two, that is - it suddenly occured to me to ask if they are going to taste like supermarket chicken only better. We raised three pigs this year and it tastes like pork. The BEST EVER PORK but still like PORK, not some fantastic mystery meat like my roosters taste like.

It may seem an odd question but if I dont ask, I wont know lol.

 

[AlienChick]

Yes, your meat birds will taste more like the grocery store chicken (only better) than the year-old roosters.

 

[Gofygure]

I'd say your farm-raised chicken tastes more like chicken than the grocery birds.

But the Cornish X will be very similar to what you get at a store. They'll be tender and more bland than a dual-purpose roo, but probably still taste better than the meat-aisle carcasses.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yup. All depends on what you think chicken should taste like. I'll take a DP, 4-5 month old cockerel for genuine taste any day.

 

[GBov]

I dont mean to say I dont like a dual purpose roosters, they taste fab. but my hubby is the one I am trying to feed and he has FIRM opinions as to what chicken should taste like.

Am looking forward to getting some meaties but they wont be Cornish X because by the time I get them, its going to be hot hot hot! Will be going with one of the freedom rangers. Unless you lovely folks have a recomendation for me as to the best meaty to get?

And I am sorry for the bad spelling, any time I hit spell check it wipes my text until I turn it off. Very strange and very annoying!

 

[GBov]

Yup. All depends on what you think chicken should taste like. I'll take a DP, 4-5 month old cockerel for genuine taste any day.

What kind of dress out do you get with one that young? Any time I pick one up that age they just feel so scrawny.

 

[AlienChick]

With a DP that age, you won't get nearly the amount of meat as you would with a meaty.
The problem is the meat gets so tough on the DP's if you eat them past 5-6 months of age.

 

[Beekissed]

That taste is REAL chicken taste...what folks have been eating out of the grocery store for these many years past is not chicken but "baby' chicken....sort of how different veal taste compared to 2 yr old steer. Beef but not true beef. I've eaten veal and wouldn't willingly do it again unless there was nothing else available to eat.

I promise, if you keep a CX until it is 5-6 mo. old and then eat it, it will have more flavor than do the ones we butcher at 2 mo. It will also have far more texture, which is something that people seem to not want in their chicken anymore. I guess the least one has to chew, the better....

I bet if you hubby had been raised on home grown yard birds, he wouldn't think grocery store chicken was worth the effort of the small amount of chewing.

 

[Fred's Hens]

What kind of dress out do you get with one that young? Any time I pick one up that age they just feel so scrawny.

I was taught to brood, keep and butcher "fryers" by my mother and grandmother, dating back to 1959. My wife wonders why I don't care for CX chicken from the grocery store. To me? Honestly? It tastes like white rubber. A tasty 16-19 week old White Rock cockerel? Now THAT is chicken. I know, I know, 99% of modern people have no idea and wouldn't probably like a "real" chicken. But to me? Done the way my grandmother made chicken? Rolled in flour and fried in lard? Words cannot describe.

 

[brahmapapa]

Alot of factors influence the flavor of chicken, for me i love to stew an old fowl for the greatest chicken soup in this world.