Difference between white and dark meat

[RetroVertigo]

My girlfriend won't eat dark meat from poultry. She says it grosses her out to much. I always tell her it all chicken, but she refuses to eat it. She says it taste, and feels different.

So what is the difference between white and dark meat?

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by RetroVertigo

My girlfriend won't eat dark meat from poultry. She says it grosses her out to much. I always tell her it all chicken, but she refuses to eat it. She says it taste, and feels different.

So what is the difference between white and dark meat?

"In chickens, the flight muscles, not adapted for sustained use, have less oxygen-carrying myoglobin than the walking muscles, and are thus lighter in color. This is the distinction between "white meat" and "dark meat". Waterfowl are adapted for sustained flight, and their breast meat is dark." (From the wikipedia article on Poultry.)

So... white meat is white because it's from muscles that have become redundant and are not actually used by the birds. Dark meat is from parts of the chicken that actually got exercise.

Kinda spooky, when you think about it, that we prefer the lazy part of the chicken. But I'm guilty of a fondness for white meat too.

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Which one is healthier?

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

Most people agree boneless skinless chicken breasts are as healthy as you can get, so that's the white meat. But I personally love the juicy dark meat of chicken thighs.

[Teter]

The dark meat of birds is "red" or slow-twitch muscle. The white meat is "white" or fast-twitch muscle. Most animals have some combination of these two fiber types, though the destinctions may be less obvious. Why are they differently colored? The slow muscles have more mitochondria (full of red pigmented cyctochrome complexes), and more myoglobin packed within the muscle cells. This gives them a darker, reddish color. Humans also have dark and white meat. Some of our muscles, like the soleus in the lower leg are almost all slow twitch "red" fibers. Others such as those controlling eye movements are made up of only fast twitch fibers. Function dictates form in these highly specialized muscles. The majority of human muscles contain a mixture of both slow and fast fiber types. From an evolutionary standpoint this makes sense. World class athletes are typically freaks for lack of a better word. They have a much more favorable ratio of fast twitch and slow twitch fibers. A world class marathon runner will be mostly dark meat while a world class sprinter will be mostly white meat.

So, now you know which buffet line to get into when attending the Donnor Party Olympic Buffet.


As far as the health factor goes there is really not much difference. As long as the skin is removed there will be a pretty low fat content.

[Telemark]

White meat has less fat.

[Cowgirl Jules]

So which are wings?

My friends and I were debating this last week. I say wings are dark meat (mostly because of how they taste, and because wings do get some exercise,) and they were saying they were white meat.

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

I think wings and breasts are white, and thighs and legs are dark.

[Teter]

Originally Posted by Big Bad Voodoo Lou

I think wings and breasts are white, and thighs and legs are dark.

building on my earlier post. the legs and thighs are always working either in walking or stabilization in flight. the wings work in short bursts. marathoners and sprinters

[Teter]

Originally Posted by Big Bad Voodoo Lou

I think wings and breasts are white, and thighs and legs are dark.

forgot to include that this quote is correct

[Gymnopithys]

"In chickens, the flight muscles, not adapted for sustained use, have less oxygen-carrying myoglobin than the walking muscles, and are thus lighter in color. This is the distinction between "white meat" and "dark meat". Waterfowl are adapted for sustained flight, and their breast meat is dark." (From the wikipedia article on Poultry.)

Ostriches don't fly, yet their breast meat is dark...

[Cowgirl Jules]

Originally Posted by Teter

marathoners and sprinters

Ah, see, I get that analogy more than the old one. Thanks!

[Teter]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl Jules

Ah, see, I get that analogy more than the old one. Thanks!

any 'ole time

[PBear42]

As far as the health factor goes there is really not much difference. As long as the skin is removed there will be a pretty low fat content.

Agreed. To be specific, 5.3 ounces (1/3 lb) of boneless skinless light meat has 164 calories, dark meat 180 calories. In fairness, dark has more fat, 5.8 grams v. 2.1 for light, but light has more protein (34.4 v. 29.6), which brings the calorie counts closer together. (All values derived from the Corrine T. Netzer Encyclopedia of Food Values, 1992.) Since very, very few of us suffer from protein deficiency, it's calories that matter, so, nutritionally, the two meats are functionally equivalent. On a related note, it amazes me how many products boast of being made with "100% white meat," and then add lots of fat to the product, e.g., nuggets and pot pies.

As for the difference in taste and texture, I have to agree with the girlfriend. Only, to me, it's dark meat that's superior. As my mother says, that's why Baskin Robbins makes more than one flavor of ice cream. Though I have to confess I think that, for some people, the anti-dark bias is psychological.

[Saltire]

Not much to add, except that the Perfect Master has handled this one.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981204b.html

[UncleRojelio]

Originally Posted by RetroVertigo

So what is the difference between white and dark meat?

I feel your pain Retro. I had no idea there was any difference till I got married. To me, chicken is chicken. But she, and her whole family practically vomit at the idea of eating dark meat. It is just plain weird, but the upside is that there are always two big ol' turkey legs just for me.

[Kalhoun]

My husband hates dark meat; I love it. I buy thighs every month or so, but he's not happy when I do.

[Bookkeeper]

I also find the dark meat tastier. White meat is OK, but rather bland flavoured.

[RetroVertigo]

Saltire thank you for the link.

You should see this girl freakout when we used to go Mcdonalds and get
mcnuggets (the old ones). She would bite into each one to see the color of the
meat, and end up eating two out of ten.

Maybe if i show her this she will calm down about it.
What i'm i saying, she will eat only a certain color of lettuce also
(that i'm afraid is a different thread).

[lorinada]

Another vote for dark, chicken and turkey. Dark meat has much better flavor and texture. And it's not nearly so dry. Because I have cats I only buy boneless chicken and boneless thighs are sadly hard to come by, so sometimes I'm forced to buy breasts. I had breast tonight and I finally realized that it's not even that I prefer dark meat chicken, it's that I really don't like the white at all. I don't think I'm going to buy it again.

I still like white turkey meat, but not as much as the dark. Good thing, becuase turkey thighs are even harder to find than boneless chicken thighs. For some reason my cats don't raid the garbage for turkey bones so I don't have to worry about trying to locate boneless turkey thighs! I'm sure they don't even exist.

Give me a thigh any day.

[Mangetout]

The dark meat might actually be poisonous or something; you'd better let me eat it, no, really - I don't mind - you guys have the best bit - the white meat, I'll just take care of the disposal of this nasty, sticky, juicy, delicious... I mean dangerous dark meat. Tee hee.

[Who_me?]

Personally, I don't think there's enough difference to love one and hate the other. Dark meat has more flavor, white meat is dryer... but all in all, they're both chicken.

[CalMeacham]

Someone once asked The Playboy Advisor "What's the difference between Dark Meat and White Meat?"

Their immediate response?


"Is this a Sex Question?"

[cmkeller]

I prefer dark - particularly the drumsticks - not so much because it's tastier (though it is, to me) but because it can be easily eaten with the hands, like corn on the cob.

As long as we're on the subject of pultry physiology, I'm going to hijack to something I'd always been curious about. On the drumstick, coming out of the cartilage cap at the top, there's this pointy thin bone, kind of like a toothpick. Does that bone have a name?

[caveman]

Originally Posted by cmkeller

I prefer dark - particularly the drumsticks - not so much because it's tastier (though it is, to me) but because it can be easily eaten with the hands, like corn on the cob.

As long as we're on the subject of pultry physiology, I'm going to hijack to something I'd always been curious about. On the drumstick, coming out of the cartilage cap at the top, there's this pointy thin bone, kind of like a toothpick. Does that bone have a name?

I think that's the (chicken equivalent of the) fibula, while the main portion of the drumstick is the tibia.

[caveman]

Here's a diagram, which should hold true for most birds: http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/La...rdSkeleton.gif

[cmkeller]

Originally Posted by caveman

I think that's the (chicken equivalent of the) fibula, while the main portion of the drumstick is the tibia.

Looks like it, thanks for the diagram. Though the main drumstick is apparently called "Tibiotarsus"...looks like birds have an extra leg bone that most mammals don't.

[Teter]

Originally Posted by cmkeller

...looks like birds have an extra leg bone that most mammals don't.

which one? are you talking about the hypotarsus? if so this just a situation similar to many other animals (commonly noted "crooked as a dogs hind leg")

[Corii]

Originally Posted by chrisk

So... white meat is white because it's from muscles that have become redundant and are not actually used by the birds. Dark meat is from parts of the chicken that actually got exercise.

Kinda spooky, when you think about it, that we prefer the lazy part of the chicken. But I'm guilty of a fondness for white meat too.

The last time I grabbed a chicken to bake when it came out the wings and thighs were white meat. That made me sad.

[Corii]

I should specify it made me sad both because I felt bad for the poor chicken that never got a chance to really walk and fly, and because I prefer dark meat.

[cmkeller]

Originally Posted by teter

which one? are you talking about the hypotarsus? if so this just a situation similar to many other animals

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. True, dogs hind legs look crooked like that, but the skeletal morphology can be matched in terms familiar on the human skeleton. Despite the similarity in shape, dogs hind legs are not, internally, like chickens'.

[Teter]

Originally Posted by cmkeller

Despite the similarity in shape, dogs hind legs are not, internally, like chickens'.

i am guessing that internal morphology has evolved into what is now unique to avians. i continue my speculation that the bird doesn't have an extra leg bone but rather an evolutionary adaptation of the foot. similar to other animals.