# Chicken Legs/Drumsticks/Breasts Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394 "2014-04-18T05:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/1 "2014-04-18T05:36:01Z")
I like to cook chicken breast because i know its healthy. However, its very hard to keep eating it daily as there is not much taste to it. I basically just cook it… dont put anything on it. I have ate chicken leg and drumstick before and one of the things i noticed was the chicken legs and drumsticks cost at least 2 times less than chicken breasts. Is there a reason for this? Also why does chicken legs and chicken drumsticks taste so good? Note, i do not eat the skin which of course taste very good but the chicken leg and drumstick just taste really good. Is it bad to eat it everyday? I know eating chicken breast everyday isn’t bad but these chicken leg/drumstick just taste so good. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/2 "2014-04-18T05:46:53Z")
A lot of people buy the white meat because they think it looks better. But generally, there’s more flavor in the dark meat. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/3 "2014-04-18T05:49:49Z")
The only time I eat the breast is when I buy a whole BBQ chicken. I eat the legs, and cube the breasts for salad. The rest of the time I only buy the legs. They are not dry like the breast, have great taste, and are nutritious enough. You already know all of this, yet you choose to eat the breast. It’s up to you. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/4 "2014-04-18T06:02:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A lot of people buy the white meat because they think it looks better. But generally, there’s more flavor in the dark meat. It’s also leaner, little-to-no connective tissue, easy to filet, easy to cut into cubes or flatten into cutlets, etc. And, in the US, consumer preferences are for white meat, in general, it being less caloric (although the difference is not as extreme as you might think), not grisly, neutral-flavored, etc. Now, I do use chicken breast fairly regularly, but I use it much in the way I would use tofu. Just a generic protein to have to soak up other flavors, as it doesn’t have very much flavor of its own. If I want to make something that tastes like chicken, or is stewed for awhile, I do for dark meat, usually chicken thigh. If I’m eating fried chicken or barbecued chicken, yeah, give me anything but breast. But if I’m doing a quick stir-fry with a strongly flavored sauce, I’ll go for breast for convenience and its neutral properties. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/5 "2014-04-18T08:08:34Z")
In the U.S. the demand for breast meat is higher than for leg meat because white meat is leaner. Higher demand results in higher prices. BTW, chicken breasts don’t have to be dry. White meat cooks faster than dark meat and is less forgiving. If you cook breasts to 160 F (71 C) they will still be juicy, and at that final temperature will be quite safe to eat. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/6 "2014-04-18T08:24:50Z")
Of course you are not buying your chicken off a supermarket shelf - are you? They are likely to be full of undesirable chemicals and are only about six weeks old anyway. There are other meats which are low fat, low cholesterol - Turkey is good, and outside of the main demand dates, can be quite cheap. Venison is good too, as is rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/7 "2014-04-18T10:01:45Z")
Chicken is sold by weight, breasts weigh more so they perceive to cost more. Buy the whole bird and you’ll pay the same price per pound for the white and dark meat. And if you want better tasting breasts season it man! Marinated with olive oil lemon juice and garlic, and then sprinkle with Montreal seasonings and if possible cook it on your grill for maximum flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/8 "2014-04-18T10:53:32Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > I have ate chicken leg and drumstick before and one of the things i noticed was the chicken legs and drumsticks cost at least 2 times less than chicken breasts. Is there a reason for this? Less demand for drumsticks, for one thing. > [@](#): > > Also why does chicken legs and chicken drumsticks taste so good? Higher fat content. Also, cooking with the bone in, as is customary with drumsticks, can also improve flavor. > [@](#): > > Note, i do not eat the skin which of course taste very good but the chicken leg and drumstick just taste really good. Is it bad to eat it everyday? I know eating chicken breast everyday isn’t bad but these chicken leg/drumstick just taste so good. No, it’s not bad to eat every day. You remove the skin, which is a major source of fat/cholesterol, and you aren’t adding anything to it like gravy, which can quickly increase calories. If you’re just eating it plain the difference in calories between white and dark meat is pretty minor. Four ounces of skinless chicken breast, on average, contains 118 calories, 1.4 grams of fat, and less than half a gram of saturated fat. The calorie content of drumsticks is usually given assuming a single drumstick as a unit, which makes exact comparison to the specified number of ounces breast require some math. I was able to find per-ounce nutritional information for drumsticks and the result is 192 calories and 6.2 grams of fat. (Most drumsticks apparently have 72 calories each with 2.7 grams of fat). So, yes, the dark meat is higher fat but overall that’s not a huge quantity of either calories or fat, and if you’re like me and substitute two drumsticks for one chicken breast you might even be eating fewer calories at a meal. Personally, I’d rather eat less of a something that tastes good rather than more of something that tastes blah, but that’s me. I usually bake mine in the oven and season just with Penzy’s Tuscan Sunset. > [@bob\_2](#): > > Of course you are not buying your chicken off a supermarket shelf - are you? They are likely to be full of undesirable chemicals and are only about six weeks old anyway. > > There are other meats which are low fat, low cholesterol - Turkey is good, and outside of the main demand dates, can be quite cheap. Venison is good too, as is rabbit. You _do_ realize that for most people chicken in the supermarket is likely their only option? While I agree free-range chicken has more flavor the cost is prohibitive for me. In my area, the only way to get venison is to go deer-hunting (or be good buddies with a hunter) and the only way to get rabbit is either hunting them or raising them yourself. Hunting/raising livestock isn’t feasible for a lot of people. Personally, I think the “low-fat, low cholesterol” campaign can be taken too far. Fat is one of the flavor components for food. Unless a doctor or professional nutritionist has told you otherwise, I’d go with the Mayo clinic guidelines which, on the low end for a 2,000 calorie a day diet, recommend 44 grams of fat per day or less. You’d have to eat 16 chicken drumsticks to hit that mark, so I hardly think eating 2, or even 4 (let’s get wild) for one meal of the day is going to be a problem. Now, if you add gravy or cheese sauce to every bite of chicken that’s an issue, but the issue is the gravy and the cheese, not the chicken. The OP has stated that he/she eats the chicken plain and leaves the skin uneaten. My vote is to switch to the chicken parts you prefer, so you enjoy eating more. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/9 "2014-04-18T11:01:26Z")
Moved to Cafe Society from General Questions. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/10 "2014-04-18T11:24:41Z")
As stated upthread, if you want more flavor for your chicken breasts, marinate them. Or investigate some of the seasoning rubs that are available now. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/11 "2014-04-18T11:43:32Z")
Also, why “must” you eat chicken daily? If it’s for protein, you have lots of healthful options - other types of meat. Fish. Eggs. Beans and rice. Lentils and other pulses. Soy and dairy products. Tempeh. etc. I agree that boneless skinless chicken breast is one of the most tasteless meats available and needs to be well-seasoned and not overcooked. I don’t eat chicken that often but when I do, the thighs are pretty tasty. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/12 "2014-04-18T12:06:45Z")
We’re eating more boneless/skinless chicken thighs nowadays compared to boneless breasts for all the reasons already described. Because of the fat content, it’s rather easy to be “neutral” with the thighs. My simplest go-to dish is soaking them in buttermilk for a few hours, tossing them in seasoned panko with a bit of herbal blend (Italian seasoning, say) and baking them in the oven. You can do the same thing with boneless breasts, but be mindful of the time and temperature – you can’t cook the as high nor for as long or else they’ll become dry and stringy. That said, I sometimes will buy split breasts when they’re on sale and poach them for chicken salad or a casserole. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/13 "2014-04-18T12:25:50Z")
I think you folks saying marinate/season/whatever chicken _breasts_ are missing the point where the OP says he/she _prefers drumsticks_. The question isn’t so much “how do I make these tasteless things taste better” as “is there any harm in eating the parts I actually like better”. The fact the preferred parts are usually cheaper is yet another plus. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/14 "2014-04-18T12:44:02Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > I have ate chicken leg and drumstick before and one of the things i noticed was the chicken legs and drumsticks cost at least 2 times less than chicken breasts. Is there a reason for this? White meat (breast) is more popular, for one thing. Also, breasts are usually sold boneless and skinless - pure meat, through and through. drumsticks and thighs are typically sold with bones in and skin on, so pound-for pound, a package of chicken thighs or drumsticks has less edible meat in it than a package of boneless/skinless chicken breasts. If you want a satisfying meal comprised of dark meat, you’ll need to buy more pounds of drumsticks/thighs than you would if you were buying boneless/skinless breasts. Boneless/skinless breast meat also requires more labor input at the processing plant. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/15 "2014-04-18T12:53:20Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Of course you are not buying your chicken off a supermarket shelf - are you? They are likely to be full of undesirable chemicals and are only about six weeks old anyway. Full of undesirable chemicals? Like what? I haven’t seen any raw chicken in the supermarket that has been enhanced with any chemicals, desirable or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/16 "2014-04-18T13:48:56Z")
They feed the live chickens [antibiotics](http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/they-eat-what-the-reality-of.html#Drugs_and_Chemicals), for example: > [@](#): > > " …animals at animal factories often receive antibiotics to promote faster growth and to compensate for crowded, stressful, and unsanitary living conditions. An estimated 13.5 million pounds of antibiotics—the same classes of antibiotics used in human medicine—are routinely added to animal feed or water. This routine, nontherapeutic use of antibiotics speeds the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can infect humans as well as animals. Antibiotic resistance is a pressing public health problem that costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year. > > Some of the antimicrobials used to control parasites and promote growth in poultry contain arsenic, a known human carcinogen. Arsenic can be found in meat or can contaminate human water supplies through runoff from factory farms." And: > [@](#): > > **Plastics** > > Many animals need roughage to move food through their digestive systems. But instead of using plant-based roughage, animal factories often turn to pellets made from plastics to compensate for the lack of natural fiber in the factory feed. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/17 "2014-04-18T14:00:36Z")
My wife cuts up chicken cooked breasts into strips, rolls them in a mixture of pepper, garlic granules and other stuff of that nature, then browns them in a fry pan. I eat them with dash of sweet chilli sauce. Not bland at all. But we usually buy either chicken wings or chicken ribs, which are fairly cheap in Australia, and cook them with the same seasoning as the chicken breasts. Also adding sweet chilli sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/18 "2014-04-18T14:14:30Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > They feed the live chickens [antibiotics](http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/they-eat-what-the-reality-of.html#Drugs_and_Chemicals), for example: > > And: I’d say that feeding a chicken antibiotics isn’t quite the same as adding unwanted chemicals to the meat that’s sitting on the shelves. If that’s what he meant, he phrased it very poorly. Also, there is no clarification or citation given for the plastics comment in the agenda-driven website on which it was posted. I’d like to learn more about that. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/19 "2014-04-18T14:16:18Z")
Mmm…chicken. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394/20 "2014-04-18T14:25:57Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Chicken is sold by weight, breasts weigh more so they perceive to cost more. But I presume the OP is looking at the per pound (or per kilogram) cost, so it’s not just a matter of perception. Around here, Leg quarters can sometimes be found as cheap as 39 cents a pound. The cheapest I’ve ever seen breast (bone-in) these days is around $1.49. More typical non-sale prices at my grocery store are $0.79-$1.29 for leg quarters and $2.49-$2.99/lb for breast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-legs-drumsticks-breasts-question/686394.md?page=2)