# Dark meat/white meat:  What is the deal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 13, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330 "2003-01-13T17:37:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330/1 "2003-01-13T17:37:50Z")

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This isn’t about “what is the physical difference” that was covered in an earlier column, but about the fact that some people have preferences.

For example, in fast-food joints, if you order, for example a “two- [or three-]piece chicken” meal, a clerk might ask “white or dark?”

This might be more of IMHO, but I’ve never been sure of why some people prefer one over the other–and as someone who has little sense of taste–either gustatorially or culturally–there’s not enough of a difference to me to cause me to have a preference.

Anyone???

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**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330/2 "2003-01-13T17:44:18Z")

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In short, dark meat is normally greasier/juicier than white meat. Some like that, many don’t.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330/3 "2003-01-13T17:50:15Z")

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Dark meat not only has a different flavor than white meat, it has more flavor. Soup made from dark meat has a meatier flavor.

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**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-meat-white-meat-what-is-the-deal/148330/4 "2003-01-13T21:56:13Z")

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I prefer dark meat to white meat because it tends to be a bit less dry, and it just tastes better.

I believe the idea with white meat is that it is supposed to be healthier for you because it contains less fat. From [this](http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T044300.asp) source:

> [@](#):
>
> Choose white meat over dark meat if avoiding fat is your goal. Compared with white meat, dark meat is approximately 25 percent higher in calories and over twice as high in fat. Dark meat is also slightly higher in cholesterol. White chicken meat is nearly twice as high in niacin. Dark chicken meat offers two-to-three times as much zinc and iron as white meat.