Did I miss something here? Did Jean in Mass. miss something here? My understanding is that the main reason for raising chickens “free range” is to allow for minimal ingestion of fecal matter while the chickens are feeding. As you may know, raw chicken has one of the highest levels of sal minela contamination of any raw meat. In other words, I thought the reasons for “free range” are mostly hygenic. Now I’m even more confused. I’d better keep reading…:smack:
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, mt, glad to have you with us.
When you start a new thread, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the column that you’re commenting on. Yes, it’s readily found today, but in a week or so, it will vanish into the great mass of Archives. Hence, a link will make it easier for other readers to follow the flow, so to speak.
Accordingly, I’ve edited your post above to include the link. No biggie, you’ll know for next time.
The main reason people eat free-range chicken (and eggs from free-range chickens) is quality, not kindness. The meat of most supermarket chickens is bland and flabby. The meat from free-range chickens has better flavor and texture. Most supermarket eggs are watery, while the eggs from free-range chickens have thicker whites and deeper-colored yolks. The difference in eggs is probably because free-range chickens are fed differently and don’t lay as many eggs.
I’d like to see a blind taste test between regular chickens and eggs and the free-range and organic types. I’m pretty sure the free-range and organics would come out on top.
I could almost swear that Consumer Reports did a blind taste test on this(not the eggs) in the last 10 years or so. Some of my magazines are packed away, and a quick look couldn’t find it.
