# I'm done with chicken **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915 "2025-05-05T18:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/1 "2025-05-05T18:00:11Z")
3 of the last 4 times we got woody breasts. I’ve used every trick. Small breasts. Organic. Cutting off of fryers. Nope, still getting woody breasts. I can’t afford to keep throwing out chicken plus having to figure out that night’s dinner at the last minute. And it’s not only woody breasts. At least half of the chicken I get anymore has bloodlines in them to be cut out or are so bad that I have to throw the entre thing away. I would move to turkey, but good luck finding that around. Anyone else having these issue with their poultry? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/2 "2025-05-05T18:02:22Z")
The last couple of times I’ve bought Amish brand thighs, which are well trimmed and in pretty good shape. Can’t speak to breasts. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/3 "2025-05-05T18:08:55Z")
What are ‘woody breasts’? Are ‘woody’ breasts dry chicken breasts? That will happen with overcooking. I’ve never heard this term applied to chicken breasts, and I haven’t noticed any particular texture issue with various brands of chicken breasts I’ve purchased, except for one time I bought bulk chicken breasts through a meat market, and they turned out to be oddly rubbery in texture. Never bought chicken breasts through that market again. > [@Chefguy](#): > > The last couple of times I’ve bought Amish brand thighs, which are well trimmed and in pretty good shape. This may be the answer for the OP-- even though the U.S. seems to overwhelmingly prefer chicken breasts, thighs are more flavorful and retain more moisture when cooking, so are more forgiving of overcooking. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/4 "2025-05-05T18:11:02Z")
Never experienced the OP’s problems with “woody” chicken breasts or having obvious blood vessels in them. Maybe avoid shopping back of the bin at Food Lion? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/5 "2025-05-05T18:13:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What are ‘woody breasts’? > **[WOODY WOODPECKER DISGUISES AS A BEAUTIFUL LADY by ZarigoldXPC on DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/zarigoldxpc/art/WOODY-WOODPECKER-DISGUISES-AS-A-BEAUTIFUL-LADY-936394716)** But seriously, I’d spend some money on Amish or straight-from-the-farm breasts, just to make sure it IS possible to get tasty ones. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/6 "2025-05-05T18:16:44Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What are ‘woody breasts’? Are ‘woody’ breasts dry chicken breasts? A link from [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tough-chicken-breasts/993078) on the topic. > **[Chicken breasts have been more 'woody' than usual. Here's how to avoid buying...](https://www.today.com/food/woody-chicken-breast-t258881)** > > If your chicken breasts have been more tough than usual, you're not alone. > [@solost](#): > > This may be the answer for the OP Nope. Family refuses to eat dark meat. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Maybe avoid shopping back of the bin at Food Lion? No need for insults. Like I said, we’ve tried organic. Also tried online and Whole Foods. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/7 "2025-05-05T18:21:41Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > What are ‘woody breasts’? Are ‘woody’ breasts dry chicken breasts? > > A link from [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tough-chicken-breasts/993078) on the topic. Huh. A new one on me. And as I said, I can’t say I’ve noticed it, with the exception of the rubbery chicken breasts I bought in bulk from a meat market once. Maybe those were what could be termed ‘woody’, though I thought of them as rubbery. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/8 "2025-05-05T18:23:17Z")
I go with ALDI chicken, _plenty_ of injected water. You practically have to boil those poultry boobies in themselves before they begin to fry. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/9 "2025-05-05T18:23:48Z")
That link is from three years ago and is talking about supply chain issues due to COVID. But we’ve been buying more chicken in the last six months or so and haven’t noticed any issues with quality. I usually buy thighs, but my sister gets breasts (not tenders, as the link is talking about) , and she hasn’t reported any problems either. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/10 "2025-05-05T18:29:33Z")
Reminds me of a time when we went to dinner with a friend in The Fens in England, and he was serving a wild duck which had been shot recently. Was that thing ever tough and stringy! We had to be very polite, try to cut a few edible bits off and then say, that was interesting… I always think of chicken as a sort of default protein when you don’t have any better idea at the time. Needs a good marinade or casserole sauce to be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/11 "2025-05-05T18:31:09Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Nope. Family refuses to eat dark meat. It’s not usually my favorite, either, but if you make an Asian dish with them it might fake them out. Chicken covered in a sauce made with soy, sugar, etc. is fairly unidentifiable. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/12 "2025-05-05T18:38:06Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Reminds me of a time when we went to dinner with a friend in The Fens in England, and he was serving a wild duck which had been shot recently. Yes, we have migrating mallards every year, and I get to see them fairly close up. They’re smaller and much less plump than the domestic ducks (and one Muscovy) that my brother had when he was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/13 "2025-05-05T19:54:42Z")
For the record, I did have a run of very woody chicken breasts _especially_ if I bought the larger value packs, with the issue peaking around 2020 or so. I’m sorry to hear @Saint_Cad still has a problem with sourcing - sure, I’ll still get one from time to time (mostly buying Red Bird, Perdue, or Simple Truth organics these days) but it’s more unusual. I do prefer to buy thighs for a lot of options, but sometimes breasts serve better, and they’re a bit lower in fat (trying to lose some more weight). I do concur, if someone has a dark-meat issue, putting it into a Chinese-inspired stir fry, or an Indian Butter chicken is good concealment. In the “making lemonade” options when I do get a woody breast, I throw it in a freezer bag and pull it out to add more chicken intensity when making a batch of chicken stock from the bone bag. Alternately, if chicken is what I was craving for dinner no matter what, I’ve salvaged a woody breast by slicing lengthwise (not into strips) and jaccarding the hell out of it. It’s not a fix, exactly, but it’ll mitigate the issue enough to get buy for most applications. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/14 "2025-05-05T20:03:24Z")
People have been complaining a lot lately, on Reddit, about woody breasts from Costco. Even their rotisserie chickens. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/15 "2025-05-05T20:20:58Z")
Oh no… back in the late teens we were getting woody chicken breasts pretty frequently, maybe 1/3 of the breasts we bought. I haven’t noticed any in the past few years until last week when a pack of about 5 breasts had one that just didn’t feel right when I was cutting it up. I threw it out so I can’t confidently know if it would have been chewy or not. I believe the processors could detect this and remove the affected chicken if they wanted to. Maybe it would cost too much. I’d definitely pay more for a brand that didn’t sell chicken like this. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/16 "2025-05-05T20:44:39Z")
It seems to come in waves around here. I hadn’t had an issue for several years, and within a couple of weeks had two occurrences. I bought some breasts that despite showing no signs of scarring I had to toss them after cooking. And then I ordered a chicken and pasta dish from a fairly nice restaurant and the first bite was so woody I gagged. I still can’t eat chicken there even though it was the first time it had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/17 "2025-05-05T21:07:50Z")
I always buy either the Bell & Evans or Wegmans branded chicken breasts, single packed. Ever since I started brining them before cooking and then resting them for 5-10 mins afterwards, they have, without fail, all been tender & juicy. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/18 "2025-05-05T23:25:09Z")
I switched to thighs, it’s just easier. Hubs usually only wants breasts. But I bone them, a sharp pair of scissors makes it pretty easy. Chopped up for stir fries, cashew chicken and lots more, if it’s got sauce on it, very hard to tell! And it goes entirely unnoticed. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/19 "2025-05-06T01:06:56Z")
To be clear, is this the same or different than rubberniess? We order frozen meat from a distributor and the chicken we received is different than what they’ve provided for the past 10 years. Instead of two 200g breasts per package, they are each a single monster 400g breast and easily 1/3 of them have been horribly rubbery. No odour, perhaps a bit paler in colour, but just an awful texture. We usually cook the breasts whole, but even a butter chicken attempt was awful. We took pictures tonight and will send a complaint to the distributor. Is this a different issue? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915/20 "2025-05-06T01:10:24Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > To be clear, is this the same or different than rubberniess? Very different. Woody breasts are fibrous and when you have one and cut it (whether raw or cooked) you know it. It’s like cutting through a fibrous plant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-with-chicken/1017915.md?page=2)