# Why is poultry white meat touted as superior to dark meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294 "2016-04-05T21:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/41 "2016-04-06T15:25:52Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > No no no. Breasts and wings are white, legs and thighs are dark. > > The discussion here has focused on breasts and largely ignored wings, but no one has claimed wings are dark. And they aren’t. Wings might technically be white, but since they’re not as big as the breast, the skin to meat ratio makes up for the lack of taste. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/42 "2016-04-06T16:03:32Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > White mean basically means chicken breast, which is one of the most boring foods on the planet. This is why hot sauce was invented. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/43 "2016-04-06T16:11:30Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > That may be true where you are, but in the US, at least in the mid-Atlantic area, white eggs are the norm, although brown aren’t hard to come by. In New England, throughout the 80’s and 90’s we subjected to an advertising jingle “Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh” from the [New England Brown Egg Council](http://www.newenglandbrownegg.com/). White eggs are certainly available everywhere, but New Englanders still seem to have a preference for brown eggs, most of which sold here are produced here. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/44 "2016-04-06T16:48:53Z")
I just made the most banging chicken noodle soup. They had a pack of 10, bone-in, thighs on sale for $6.00. I roasted them, then pulled the meat off the bones. I used the bones and skin to make a stock (with veg and herbs). I skimmed the fat, then made a soup with the stock, chicken, and noodles. It was BOSS. Mmmm, dark meat. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/45 "2016-04-06T16:57:44Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > I just made the most banging chicken noodle soup. > > They had a pack of 10, bone-in, thighs on sale for $6.00. I roasted them, then pulled the meat off the bones. I used the bones and skin to make a stock (with veg and herbs). I skimmed the fat, then made a soup with the stock, chicken, and noodles. It was BOSS. > > Mmmm, dark meat. Homemade chicken soup; food of the gods. ---
**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 6, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/46 "2016-04-06T19:56:10Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Wings might technically be white, but since they’re not as big as the breast, the skin to meat ratio makes up for the lack of taste. Yeah, wings are definitely classified as “white meat,” but they, at least to me, have the texture of dark meat and can deal with longer cooking times. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/47 "2016-04-07T01:08:32Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > The dark meat isn’t very dark, but when cooked leg and thigh meat is noticeably darker than breast and wing meat. I am going to eat chicken today. I shall investigate. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/48 "2016-04-07T01:38:37Z")
Mmmm, chicken. I like a good chicken. Which part depends on how it’s prepared. If I’ve just roasted a whole chicken, my favorite is the wings. Crunchy greasy wings. I eat the small bones in the wingtip along with the meat and skin. I like the tail, too, although that’s a little too much of a good thing. But if it’s been brined, the wings aren’t worth it. The skin is rubbery instead of crunchy, and they will be too salty. Fresh and cooked with dry heat (roast, broil, grill) I like the breast, so long as it hasn’t been overcooked. It should be just barely turned from pink to white, and still quite moist. Yum. Especially from a free-range bird that got to eat insects. Leftover or stewed, I prefer the thigh. It holds up a lot better to over-cooking, and seems to keep better without developing “old meat” flavors as quickly. I don’t care for the legs. Too many tendons and those stringy/spikey things that are sort of bone and sort of connective tissue. And the meat usually gets overcooked. And the texture of the leg meat isn’t as nice as the other parts, either. The flavor is fine, but I don’t like the experience of eating legs. I do like chewing on the backbone. I like the liver and heart, too. And the gizzard is too tough to eat on its own, but it’s really good boiled into the gravy broth and then cut up fine. And while there isn’t any meat to speak of on the feet, they make bang-up broth, and are fun to chew on. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/49 "2016-04-07T01:40:16Z")
What I don’t understand is why some chicken is advertised as having an all-vegetarian diet. I can guarantee that chicken tastes better if it’s eaten bugs and a variety of scraps than if it was fed mostly grain. ---
**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 7, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/50 "2016-04-07T01:44:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > What I don’t understand is why some chicken is advertised as having an all-vegetarian diet. I can guarantee that chicken tastes better if it’s eaten bugs and a variety of scraps than if it was fed mostly grain. Definitely. Same with eggs. The best eggs I’ve had were from chickens that ate bugs and scraps and all that stuff. ---
**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 7, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/51 "2016-04-07T02:10:58Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > “… But still… _Legs and thighs_ are far superior…” AKA chicken quarters. And also, because it can be cooked so many different ways. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/52 "2016-04-07T02:31:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Definitely. Same with eggs. The best eggs I’ve had were from chickens that ate bugs and scraps and all that stuff. Oh yeah! I haven’t had the pleasure of eating many of those, but they are much eggier, and much better than the supermarket eggs. Also more vividly colored. Curiously, in Europe, the eggs are vividly colored, but they taste about the same as here. They must feed the hens something yellow. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/53 "2016-04-07T02:55:00Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > …It was BOSS. I had to check if this was a zombie thread from the 90’s after reading that. ---
**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 7, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/54 "2016-04-07T03:00:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Curiously, in Europe, the eggs are vividly colored, but they taste about the same as here. They must feed the hens something yellow. Europe’s a big place, obviously, but the ones I had there (I lived in Hungary for 5+ years) I found much eggier than the ones here, with a brilliant orange-yellow yolk. Every time I’ve visited since, one of my first meals was eggs. That and Hungarian bread and buns. Lord how I miss it. None of the artisanal bakery breads I’ve found here were a match for a simple, cheap, everyday loaf of Hungarian bread. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/55 "2016-04-07T03:16:38Z")
I was in northern Germany and Denmark when I observed the brightly colored but dimly flavored eggs. I mean, the eggs were fine, they just weren’t any better than ordinary US eggs. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/56 "2016-04-07T03:17:20Z")
Glad to see that there are dark meat lovers here who will create demand for it at chicken outlets or take it at the dinner table, thus leaving the good white meat for the rest of us. 🙂 I guess it’s a matter of preference, but I prefer white because it has a cleaner, lighter taste, is more consistent, and if cooked properly is moist and tender, though if overcooked it’s the first part of the bird to dry out and toughen. Dark meat to me tends to be more fatty and greasy. And white meat slices nicely to make wonderful cold chicken sandwiches or chicken Caesar salad. Sliced white meat from grilled well-marinated chicken breasts on a toasted bun with lettuce, bacon, and mayo or Caesar dressing is one of my great comfort foods! ---
**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 7, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/57 "2016-04-07T03:20:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I was in northern Germany and Denmark when I observed the brightly colored but dimly flavored eggs. I mean, the eggs were fine, they just weren’t any better than ordinary US eggs. Yeah, for me, poultry in general (chicken and turkey) was far more flavorful, and eggs included. Pork, too. Beef, though, was not as good (except maybe for stewing cuts.) ---
**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 7, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/58 "2016-04-07T03:21:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > What I don’t understand is why some chicken is advertised as having an all-vegetarian diet. I can guarantee that chicken tastes better if it’s eaten bugs and a variety of scraps than if it was fed mostly grain. Absolutely! When I was a kid back in the '50s, we lived in a developing suburb out in the boonies. There was a local farmer, and once a week he’d come around with fresh eggs and live chickens. He’d kill a chicken for you and remove the head and feathers. Nothing available today comes close to the taste, not even kosher. And oh, double- and even triple-yoke eggs! ---
**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 7, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/59 "2016-04-07T04:01:13Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Absolutely! When I was a kid back in the '50s, we lived in a developing suburb out in the boonies. There was a local farmer, and once a week he’d come around with fresh eggs and live chickens. He’d kill a chicken for you and remove the head and feathers. Nothing available today comes close to the taste, not even kosher. And oh, double- and even triple-yoke eggs! Double egg yolks are not that difficult to find if you buy jumbo eggs. I don’t think I’ve had a triple before, but I’ve had cartons of jumbos where about half were doubles. And around here (Chicago), you still have a number of live poultry places where you can pick your chicken (or rabbit) and get it slaughtered and prepared right there. ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294/60 "2016-04-07T04:04:43Z")
A perfectly cooked chicken breast is a wonderful thing but it only takes a few seconds to screw it up. Turn the television off & stare at them intensely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poultry-white-meat-touted-as-superior-to-dark-meat/751294.md?page=4)