# Why no poultry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921 "2025-05-05T19:50:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/1 "2025-05-05T19:50:40Z")
I noticed when i go to grocery deli, there’s diced/cubed ham–usually a small company–but no diced chicken or turkey. I would think that there was a market for big poultry companies like Hormel/Tyson/Purdue to sell diced ham, chicken and turkey, since customers could add to salads, as well as using for soups, chili, added to pasta, even turkey tetrazzini (gasp). Also, why do most salad bars (I’m looking at you Whole Foods) not offer any proteins --bacon, ham. chicken, turkey–which would complete the salad. I’m excepting pre-packaged salad kits. Basically, what I’ve done is go to butcher and get turkey breast cubed so I can make turkey noodle soup or add to salad. Turkey salad anyone–it works with chicken? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/2 "2025-05-05T19:53:46Z")
Diced chicken is in the freezer section. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/3 "2025-05-05T19:55:16Z")
I’ve seen cooked and diced poultry in the deli section and it’s almost always dry and rubbery. Those salad bars are usually sold by weight and I suppose the proteins cost more per pound than the veggies on offer. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/4 "2025-05-05T20:06:38Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > Also, why do most salad bars (I’m looking at you Whole Foods) not offer any proteins --bacon, ham. chicken, turkey–which would complete the salad. Did they used to, but not anymore? Cuz I dunno if you noticed, but lotsa things are getting insane-o-pants expensive lately. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/5 "2025-05-05T20:16:29Z")
I always can find diced chicken. It mght not be near the diced ham. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/6 "2025-05-05T21:12:09Z")
I’m referring to deli style ready-to-eat diced chicken ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/7 "2025-05-05T21:28:00Z")
Semi-related question: I’ve been traveling in the North Island of New Zealand and haven’t seen sliced turkey for sandwiches in the markets. (Woolworth’s, 4Square, New World). I know there are turkeys in New Zealand – I’ve seen them wandering around in farmlands – but sliced turkey doesn’t seem to be a thing. Any reason for that? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/8 "2025-05-05T21:29:23Z")
I think the popularity of rotisserie chickens sold at supermarkets have squashed the diced chicken market so to speak. There are endless recipes on social media demonstrating how easy it is to buy a rotisserie chicken and just shred it up and put it in whatever recipe you want like a chicken salad or even a chicken soup. It’s also way more flavorful than you would get from diced chicken in a tub. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/9 "2025-05-05T21:46:53Z")
weirdly the shredded chicken they do are more expensive with less. might as well get a hot rotisserie or even a cold one that’s even cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/10 "2025-05-05T22:01:58Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I know there are turkeys in New Zealand – I’ve seen them wandering around in farmlands – but sliced turkey doesn’t seem to be a thing. You don’t want to commercialize wild turkeys. They’re tough and taste different. Commercial turkeys are bred to be mostly white meat and pretty neutral tasting, even for poultry. New Zealand produces [250,000 commercial turkeys per year](https://www.pianz.org.nz/industry-facts/), compared to [about 122 million chickens.](https://www.statista.com/statistics/734233/new-zealand-number-of-chickens/) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/11 "2025-05-05T22:05:12Z")
Yep. Gamey as heck. But if they’re on farmlands, presumably they are escaped farm birds. And may be tasty. A bitch to hunt, tho’. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/12 "2025-05-05T22:16:41Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I think the popularity of rotisserie chickens sold at supermarkets have squashed the diced chicken market so to speak. I can’t imagine buying diced chicken - to begin with, the rotisserie chicken is probably cheaper than diced chicken would be. And it’s more versatile - I can slice like a roast chicken for dinner, cut it into pieces to have atop a green salad, or dice it to make chicken salad. I’ve seen proteins in salad bars - but it’s a particular type of salad bar that’s aimed at people looking to make an actual salad and often has hot food as well. They usually are not in supermarkets but in places that mostly serve prepared foods like sandwiches. Supermarket salad bars in my experience aren’t really set up for people to make a dinner salad, with meat and cheese and croutons and dressing -they seem to be meant more so that people can buy mall quantities of salad vegetables rather than buying 5 oz of greens and 12 oz of baby carrots and 14 oz of celery sticks and 8 oz of peppers and so on. Half of which might go bad before it’s eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/13 "2025-05-05T22:26:44Z")
If I need diced chicken, I’ll ask my butcher to cut up some chicken breasts. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/14 "2025-05-06T13:03:36Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > most salad bars (I’m looking at you Whole Foods) You still have salad bars? All of ours (DC area) disappeared with the pandemic and never came back. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/15 "2025-05-06T13:39:30Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I’ve seen cooked and diced poultry in the deli section and it’s almost always dry and rubbery. Yes! I’ve seen cooked chicken cubes in the lunch meat section. It looks too perfectly cubed and rubbery. It’s the same chicken I’ve seen in frozen meals like fried rice. It’s not good. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/16 "2025-05-06T14:01:04Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > You don’t want to commercialize wild turkeys. They’re tough and taste different. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Yep. Gamey as heck. This does not match my experience… At least, definitely not tough, and not gamey. Tastes like turkey, though generally not as artificially plump. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/17 "2025-05-06T14:01:47Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I can’t imagine buying diced chicken - to begin with, the rotisserie chicken is probably cheaper than diced chicken would be. And it’s more versatile - I can slice like a roast chicken for dinner, cut it into pieces to have atop a green salad, or dice it to make chicken salad. This - I can get a whole chicken at Costco for $5. It takes ten minutes to dismember and cut it up. If I need raw diced chicken, I just cut up a frozen breast or thigh (thawed). I would rather not pay for someone else to process my chicken, especially now that we’ve shit-canned the FDA inspectors. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/18 "2025-05-06T14:11:00Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Those salad bars are usually sold by weight and I suppose the proteins cost more per pound than the veggies on offer. Yeah, I’ve seen salad bars in restaurants that had a few meat-based options in them; invariably what happens is a few customers pile up their plate or bowl with just that item, clearing it out and leaving none for anyone else and probably extracting more than their money’s worth out of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/19 "2025-05-06T14:50:15Z")
Canned diced chicken is available, though I don’t recall any that’s in consistently sized cubes, more like chicken chunks. It’s easy to get a thick slice of cooked chicken at the deli counter and dice it. Some stores might do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921/20 "2025-05-06T14:57:09Z")
The point, I think, is, unlike cured ham, cooked white chicken meat has a very short shelf life once it’s exposed to air. Those tasty rotisserie chickens taste so good because they are still incased in the bird’s own skin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-poultry/1017921.md?page=2)