Contents
Chicken Basics
Nutritional Information: Chicken
How to Buy Chicken
How to Store Chicken
Chicken Safety Guidelines
How to Cut a Whole Chicken into Parts
How to Make Oven-Roasted Chicken
How to Grill Chicken
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- The history, different types, and nutritional value of chicken
- What to look for when buying chicken, and how to store it after you buy
- How to cook chicken in the tastiest and most popular ways
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Chicken Basics
Chicken refers to both a domesticated fowl and the meat derived from that fowl. Chicken is eaten more than any other fowl worldwide. In Western nations, chicken is the most commonly eaten meat overall. In fact, because chicken is easy to breed and keep and provides humans with both meat and eggs, it is the most populous bird in the world.
A Brief History of Chicken
The modern chicken is thought to be descended from wild jungle fowl in the Indus river valley in southern Asia and to have been domesticated more than 4,000 years ago. Mentions of domesticated chicken appear in China around 1,400 BCE, in Babylon around 600 BCE, and in Greece around 500 BCE. Chickens were raised by the Romans and were widely eaten in Europe during the Middle Ages. Chicken has reached unprecedented heights of popularity since World War II. The war itself led to shortages of other types of meat, while the post-war development of industrial poultry farming made chicken both more accessible and less expensive. New breeding methods and genetic manipulation are some of the advances that have made it possible to breed better-quality chickens (with greater muscle mass, for example) more rapidly and in greater numbers. Chicken became even more popular after researchers identified it as a relatively healthy alternative to red meat.
Types of Chicken
Whole chickens (as opposed to chicken parts) may be sold under a variety of different names that describe the age and weight at which the chicken was slaughtered, or the methods used to raise the chicken. Some of the most common names include:
- Broilers: Slaughtered when approximately 7 weeks old, broilers weigh 2 1/2 to 4 pounds. The name suggests the best method for cooking, though this is a suggestion only—broilers can be prepared in a number of ways.
- Roasters: Also called roasting chickens (after the suggested preparation method for this type of chicken), roasters are slaughtered at 10 weeks and weigh more than 4 pounds.
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Capons: Male chickens that have been castrated and fattened, capons are common in Europe but less so in North America. Capons grow to twice the size of other young chickens. Their flesh stays tender and succulent, as their muscles are marbled with layers of fat. They have a higher proportion of white meat than other chickens and are more flavorful. Capons generally are sold at a weight of 8–9 pounds.
- Rock Cornish hens: The Rock Cornish hen is a cross between the white Plymouth Rock chicken and the Cornish hen. A whole Rock Cornish hen weighs 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. An entire Rock Cornish hen usually is a single serving for one person.
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