Air chilled chicken vs. regular
I go out of my way to buy air chilled chicken. I feel it's "denser," tastes better, is moist, and has more flavor. It also does not retain any of the chlorinated water that regular chicken is dunked in. BTW, organic does not necessarily mean "air chilled." Does anyone else have opinions on this subject?
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I liken it to dry-aged vs wet-aged beef. Straight from the market, the meat is firmer, denser and the taste is more "natural." But, just because it's air-chilled, doesn't mean it wasn't injected, which is a different process. I've made simple stock with some air-chilled chicken and there was a savoriness that can only be attributed to injecting. Along those lines, any benefits of air-chilled, perceived or otherwise, are mitigated by brining. Like many, I always brine my chicken before I roast them. In that case, air-chilled doesn't really make a difference. What does make a difference is whether or not the chicken was free-range.
Cost-wise, air-chilled can be the same or only slightly higher, especially if it's on sale. Whole Foods, for example, will periodically have a sale where air-chilled is anywhere from $.99 to $1.29 a pound. Compare that with Costco's everyday price of $.99 per pound for a twin-pack of conventionally chilled chicken, which is a good deal no matter where you go.
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re: lcool
Wait, you don't use chlorine in your brine? How do you get your chicken bright white? Kidding aside, I purchased an air chilled chicken last night, gave it a quick bath in boiling water (my usual trick for crispy skin), and baked it as I usually do, and the skin was incredibly crisp and tasty, it was almost unreal.
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I propose a croud-sourced taste test. Go buy some air chilled chicken and the best water cooled chicken you can find. Invite a few friends over and prepare both sets of chicken using whatever recipe you like and compare. Keep them separate of course so you can see any difference. Blind test your friends and see what they say. Report back!
For those of you who haven't found air chilled chicken, its places like Harris Teeter or Whole Foods that sell air chilled bird. Depending on where you are, you might have available truly fresh local chicken that can beat air/water or whatever chilled chicken.›4 Replies-
re: GeneTee
Jacquilynne
Oct 26, 2012 08:08 AM
I think doing this as a blind taste test is actually missing one of the huge advantages of air chilled chicken, which isn't necessarily that it tastes better, but that you aren't starting with a crapload of water that has to be cooked off. The end result is less of a flavor improvement than a texture improvement, in my experience. I also find air chilled easier to cook without overcooking. It seems countertintuitive to me -- I would have expected all that water to somehow soften the cooking process and make it more forgiving, but it doesn't seem to.
Around the time air-chilled chicken was just becoming a thing in Canada (Maple Leaf was running those ads with a woman pouring a jug of water on top of dinner, for Canadians who remember that), I had some water and some air chilled chicken that I had purchased at different times in the freezer, and I needed to use both packs of chicken to complete dinner for a small group. I seasoned it all, and arranged it in the frying pan half on one side and half on the other, less by design than simply because that's how I took it off the trays and set it down. It was a crowded pan -- serious chefs would not have approved -- with everything touching.
By the time the chicken was ready to be turned, it was crazily obvious which was which -- the air chilled side of the pan was still full with the pieces touching or almost touching, while the pieces on the water chilled side had shrunk down so that there were half inch or more gaps between each piece of chicken.
I had kind of laughed off the commercials up to that point, but it was a pretty clear difference, and I've preferred air chilled chicken since that time. I don't know if the economics of it really work in my favour -- if I could calculate actual meat content from one kind of chicken to another, it might demonstrate that per gram of actual chicken, I'm paying more -- but the startling difference in cooking results was enough to convince me that air chilled must be better. Even if it isn't.
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re: Tudor_rose
It is the water "content" and how much chlorine used and time in solution has a WIDE variable.Often they have to cover the odor with minimally processed and "natural" ingredients etc.
Hell our cats and mynahs know the difference AND WON'T EAT IT.We had some family visiting last week and SIL Sue decided to be helpful,take the pressure off one night by purchasing good chicken.Out on the counter,for room temperature prior to seasoning, all checked it,all rejected.This was a revelation to her,now a convert.We had my farm birds and her purchase 50/50 on the table,all 10 adults discerned a difference.
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I raise ducks,geese,turkeys and capons on a small scale for a short list of restaurants and individuals.My killer,slaughter house of choice (I refuse to modernize to "retired" or "re-purpose")
is an air chilled operation.You get a better texture and taste in return for the extra cost. -
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re: Harters
This is an explanation from Bell & Evan's website, but I buy air chilled chicken through other vendors. The process is the same though.
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re: Harters
You're welcome.
True, but you can find chickens labeled 'air chilled.' However, always assume water chilled if it's not labeled. Air chilled also costs 2 to 3 times more than water chilled, so air chilled chicken should always be labeled, so you know why you're paying the higher price.
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re: Tudor_rose
No, as far as I can see, chicken here is never labelled about chilling method (which is probably why I'd never heard the phrase until your post).
Perhaps air chilling is simply the norm here, as I see a report from 2008, saying several American producers were changing to air chilling as it may help with importing into the European Union.
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