I found this thread tonight after making a sheet pan dinner with green beans baby potatoes and chicken drumsticks. Im in Minnesota and recently just started cooking chicken (baking it) and I go above and beyond to make sure it turns out great. They also contend they will simply bleach and clean the surfaces when finished. To avoid our new genetic altered world, you would have find heirloom everything, and do it all yourself. They were Bell & Evans. Somehow we need to get this issue out there and address this issue. BTW, 98% of the beef sold in the U.S. is cloned, and yep, their playing around with everything you eat. I switched to organic and don't have this issue anymore. . This is a very old discussion but I had to comment. I knew it was cooked, but the way it felt when chewing was as if it wasn't. "It was unavoidable." That's when I found this thread. Do you think they would have hurt their profits if they would have known what the long term consequences of slipping the GMO birds in would be? The boneless skinless chicken breasts have been cooked past 165F in MULTIPLE spots and we even bought a new thermometer. So this happened to me with frozen chicken breast that were cooked on the grill. I served it to some friends for dinner and I was horrified and it really ruined the meal for me; I hope not them too. It's not plain roasted but it sure is tasty and the chicken is delicious. Guys! Raw chicken shouldn't be slimy, sticky, or tacky and should be glossy and somewhat soft. I know these eggs are fresh, and I also know the neighbors got some new laying hens last spring. About 15 minutes ago I went to cut the "gargantuan" (LOL, someone elses's word used here) breast to grill up for chicken salad and after rinsing it noticed the stringiness, and I could literally pick and pull off srtingy pcs super easy, that type of thing totally creeps me out I had chills all over immediately, eww! This has never happened to me before. As other commentators have correctly observed, woody breast, is essentially a muscular disorder that begins to manifest early on in the chickens life and gets progressively worse at they reach their slaughter, weight, which is as few as 4-5 weeks later. . Hope they sort it out soon and if not I think Ill consider going vegetarian. It's disgusting. Chicken is the only meat I eat, but do no longer because of this same inconsistent and tasteless result of chicken production. Maybe their tenders will fare better. Some chickens (e.g., kosher birds, but also some others) are injected with a salt solution, particularly white meat, which is essentially brining. According to the National Chicken Council, a woody breast is when chicken breast meat is "hard to the touch and often pale in color with poor quality texture." If you think for 1 minute that they havent been playing around with everything profitable, and inserting it into the most lucrative systems, you are mistaken. Overcooking might play a role in your chicken's tire-like texture. Sorry I can't help you because I haven't bought chicken in a supermarket for more years than I can remember. I can't blame her, it's disgusting. When we can find smaller breasts at the store, they seem fine, but the larger breasts are rubbery and inedible. We have been experiencing the same things since November. Could this have something to do with how I'm cooking the meat? I read someone say they have no problems when they sous vide. While the politicians keep focusing our attentions and dividing us with the same old topics or issues that have been going on in my lifetime for at least the last 40 years they allow corporations to do whatever they want. . . The taste of chicken gizzard is often described as "gamey," and some people find it to be an acquired taste. its not about overcooked and undercooked chicken its about a texture, dubded "woody breast" and affects mass produced chicken. It felt like something should ooze out of a pocket in the middle. I have had this problem for months and it seems totally random. I do better with Bell and Evans. That being said I have only had this happen maybe 1 - 2% of the time of eating this meat I once loved. . I came across this thread because I was trying to figure out why my raw chicken breasts had a gelatinous texture to them. Had to throw the sandwich out because of the gross factor. After doing a bit of research into this I found out that many chicken farms are growing their chickens far too fast and it results in their meat hardening like this. You and me both. Texture Fresh raw chicken has a glossy, somewhat soft. After grilling and cooling it was tough to cut up and had a really thick grain that was hard to cut through. I'm so glad I found this site. Most of the shampoo and perfumes and petroleum jelly prefix petroleum yes that goes in your skin it's systemic. It isn't a woody texture at all, but it is dubbed just that; woody breast. citou 2 yr. ago. Why Does Chicken Have A Weird Taste When Reheated? I buy my chickens and rotisserie chickens from Whole Foods or the organic ones at Costco. "If you end up with a woody chicken breast, marinate the chicken, overnight if possible, in yogurt mixed with your favorite seasoning or spices," You can also always turn a woody breast into ground chicken and use it in chicken burgers, where the texture is more masked. This is odd yes but consistent with previous chicken breasts cooked prior and why we stopped buying boneless breasts. You should cook chicken to 160 degrees internal temperature on a meat thermometer. Same thing just happened here with two skin on breasts from publix. It was NOT raw but felt raw. YES! Chicken weird texture : r/foodscience - Reddit omg. Oh, I know, we arent eating those, but funny how our big sick looking Chicken Breasts came at the same time they gene edited chickens. Weird crunchiness, it's honestly disturbing that my chicken is crunchy like this. Maybe a milder version of the defect is sold rather than pulled from the line or reprocessed? I have the same experiences in both Supermarket purchased chicken and from a few favorite restaurants. Really strange and sad. Has anyone else had this problem? I KNEW that my chicken was safe to eat; temped at 161 when it came out of the oven, even nuked it after cutting and plating because the texture was so convincingly raw! Thank you for this post as I was really perplexed. I see it just about every time I'm out there shopping for chicken breast, and now know what to avoid. The act of biting into the meat is extremely smooth, and the breast comes off in the portion your mouth covers (there's no tear-away). Thanks CV. They do that for several reasons. But I'd take dry over this new crazy chicken texture. We buy our chicken from an Amish Market in the area, so I figured we'd be safe, nope. What does our FDA do with our tax dollars? The only option I see is to grind them/ chop them in food processor and try them as patties or chicken meatballs with other ingredients. I couldnt find anything wrong with it so I started to Google and thats how I found this thread! This has happened to me a few times before. I told them not to eat it and gave it to the dog. Its a problem of slipping in gene edited chickens (And other now tough hyper muscled animals) into the food chain. Both meals had this texture problem and were very unenjoyable to eat. The result of these practices are breast meat that has grown to fast for the natural ligaments,muscles,tendons, and all the other natural growing stuff that needs to take place for meat to develop properly. ( stop giggling ) The farmers are either pumping them full of hormones or super rich foods to get the breasts to grow very large very fast. I thought I was the only one experiencing this issue. I switched buying my meet at 8 AM at market now and have come across the same problem with chicken what is going on?? Then, dredge it in seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Its only been recently in the last few years Ive noticed this. Omg I am having this same issue! I get notifications of people complaining about the smell of their chicken tenders now? I have been coming across the same problem for a while now and I find it gross and disgusting. All in line with what the article says. We purchased Smart Chicken breasts from Harris Teeter and have been for years, but well be pausing addl purchases of chicken breasts for the foreseeable future. Im now part of this club, unfortunately. Just tried to make white chicken cream stew without thinking, two packs of two breasts both had this problem. It like the growth hormones in 1990s milk. I understand there's a shortage because of some sort of bird virus. Not knowing the reason, i search the internet and read an article from the Wall Street Journal. I googled this to find out if I can still serve to my family. We buy all our meat at Fresh Market, a local speciality grocer. I spit it out very quickly and started to check the chicken more. I am so glad I found this thread as I had been noticing this is chicken breasts. I know this is an older thread but it's still happening and now I can't find any stores that don't have chicken with the same problem. I use it along with an OXO instant read thermometer to make sure the chicken is done. My description has been feels raw- some how under cooked but also rubbery the way it gets when it has been over cooked. I've had that several times last year alone. While they make for less-than-stellar filets, woody chicken breasts aren't completely worthless. Such a good name for it. Thought I was going to give us food poisoning, This is really concerning I'm in Colorado usa and I've bought chicken breasts from both walmart and safeway and cooked them to 165 internal temp (most times I go above it to make sure) either in the oven or on the grill and every pack I've bought for the past few weeks have had at least one breast that has that raw like texture. It is stringy, wet, and the texture of raw meat. We just moved to the US and this woody chicken is really disgusting. The poultry industry has a fowl problem: an emerging phenomenon called "woody breast." While it's not harmful to humans, the condition causes chicken breasts to be tougher because of hard or woody fibers that lace the meat. NOTHING ruins a lunch like anticipating that perfect chicken breast only to bite into a texture that is almost indescribable; at first you are certain that it's raw. Unfortunately, if you're buying frozen chicken breasts, you likely won't know if any are woody until you defrost them. The owner said they were having problems with their suppliers and quality of chicken trouble and assured me that all chicken had temperature gauges in them and were done. First off, they are HUGE, like a turkey breast. Oh and the first experience I had 18 months ago, I cooked a chicken kiev for over 2 hours in a 200 degree oven (checked the temperature, and other food cooked fine), but somehow it didn't burn, in fact it still seemed raw. I used homemade shake & bake and drizzled all with olive oil. Absolutely horrible here in AZ. They are not frozen, they are fresh. I will add, I haven't had an issue since moving away from Springer chicken. Tyson, just in general, should be crossed off the ole grocery list as it isits the probably the worst as far as product quality, and that's even excluding the "woody breast disease" issue. . Big mistake! See if that helps the texture. Cant do raw feeling chicken , I work for a farm animal welfare NGO (we work with companies to improve their policies) and we've been seeing this issue come up a lot, as it's not only a quality issue, but a welfare issue as well. Who knows what their vegetarian feed is comprised of. I guess it doesnt bother him but we get ours from Aldi and they are HUGE so I am thinking we will pay a little more for them from somewhere else because I cant do it anymore!!! A hen's increased rate of respiration interferes with calcium carbonate production and shell formation. Hopefully chicken farms are seeing these complaints and are considering addressing them! I too have had this issue. Americans have no idea that 98% of what they are eating is cloned and genetically altered, strait from Transnational Capital to your table. I have been completely avoiding chicken for the last 6 months, then ended up at mcdonald's last week and ordered a chicken legend on auto-pilot. I was happy to come across this thread. First it was chicken, and last night it was my pork chops. Odd raw texture even though I was sure it was cooked. they were inedible. If I hard boil them, they are difficult to peel, the whites have a weird texture and the yolks are like rubber balls. Barf. My research and experience has concluded that the possible reason for the off texture is the saline brine injected in most frozen and brand name chicken. I scoured the internet and once I found what the problem is actually called, a lot of search results came up describing it. at least then i was finally convinced it has nothing to do with me or how im preparing the meat. It really feels like theyve thrown In some othe type of meat, like passed off as chicken but really not; sometimes I wish I knew a lab where they test food, anyone here know of one, Bought skinless breast and the texture when cut into was smooth and taste more like processed than real chicken, i could not eat the taste was weird. its so strange because in a package of two breasts, one can be fine and the other inedible! It had such a horrible texture, like almost crunchy but was cooked all the way through! Maybe we all need to go back to our local farmers if there are still any independent and still in business. . The plus of that also is they are forgiving and rarely get overcooked or dry unless you let them go too long. Pimples Or Sandpaper Shells Kathy Shea Mormino Why does my chicken have a weird texture? What I find is that the chicken has a milky white thick "skin" that is very tough and hard to cut through, and then has the same weird crunch that a lot of you have said. Aside from Perdue and Trader Joe's, has anyone been able to identify other bad sources? Ive been purchasing frozen 10# boxes of 5 or 6 oz. The chickens are being grown for market too fast. This is bad, i am going to talk to two local butchers about this issue. I am also a private chef and luckily have never served this, that I know of anyways, to a client.