How do you know what you’re eating?

Not all chickens are created equal.

And, it doesn’t necessarily relate to the way your Head Home Chef or local Chargrill Chicken Vendor has prepared it.

Just to qualify that this information comes from more than 15 years food industry experience, from primary production, processing through to large scale retail service.

Chickens rapidly grown in large scale factory environment can have very brittle bones that crumble easily, having had less space, time, sunlight and freedom to develop a strong frame.

A mushy texture in cooked chicken is found when the chicken has been fed an inadequate diet, designed to reach weight in a minimum time period. Chickens given a varied diet, and adequate time to grow and develop have defined muscle development.

And, it is common practice for large scale factory processing to include a chlorine or bleach bath for plucked chickens, to try to remove faeces and bacteria from the skin surface. This type of soiling occurs inevitably when the chicken is in cramped conditions, overcrowded and unhygienic. In the effort to adequately remove this contamination, chlorine or bleach residue remains on the skin surface.

Ensuring the quality of your chicken is as simple as having a conversation with your friendly local farmer, or your local butcher/chicken shop to understand how they source their stock. Small scale farming are unlikely to replicate the distressing conditions described above, and local farmers are very pleased and proud to share their practices with you – it’s their business, and that’s why it means business to them.