It's Saturday night, im bored......I need to know if you always season your chicken.....

[MobyDicksTinyCanoe]

Ive been sat scrolling through recipe videos on TikTok (( don't judge me)) and cant help but notice the amount of screechy hysteria in the comments section over ' unsesoned chicken'.

But to me it is seasoned, for example a normal roast chicken with salt and pepper rubbed into the skin.... Which is exactly what I do. I might rub some garlic butter under the skin and stick an onion or lemon up its backside but that's as good as it gets.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy peri peri chicken or whatever as much as anyone but it just doesnt always need it...... One poor woman was being mocked for not seasoning chicken in a heavy cream / garlic /cheesey potatoes dish. And again id argue it doesnt need it. The chicken should hold onto the other flavours.

My cack handed research has seen that most these comments seem to come from Americans..... Are there chickens less tasty? Or am I just Belinda from Blandtown?

So Yabu, and your food is shite and a waste of calories

Or yanbu. There's no need to empty the contents of your spice rack everytime you cook a damn chicken.

I thank you.

@FestiveMayo

Why do people wash chicken? Worried I should be washing it now. Is it dirty?

It was UK government guidelines decades ago. It's since been proven to be very bad - splashing salmonella all over your kitchen isn't a good idea.

I get the roast chickens sealed in a bag to cook. They're already seasoned and are beautifully moist and yummy. No touching raw chicken required. No mess in the oven. Perfect.

This thread is hilarious. It may be the whitest thing I’ve ever read and illustrates the reason the world thinks British food is bland. 😂

The idea of unseasoned chicken (and using just salt and pepper is unseasoned, in my opinion) chills my Nigerian heart.

I know I can Google recipes but interested in what spice rub I could be using. @Saysama hope that warm the heart a little ❤️

@Saysama What would a typical Nigerian seasoning be? I am always up to try new things!

How can you not wash your chicken?😂

How can you only season with salt and pepper??? What the hell is that about?!

One of my close girls is White British but her DP is mixed race and from Barbados. He taugher her all about seasoning and whenever I go round, her chicken is 10/10. I remember her telling me that one time her nan was complaining saying she doesn't need to season her chicken everytime and that she puts too much seasoning(???)
Why do British people enjoy such bland food?

I really couldn't imagine ever tasting chicken that was barely seasoned or only seasoned with salt and pepper. All purpose seasoning, chicken seasoning and bbq seasoning are used EVERYTIME as a base! Then more seasoning is added depending on what time of chicken we're making.
This thread is so interesting

The idea of unseasoned chicken (and using just salt and pepper is unseasoned, in my opinion) chills my Nigerian heart.

Right!!😂 I'm West Indian so not even Nigerian but I know Nigerians so IN with their seasoning. Everything seasoned and spiced just how it should be😍

@FestiveMayo

Why do people wash chicken? Worried I should be washing it now. Is it dirty?

It's mainly a cultural thing. Whenever it comes up on here people will link and screenshot NHS advice and think it absurd but I can't imagine not washing chicken.

You should not wash chicken. Spraying salmonella all over your sink.

If you have a decent chicken then you don't need much seasoning. It's only crap quality meat that needs it.

@videovixen

How can you not wash your chicken?😂

How can you only season with salt and pepper??? What the hell is that about?!

One of my close girls is White British but her DP is mixed race and from Barbados. He taugher her all about seasoning and whenever I go round, her chicken is 10/10. I remember her telling me that one time her nan was complaining saying she doesn't need to season her chicken everytime and that she puts too much seasoning(???)
Why do British people enjoy such bland food?

I really couldn't imagine ever tasting chicken that was barely seasoned or only seasoned with salt and pepper. All purpose seasoning, chicken seasoning and bbq seasoning are used EVERYTIME as a base! Then more seasoning is added depending on what time of chicken we're making.
This thread is so interesting

You're right, it is interesting!

I'd never even heard of all purpose seasoning until the other day until a Polish friend mentioned it. If the same seasonings are used on everything, doesn't everything taste, well, the same? Not of, say, chicken?

Vegetarian btw so can't even remember what chicken tastes like 😂

The chicken is going unto an oven at 180 degrees for over an hour so anything gross on it is gonna be killed off by the time it's eaten anyway. My mum comes from a culture of washing meat but I don't since it seems utterly illogical if it is going to be cooked thoroughly.

I'm usually of the opinion that British food is pretty bland but do personally favour a simple salt/pepper/butter/garlic/rosemary/parsley chicken with homemade gravy and all the trimmings. For legs/breast/separate bits I like more flavour but a whole chicken tastes best simply done to me

It's mainly a cultural thing. Whenever it comes up on here people will link and screenshot NHS advice and think it absurd but I can't imagine not washing chicken.

Exactly this! I couldn't even imagine not washing chicken or any other meat, I really don't care what the guidelines say. How can you take meat home from the butchers or a supermark, take it out of the plastic bag or pack and just put it straight in your pot to season with salt and pepper or whatever you use?!

If I told anyone in my family I didn't wash my meat or I barely seasoned it, they'd be so confused😂 definitely seems to be a cultural thing

@videovixen

It's mainly a cultural thing. Whenever it comes up on here people will link and screenshot NHS advice and think it absurd but I can't imagine not washing chicken.

Exactly this! I couldn't even imagine not washing chicken or any other meat, I really don't care what the guidelines say. How can you take meat home from the butchers or a supermark, take it out of the plastic bag or pack and just put it straight in your pot to season with salt and pepper or whatever you use?!

If I told anyone in my family I didn't wash my meat or I barely seasoned it, they'd be so confused😂 definitely seems to be a cultural thing

Because British meat is of a high standard and the cooking temperature will kill off any remaining bacteria. Washing it is actually more dangerous as you run the risk of splashing raw bacteria over your kitchen.

How can you not wash your chicken?😂 I've always just chucked it in the pan! But thanks everyone who has explained it.

@CrowBones haha no way you discovered all purpose seasoning through your Polish friend!

I get what you mean but not at all. You wouldn't put the exact same seasoning on every meat so they don't end up tasting the same. For example if I made Lamb I would only put Lamb seasoning and Worcester sauce and leave it to cook with Lamb stock. I wouldn't put chicken seasoning or all purpose because I'm not cooking chicken.
You adjust your seasonings depending on what meat you're cooking but you always still use seasoning!!

Personally I'm horrified to hear that people actually wash their meat...

@videovixen

The idea of unseasoned chicken (and using just salt and pepper is unseasoned, in my opinion) chills my Nigerian heart.

Right!!😂 I'm West Indian so not even Nigerian but I know Nigerians so IN with their seasoning. Everything seasoned and spiced just how it should be😍

You know how we do! 😂

@Slippy78 if you don't want to wash your meat and trust the temperature to kill all bacteria then of course that's up to you.
Many people like to take extra steps and as mentioned, it's usually more of a culture thing.

When washing chicken all I do is put the chicken in a bowl of cold water and I'll either use drops of lemon/line juice or an actual lemon/lime. When I'm ready to cook the chicken I slowly pour the water down the kitchen sink. Always clean the sink with antibacterial spray afterwards anyway. It's not like I'm physically washing the chicken in the sink letting water splash all over the place.
I also cut the fat and yucky bits off of the chicken that I don't want to eat (but guess people will say they don't do that either!)

[quote ArblemarchTFruitbat]@Saysama What would a typical Nigerian seasoning be? I am always up to try new things![/quote]
There really isn’t a typical Nigerian seasoning, we use a combination

I also cut the fat and yucky bits off of the chicken that I don't want to eat
But that's where the flavour comes from.

@Slippy78

Personally I'm horrified to hear that people actually wash their meat...

Personally I'm horrified to hear that people DON'T wash their meat. You're eating an animal that you don't know where it's been. It could have dropped on the floor once going into the packet, anything could have happened but you're just gonna pick it up and throw it into the pan/oven because the temperature will kill the bacteria? Sounds crazy to me!

@Saysama 👏🏾👌🏾 DP is Ghanaian too so loads of flavour going into our food as you can imagine😂

@ArblemarchTFruitbat Sorry, posted too soon! 😂

Was saying that we use different combinations of herbs and spices, depending on what we’re cooking. And we’re soup/stew/sauce people, so the chicken would generally be a component of a dish. However, if you want to give a toast some oomph’, I’d recommend trying some suya spice on it. You can get it in most Afro-Caribbean stores or online.

@videovixen God, I love shito. And I actually prefer Ghanaian jollof (don’t tell my mum). 😂

I’m genuinely just imagining what my family would do if I served them unwashed unseasoned chicken. It would probably incite an intervention of some kind. Or an exorcism.