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.

Had no clue what it was called so had to go on Google lol. This is what I meant ahh the weird alien slimey bits!

Surely the point of salt and pepper is to enhance the flavour of food. Spices are to cover up cheaper meat.

What spices to people use anyway? I don’t want my chicken to taste of curry!

@Gosports

Surely the point of salt and pepper is to enhance the flavour of food. Spices are to cover up cheaper meat.

What spices to people use anyway? I don’t want my chicken to taste of curry!

Spices are because people like spices. The idea that they ‘cover’ anything and that unseasoned food is somehow superior/purer/better is very European and the history behind it is quite interesting. Have a read, if you’re interested: www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking?t=1637535744117

Most cuisines are about layering flavours. So, the chicken and the spices marrying and creating a whole that is more than the sum of its parts. And there are an infinite number of spice combinations across a range of cuisines, just depends on what you like (and I’m not sure what ‘tasting like curry’ means, there’s loads of different kinds)!

@Saysama Thank you - I haven't come across suya so I will give it a try. I would like to be more adventurous with chicken - it's either roast, curry, soup or stir-fry in my repertoire!

@ArblemarchTFruitbat Oh, excellent! Suya is actually a spicy meat skewer, but suya spice works really well on roast chicken. Like I said, you can order it, but I generally make my own (it’s really easy). Here’s a straightforward recipe, if you’d like to do it yourself. I sometimes toss some cumin seed in, as well (not traditional, but it gives a nice warmth: www.mydiasporakitchen.com/homemade-suya-spice-yaji-spice-two-ways/

Do not do this if you’re allergic to peanuts! I do hope you like it.

People (the current judgy TikTokers) who over season food don't like the taste of actual meat or food, they just like the spices.

I can cook, and buy good quality meat so I don't see the need to throw 60 spices on top of it to mask the actual flavour of the meat.

You're more likely to get food poisoning from washing your chicken than if you don't. Spraying campolybacter all over the place

• CAMPYLOBACTER ffs autocorrect

@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.

There's an undertone to this post I don't really like .

@Chunkymenrock

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

What do people think we do when we wash chicken? Splash around like a kid at bathtime?! It's ignorant to assume people who wash their chicken can't do so without mitigating health risks.

Mookie oh ffs there's always one. And I suppose it may as well be you

@MobyDicksTinyCanoe

Mookie oh ffs there's always one. And I suppose it may as well be you

Yep.

Question for the meat washers: why do you think that cold water and a squeeze of lemon will get rid of the bacteria on the chicken, but cooking it at a high temperature won't? When you wash your hands after using the loo, do you just splash them with cold water and nothing else? Because unless you're washing your chicken in hot water with plenty of soap, I don't think you're accomplishing what you think you're accomplishing.

@Nandocushion Lemon juice and (more commonly used) vinegar are acids. While washing meat with plain running water doesn’t remove foodborne pathogens and may pose additional food safety and health risks, acidic solutions reduce bacteria on raw meat. They also positively impact on taste and texture.

Some studies:
meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/73/2/258/171229/Effect-of-Organic-Acids-and-Marination-Ingredients

meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/51/11/869/164924/Reduction-of-Bacteria-Attached-to-Meat-Surfaces-by

Nobody is trying to make you wash your chicken, but - please be assured - we are accomplishing exactly what we think we are accomplishing. As are millions of people all over the world. Your tone was condescending, unnecessary and ill placed.

[quote Saysama]@Nandocushion Lemon juice and (more commonly used) vinegar are acids. While washing meat with plain running water doesn’t remove foodborne pathogens and may pose additional food safety and health risks, acidic solutions reduce bacteria on raw meat. They also positively impact on taste and texture.

Some studies:
meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/73/2/258/171229/Effect-of-Organic-Acids-and-Marination-Ingredients

meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/51/11/869/164924/Reduction-of-Bacteria-Attached-to-Meat-Surfaces-by

Nobody is trying to make you wash your chicken, but - please be assured - we are accomplishing exactly what we think we are accomplishing. As are millions of people all over the world. Your tone was condescending, unnecessary and ill placed.[/quote]
Just another example of dog whistling.

@Mookie81 Yup. Some of the comments on this thread honestly seem like intentional bait.

I buy high quality meat, and I like to be able to actually taste the meat. Or else why bother.

You're not going to get better meat than the chicken running around in your back garden or the cow that's straight from your neighbours farm, as is the case for a lot of people in the countries where they season their meat.

Lol, 'high quality' has got nothing to do with it.

It's a taste preference. Namely, because spices originate from these cultures too!

Britain (and most of Europe) doesn't actually grow any of this. It's not rocket science.

Saysama, if you really feel that way then report the thread.

The thread got to almost 150 comments before it was derailed..... The irony is you and Mookie probably don't even know the videos I'm referring to. This isn't a thread about black, Asian or any other minority.

It also isn't a thread about washing chicken... Things went off on a tangent there...... Regarding washing chicken I don't particularly care what other people choose to do when they prepare their chicken. It has no bearing on me. I had a question about something Id noticed so I asked. That's how mumsnet works, it's full of mind numbingly tedious bullshit, to some it will be interesting. To others..... Not so much. I don't particularly appreciate being accused of starting a thread to make a nasty, racist dig at people. If you or others have an issue with the thread then as said above report it. Admin can then look at my posting history and see that in the 10 years I've been on here I don't have form for posting threads or comments trying to bait people. Like most on here I post tedious bullshittery and drop in the odd comment from time to time. That's all there is to it.

Doesn’t salt and pepper get a bit samey?

No, the point is to enhance the flavour of what you are actually cooking, every cuisine uses it to ‘bring out the flavour’.

@OppsUpsSide Please see the entire rest of the comment from which that was copied. It addresses this and was in response to someone asking if spices got a bit samey.

@OhShutIt

You're not going to get better meat than the chicken running around in your back garden or the cow that's straight from your neighbours farm, as is the case for a lot of people in the countries where they season their meat.

Lol, 'high quality' has got nothing to do with it.

It's a taste preference. Namely, because spices originate from these cultures too!

Britain (and most of Europe) doesn't actually grow any of this. It's not rocket science.

Yes to all of this.

OhShutIt see it depends what I'm making.

If it was something like kebabs then obviously I'd season it differently. But a whole roast chicken, for a roast dinner there's nothing wrong with a shit tonne of garlic, butter and a lemon up the chickens jacksie!

@Saysama sorry, skimmed it

@MobyDicksTinyCanoe Is the derailment to which you refer my single comment in response to another poster being condescending about washing chicken? Or the poster who was brought it up? As I’ve been participating in this thread from the very beginning, and have literally given people recipes.

And, please, explain how stating that there are extremely problematic comments on this thread equates to me accusing you of ‘starting a thread to make a nasty, racist dig at people’. That’s a rather interesting leap you’ve made there.