Why does supermarket chicken seem so chewy lately?

[ExasperatedIs]

Has anyone else noticed how chewy supermarkets chicken is recently ?? I’ve tried various chicken breast fillets from supermarkets, yesterday had Ocado own brand diced chicken breast and again it’s rubbery and chewy!
Why is it so hard to find nice chicken?! Where is everyone buying their chicken from? Ideally I’d like organic but the cost of it is ridiculous!

Oh the water that comes out of it now as well! It's hard to lightly fry slices of chicken as you have to cook it long enough to get all the water out other wise your stir fry or fajita mix turns to soup !

I use apx 5 chicken breasts sliced into a large wok 'ish pan (dry fry) and i swear i drain a tea cup full of water off before they'll start to brown. By which time i feel they've gone a bit tough 😳

I’ve been saying this to my husband for a while now, that the chicken we buy is different. Like I’m chewing across the grain. It’s put me off chicken 🤢

As well as woody chicken, there is another issue in chicken breasts - spaghetti chicken where the muscle fibres fall apart like spaghetti.

Also disgusting.

Both are linked to rapid growth for the intensive farming industry.

I just stick with thighs, these days. It's telling that they're no longer any cheaper than breast, if you buy them filleted.

I agree, the chicken breasts we had tonight were humongous, 330g each! So much water was released on cooking. And they were hard and rubbery, despite not over cooking them, I checked with a meat thermometer!

I think all supermarket food including fruit and veg is shocking at the moment. Tomatoes taste of nothing, alot of the veg is bland such as carrots, the fruit is watery and tasteless its all very disappointing. Unfortunately i don’t have the budget to shop at the local farmshops/ butchers 😫

I’ve noticed it too - unless it’s organic it’s pumped full of water, but it feels like the amount of water being pumped has increased - although I think there is a limit legally allowed.

I hate this too, it’s like a horrible choppy crunching texture. Disgusting.

Yes not just meat but all supermarket foods like fruit and veg have gone downhill. I didn't buy any fruit this week because it always ends up in the bin, either mouldy or tasteless.

Exactly this, it’s usually the big one. You can tell by the way it slices raw, it’s got a stringier more rigid texture than the supple smaller one. I can’t eat it.

I’ve started buying whole chickens and roasting them when I need breast meat, even for fajitas.

I agree will only buy from the butchers now or buy chicken thighs instead.

I’m pretty sure if someone’s been cooking chicken for a long time and then suddenly finds it is chewy it’s not that they’ve suddenly Inexplicably started over cooking it.

This thread has convinced me to go to the butchers. I just looked up organic chicken on Ocado, it’s twice the price but the reviews seem to suggest they’re still chewy.

I've noticed this too over the last couple of years. Horrible watery and tough. Doesn't matter where it's from (I've had independent butchers, M&S, Waitrose, Morrisons Tesco). It's completely putting me off chicken now as well (and we don't eat any other meat as my family is pretty much veggie). Quorn pieces have a nicer texture or we just do without meat all together. I think there is a definite link with woody breast and intensive farming 😞. Our food is being ruined by the food industry.

I have noticed this too over the past few years. I have found that the frozen chicken breasts cook better, although they do take longer (45mins from frozen in the oven).

We've gone over to buying mini fillets and they seem to be much more consistent and very tender. They can occasionally be a bit sinewy but easily cut away before cooking.

I love chicken thighs but for health reasons prefer the mini fillets.

Totally agree with this. Breasts are almost solid sometimes while the mini fillets are much better.

So glad you said that! I had been wondering if it was the way I cooked it but couldn't figure out why some bits were nice when others were awful. Waitrose chicken here too. I stopped buying Sainsburys chicken a while back as I was finding it gross, now even Waitrose won't do. I might just have to become vegetarian.

Yes, we had Tesco chicken breasts the other day that were massively chewy. Cooked them exactly as I normally do and never had that before so I don't think it was my cooking methods.

I went vegetarian and never looked back.

The only place I can get nice tasting cooked chicken is our local kebab shop- their grills of chicken and lamb taste like I'd like mine to taste at home, and even they struggle with the chicken.

Sausages have started shrivelling.

I gave up on bacon ages ago when I read about nitrates, I was getting fed up of boiling it for ages before getting it to sizzle anyway.

I don't each much meat now, I eat organic eggs as I hate the rubbery strangeness of some eggs now although some are ok, it's a bit variable.

Cheese isn't too bad!

I haven't been happy with standard supermarket chicken for ages. I now stick to corn fed M&S chicken, Morrisons free range or my local butchers

I bought Tesco free range chicken for years but after having chewy chicken time and time again I have been buying the cheaper stuff which is better.

I’ve had this issue occasionally for years - I often get a pack of four breasts and one will be rubbery and the others fine.
Every time I get one I report it to the supermarket I bought it from and get a refund because it’s inedible.

Most supermarket Barr M&S and Waitrose have changed to frankinchicken. Google it. It’s bloody disgraceful. Unless you go organic free range of course.