Chicken is the meat derived from chicken.

It is the most common type of poultry in

the world, and is frequently prepared as
food in a large number of different ways.
 how you should select chicken at
the market ?
 The chicken should look fresh and bright colored when
you've look at it. It should be slightly shiny. The
"slightly" is important here, since old chicken is very
shiny. When felt, the meat should feel firm to the touch.
If it feels mushy, it's a sign of meat that's aged. You
really shouldn't buy chicken in a package that has
drippings collecting in it. If you see that, it's been at
least 2 days since the chicken was fabricated or more.
Still, given the possibility that the product was
repackaged (common practice), look and feel the meat if
you can. If you don't feel that it's fresh, move on... there
are plenty of other things that you can get.
 How long we can keep chicken at
room temperature?
 From the point of view of food safety, you're taking a
risk if you leave it outside the refrigerator for more than
two hours. Unfortunately, bacteria grow and multiply at
temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, and
they flourish at room temperature.

 To avoid food borne illness, all foods of animal origin

should be kept either hotter than 140 degrees or colder
than 40 degrees. If you know you won't be returning
home directly after shopping, bring along an insulated
bag or box to keep cold foods cold until you can get
them into the refrigerator.
 Why are some chickens yellow
skinned and some white?
 A chicken's skin color comes from the diet it was fed and the same bird could have a white skin or
a yellow skin, depending on what it ate. The diet that produces a yellow skin is more expensive
than the usual diet, but the people at Perdue Farms feel it's worth it because a yellow skin color is
one of the fastest ways Frank's inspectors have of finding and disqualifying an inferior bird.  If a
bird is sick or off its feed, it doesn't absorb nutrients well and won't develop the rich golden color
that is characteristic of Perdue birds. Also, if part of  a bird's outer skin is "barked", that is,
rubbed off due to rough handling during processing, the Perdue inspectors can detect it more
easily than with a white-skinned bird.  Detecting and removing and chicken with a barked skin is
important because damaged skin shortens the shelf life and dries out and toughens the meat.  No
white colored chickens get by the inspectors. Sometimes when I open a package of chicken,
there's a pungent odor that doesn't smell spoiled, but it's definitely unpleasant. Should I throw the
chicken out?
 If the odor lasts only a matter of seconds, your chicken is probably fine.  Meat is chemically
active, and as it ages, it releases sulfur. When you open a bag that doesn't have air holes, you may
notice the accumulated sulfur, but it will quickly disperse into the air. In fact, I've heard of cases
where a wife will lean over to her husband and say, "Smell this, I think it's gone bad." He'll take a
deep whiff and find nothing wrong with it. She'll take another sniff and then wonder if it was her
imagination.  It wasn't. It's just that once the package was opened, the sulfur smell faded into the
air like smoke rings.
 If the chicken still smells bad after a couple of minutes, that's an entirely different story. The
problem is bacterial spoilage or rancidity or both.  Return the chicken to the store where you
bought it and write to Frank. If a chicken's been around too long you can smell it, and if you can't
detect it at room temperature, you probably can as it cooks, since rancidity is more obvious at
higher temperatures.  Rancidity can occur without bacteria if the freezer where the meat was
stored wasn't cold enough or if the product was kept there for a very long time, such as more than
six months for uncooked chicken, or more than three months for cooked chicken. (By the way, I
don't like to focus on this unpleasant stuff, but I do want you to get your money's worth when
you're buying chicken.)
 Whole Chickens
Whole Chickens are marketed either fresh or
frozen.
 Halves
The bird is split from front to back through the
backbone and keel to produce 2 halves of
approximately equal weight.
 Breast Quarters
Halves may be further cut into which include the wing. A breast

quarter, including portions of the back, is all white meat

 Split Breast
A breast quarter with the wing
removed.
 Split Breast without Back
A breast quarter with wing and back portion
removed.
 Boneless, Skinless Breast
Split breast that has been skinned and deboned.
8-Piece Cut

The whole bird is cut into

2 breast halves with ribs
and back portion, 2
wings, 2 thighs with back
portion and 2 drumsticks.
The parts may be
packaged together and
labeled as whole cut-up
chicken. These are
usually sold without
giblets.
 Whole Chicken Wing
The Whole Chicken Wing is an all white meat portion
composed of three sections; the drumette, mid-section

and tip.
 Wing Drummettes
The first section between the shoulder and the
elbow.
 Wing Mid Section with Tip
The flat centre section and the flipper (wing
tip).
 Wing Mid Section
The section between the elbow and the tip,
sometimes called the wing flat or mid-joint.
Whole Chicken Leg

The Whole Chicken

Leg is the drumstick-
thigh combination.
The whole leg differs
from the leg quarter
in that ie. does not
contain a portion of
the back.
 Boneless, Skinless Leg
Whole chicken leg with skin and bone removed.
 Thigh
The thigh is the portion of the leg above the
knee joint.
 Boneless, Skinless Thigh
Thigh with skin and bone removed.
 Drumsticks
Drumsticks include the lower portion of the leg quarter

(the portion between the knee joint and the hock).

 Giblets

Includes heart, liver and neck.