When I was a kid, Mother made the best fried chicken. There were 5 kids and everyone had their piece. Mine was the drumstick and gizzard.
One day I was eating with Mother and Daddy and it just occurred to me that the chicken wasn’t as good as when we were kids and even many years after that.
I mentioned it to Mother and she said she knew it wasn’t as good but she had no idea why.
I just realized it might be the chickens aren’t as good quality.
IMO chickens are as good of quality. They are factory raised on a diet designed to make them grow fast.
Many spend their entire life in a small cage barely big enough for their body, but it doesn’t allow movement. Through genetic breeding the breast gets so heavy their legs can’t hold them up.
Far different then the chickens we had when I grew up.
When I was a kid, they used to make Mock City Chicken.
Does anyone remember that?
It was ground pork shaped on a stick to look like a drumstick and it was breaded and fried.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_chicken
Maybe that was a regional thing.
Same here. I make homemade chicken soup a lot and noticed quite a few years ago that the broth wasn't as tasty as it used to be. Have to add chicken bullion/granules to flavor it up. It's not my mother's chicken anymore.
A good frying chicken should be free range and about 3 lbs. Most of the chickens sold now are over 4 lbs and have enormous breasts which don’t fry well.
What they eat now causes them to have almost no flavor.
Sounds like my house growing up. Five kids, each had their favorite piece. I have found that the key to good fried chicken nowadays is to thoroughly wash the chicken and let it soak in salt water for awhile. Takes some of the funky chicken taste out of it.