# Does your fresh chicken come salted?



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

About a month ago I sampled some chicken breast I was boiling for other dishes and it tasted great, almost as if it had been salted, but I was using no salt, I moved on as the package was buried in the trash.

Today I boiled another package of 4 breasts and again sampled, and this time I paid attention. They tasted salty. Checking the label on the package it said 190mg per 4 oz serving, that was kind of an OMG moment. A little math and each breast was 3.5 servings and it would be common for me to enjoy an entire breast. Package of 4 was 3.5 pounds.

I frequently check the salt content of food I eat but it has never occurred to me to check fresh chicken. My guess is they are adding the salt to extend its shelf life which may be good, but may also be bad, how long is this chicken allowed to sit around? 

Does your chicken come pre-seasoned? Reminds me of Emeril who often asked that question just before he added the salt and pepper.

Bud


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

Bud, check to see if the Breasts were enhanced. 

No, NOT WITH SILICONE!!! Sheesh!

But with "Up to a 15% solution of Chicken Broth (or some other verbage)" in smaller letters on the package. 

They do this to make it "taste better" and to plump it up to weigh more. 

They also do it to pork. Which I can't stand. It changes the texture. Turkeys are also "Enhanced" as well. 

I look for all natural, fresh, etc and double check the sodium values. I haven't been told to watch my sodium intake but I don't cook with much added salt. I use finishing salts to add that burst of salt flavor at the end.


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## 660catman (Aug 25, 2019)

I’m going to pay attention to the packaging next time I buy breasts. I’m glad I get my whole chickens from a local farmer. 


Retired guy from Southern Manitoba, Canada.


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## ktownskier (Aug 22, 2018)

All Natural.
Fresh.
And other similar words don't necessarily guarantee anything though. 
All Natural just means that nothing artificial has been added to it. So if the chicken brother is from natural products, like chicken bones, carcasses, left over parts, and spices. Heck, salt is natural, right?

Fresh just means it has never been frozen solid. When I worked in the Meat Department, we would get chicken, steak, etc.. in that was what I could call frozen, but if you push it hard enough, it would give. So it was considered still fresh. 

Kosher is somewhat deceptive. They cut the heads off to let them bleed out. (Yes, they are still living when it is done, but they die once it's done. Then, they are rubbed with salt to draw out extra blood. At least to my understanding. That is why Kosher Chicken and Turkey tastes better. 

The main thing to look for is the sodium level on the packaging, unless you see some form of the word "ENHANCED" for juiciness or some such thing. They also do it to beef. 

Frankly, I don't mind it in turkeys. At least I didn't. Target's premium brand had real butter injected into it. And they tasted wonderful. I don't think they do it anymore so I stopped buying them. (I remember buying them for 10 cents a pound after thanksgiving and rib roasts for a buck a pound. I would buy them for friends and family. The same for king crab scraps. $2.50 a pound. 10% of what they sold for in larger chunks. And they were easier to eat.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Ktown:
In between I did some reading and found exactly what you are saying. So I did another trash dive and pulled that package out again and it says "up to 15% chicken broth added". A little math and that means my 3.5 pound package of chicken was actually 3 pounds of chicken with 1/2 pound of water added.

Rolling fingers on desk. We do have a meat shop that was in business when I was a kid, think I will be checking what they sell. 

I can't say the enhanced method is bad but like the list you added we don't really know WHAT they are putting in there.

Bud


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

You can always call the 800 # of the company & ask. That's old-fashioned but works.
Years ago Foster Farms told me that Natural meant they add nothing that doesn't occur naturally in the chicken. Like chicken hormones. She didn't say that last part, but that's what she meant.

When I had migraines, a Popeyes restaurant told me they add no MSG. It tasted too good so I called Tyson who supplied the chicken. I got a sincere manager who told me they injected MSG.

A butcher told me the only way to know a chicken is fresh is to kill it yourself.

I don't know if this varies state to state but our fresh chickens don't have "Nutritional Facts". Saying chicken is enough.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

See Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for laws.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Bud, I don’t know an never checked. Now I will. I just cooked Perdue chicken breast. 

Looks like 290 mg per 4 oz chicken.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

It says salt in the ingredient list.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

My package has a label on the bottom listing the nutrition facts. Sodium is listed at 190mg and 8% daily allowance.

I will definitely be checking packages in the future.

Bud


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Bud: your boiling process removes 80 - 90 % of the salt in the meat, if you cook it long enough.

No I don't mean cook it until it goes " rubbery", it does not take long for the salt to dissolve in hot water, and then you pour it out. 

I prefer the leg quarter myself, but to each their own. 

I bought 10 pounds today, and now I have to go check the package, after I bolt on my leg tomorrow. 

I recently started watching the sodium in my meals, because my BP, was higher than I was told to keep it at. (remember the posts about 5 months ago). And after I cut more sodium out, it dropped lower. 


ED


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

My ankles are my sodium indicator. When i cheat they get puffy. I agree the boiling is probably removing some/most of the salt but there is enough left that I sure can taste it, not bad. It is that I never expected to find that much salt in what was supposed to be fresh chicken. 

Boiling helps to slow cook it so it doesn't get dry. I also prefer thighs but they have a lot of fat hidden on them. The boneless breasts I can trim it all off.

The conversation here and some of the reading I did disturbs me as I now suspect all meat products are being tampered with. I don't think I will ever try one of those meatless burgers. 

Bud


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

I grew up eating meat, all kinds, even " Slow Elk", Whatever my stepfather could shoot, in season, or not. 

But that is a lifetime ago, and a life that I don't want to recall.

I have looked at the packages of fake burgers, too many things that takes a chemist to decode for me to try. 

Who knows what those chemically engineered thing do to our bodies

An example look at those e- cigarettes, If I wanted to die early, I would have started the tobacco kind 50+ years ago.

Now those "fake" ones are killing kids at a too rapid pace. 

I am a carnivore throughout, and don't plan to change.


ED


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

I'm back.

Looked at the bag that I bought yesterday, it shows 75 mg per 4 oz serving. 

Ingredients, Chicken. Nothing else. 

Gold Leaf brand, from Walmart. 
States grown, processed, and sold in U S A. 


ED


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Just had a nice leg and thigh off of a whole chicken. Nothing listed about anything added to enhance it. It did show the same 75mg per 4 oz serving which seems to be a baseline, must come from the food they eat. I'll update as I get more information, but I have a relative who has to avoid certain types of salt, sea salt I think. But when we cook, any salt becomes a concern, she isn't just watching blood pressure her throat can swell closed. Listing the sodium content doesn't seem sufficient to identify the source.

A few years back we had the pink slime that was being added to the fast food burgers. I for one don't trust our supply chain, but I'm probably far too late to change anything.

Bud


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

:biggrin2: We animals, chickens & humans require sodium, like potassium & calcium for our nerves and muscles to work. So chicken meat will always have a certain amount of sodium.

My chicken is just wrapped in plastic wrap by the grocery butchers with a label that says chicken, on that yellow foam tray.

Mystriss wrote about the additional minerals in sea salt. The colors are minerals, hopefully. Your relative may be allergic to one of the addition "minerals" which are chemicals.

It's not like they analyze everything from the sea.

Read your ingredients & notice if there are Nutritional Facts not required for plain 'ol meat & fish. Anything with a fancy package is suspect.

(I finally understand Chandler's frustration at me giving away my toilet auger.:smile: )


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