Anyone been running into this? A few years back I noticed some chicken I cooked came out very chewy, almost rubbery. I thought I messed up cooking. But more and more I'm having this problem with chicken. It's tough, chewy and just not pleasant. I googled it and found it's a problem in the industry because of the quick growth of today's chicken.

The article below is over a year old and says 10% of chicken suffer this affliction. Lately I've noticed all the chicken breasts are huge and have the white lines. More often than not it's tough chicken. I used to scoff at the $7/lb stuff at a local farm but I'm starting to think that's the only choice these days.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/w...he-chicken-business/

"Woody breast" could bite the chicken business

The poultry industry has a fowl problem: an emerging phenomenon called "woody breast."

While it's not harmful to humans, the condition causes chicken breasts to be tougher because of hard or woody fibers that lace the meat. As much as 10 percent of boneless and skinless breast meat may show signs of woody breast, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Even though it's harmless to humans, diners aren't exactly pleased when they're served up a plate of woody chicken. In one study, a consumer panel described the affected meat as "tough," "chewy" and "doesn't feel right in the mouth." That's prompting the poultry industry to turn its resources to figuring out what's going on with its chickens.


"The causes at this point are unknown, which is why the industry is spending more than a quarter of a million dollars on four separate research projects through the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association to have all of these questions answered," Tom Super, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, told CBS MoneyWatch.

In a twist, one potential culprit may lie in how the poultry industry has supersized itself by breeding chickens that are now more than twice as large as they were in the 1920s. Back then, the average chicken weighted 2.5 pounds, but chickens today weigh an average of 6 pounds, according to the National Chicken Council.

Breeding for bigger, faster-growing chickens could be tied to the emergence of woody breast, The Journal noted, citing food scientist Massimiliano Petracci.

While it's unappetizing to diners, the emergence of woody breast could spell financial problems for chicken producers such as Perdue Farms. Given consumer reluctance to eat tough chicken breasts, that could lead some producers to sell the meat at a lower price or even to breed smaller chickens in an effort to eliminate the problem.

"The chicken companies will have employees in processing plants looking at every piece of breast meat for any quality issues," Super said. "If found, affected meat is pulled from the line, typically sold at a discount and then further processed or ground for products like chicken sausage."

I get them frozen and pre-cooked and nuke them. That's the only ones I've found that aren't sometimes "woody."

Yes, my local grocery chain, Publix. The boneless skinless chicken breasts are almost always tough, dry, and chewy so I don't buy them anymore. Fresh Market usually has good B/S chicken breast. Otherwise, I have been buying Springer mountain chicken and it's very good.

I hope it doesn't spill over into the thighs...boneless/skinless chicken thighs are about all I buy to grill/cook myself...

I've never been overly fond of the breast (chicken) to began with...and on the few occasions I have bought chicken breasts as of late have been tough and flavorless to boot.

You know, the last couple of times I bought chicken breast it just wasn't "right." I couldn't quite decide what was wrong with it at the time, but it was bad enough I didn't finish eating it, and I haven't bought chicken breast since. It turned me off that badly. This article describes my observations perfectly though. I hope they get it straightened out, because that chicken was not palatable.

My wife only buys the free range, antibiotic and steroid free chickens. While they are more expensive, I've never had a single experience with tough chicken and we usually have it at least twice a week.