FINALS Flashcards
make them ideal for all kinds of food-service operations, from elegant restaurants to cafeterias and fast-food restaurants.
relatively low cost
versatility
popularity
popular among diet-conscious people because they are lower in fat and cholesterol than other meats.
chicken
turkey
are also increasing in popularity and availability because they are now raised domestically by many producers.
Game birds, such as pheasant
are similar, in many ways, to chicken, so learning techniques for cooking and handling chicken teaches you a great deal about handling these other birds as well.
Farm-raised game birds
The flesh of poultry and game birds is, as is the flesh of beef, lamb, veal, pork, and game.
muscle tissue
Its composition and structure are essentially the same as those of meat.
Water (about 75 percent)
Protein (about 20 percent)
Fat (up to 5 percent)
Other elements, including carbohydrate, in small quantities
consist of muscle fibers held together in bundles by connective tissue.
Muscles
tenderness of a piece of meat—or poultry—is related to connective tissue and that connective tissue increases with
- Use or exercise of the muscle.
* Maturity or age of the animal or bird.
Use or exercise is of less concern in poultry. Most poultry is so young that it is relatively tender throughout.
Maturity is a major consideration when selecting poultry. Young, tender birds are cooked by dry-heat methods, such as broiling, frying, and roasting, as well as by moist- heat methods. Older, tougher birds need slow, moist heat to be made palatable.
is the major factor in categorizing each kind of poultry.
Maturity
is determined by diet and is not related to the flavor or tenderness of the poultry
Skin color
Poultry is not divided into as many small cuts as are meats. Chicken and turkey, however, are usually thought of as consisting of two kinds of parts, depending on the color of the meat. These color differences reflect other differences:
Light meat
Dark meat
breast and wings Less fat
Light meat
Less connective tissue. Cooks faster
Light meat
legs (drumsticks and thighs) More fat
Dark meat
More connective tissue. Takes longer to cook
Dark meat
have all dark meat, but the same differences in connective tissue hold true.
Squab
Goose
Duck
The dark color of dark meat is due to a protein called ___.
Myoglobin
This protein stores oxygen for muscles to use during periods of great activity.
Myoglobin
are used for flying, and because chickens and turkeys rarely, if ever, fly, these muscles don’t need a great deal of myoglobin. In flying birds, such as ducks, the breast muscles have more myoglobin and thus are darker. Active muscles, in addition to being darker, also have more connective tissue.
breast muscle of birds
cook must observe these differences when preparing poultry.
Cooking whole birds
Cooking poultry parts
Everyone has tasted chicken or turkey breast so dry it was difficult to swallow. In fact, light meat is overcooked more often than not because it cooks faster than the legs and is done first. In addition, the breast has less fat than the legs, so it tastes much drier when cooked (or overcooked).
A major problem in roasting poultry is cooking the legs to doneness without over- cooking the breast.
Chefs have devised many techniques to help solve this problem. Here are some of them.
- Roasting breast-down for part of the roasting period. Gravity draws moisture and fat to the breast rather than away from it.
- Basting with fat only, not with water or stock. Fat protects against drying, but moisture washes away protective fat.
- Barding, or covering the breast with a thin layer of pork fat. This is usually done with lean game birds.
- Separating breast from leg sections and roasting each for a different time. This is often done with large turkeys
Many recipes have been devised especially for certain poultry parts, such as wings, drumsticks, and boneless chicken breasts. These recipes take into account the different cooking characteristics of each part. For example, flattened boneless chicken breasts can be quickly sautéed and remain juicy and tender. Turkey wings, when braised, release enough gelatin to make a rich sauce.
Many of these items have especially high customer appeal, especially boneless chicken breast, and are served in the most elegant restaurants.
Those that use cut-up whole chickens can easily be adapted for specific parts. For example, you may want to buy whole chickens, braise the leg sections, and reserve the breasts for other preparations.
The following terms are used to classify poultry:
Kind Class Style Live: Dressed Ready to cook Whole. Cut up, or parts. State of refrigeration—chilled or frozen.
the species, such as chicken, turkey, or duck.
Kind
the subdivision of kind, depending on age and sex.
Class
the amount of cleaning and processing.
Style
almost never purchased in food service.
Live
killed, bled, and plucked. Also rarely seen in food service.
Dressed
dressed and eviscerated, with head and feet removed.
• Whole.
• Cut up, or parts.
Ready to cook
chilled or frozen.
State of refrigeration
It is almost always cooked well done (except ____).
Domestic poultrys
quab and sautéed or grilled duck breast