Food Test - Organic Chicken vs Non-Organic Chicken - Po-Yu

Organic chicken versus non-organic chicken

Purpose: To test if there was any difference between organic and non-organic chicken in the aspects of taste, texture, smell, aroma appearance and how they cook.

Thesis: The organic chicken is going to trump the non-organic ones in every category.

I went to St. Lawrence Market and purchased one organic chicken breast from Witteveen Meats; skin on bone on for $12.99/pound and the net price of $13.12. I also purchased 2 whole bone-less, skin off chicken breast (which was stuck together and only found out after purchase) for the price of $5.99/pound and the net price is $6.99.

As I was trimming the organic chicken breast I found out that the skin is thicker and tougher than non-organic chicken and harder to pull off too. After trimming the only difference I noticed were the sizes. Organic chicken seems to be a little bit bigger while non-organic chicken is smaller, but the difference was really subtle. Another subtle difference was the colour, organic chicken is “redder” than non-organic chicken.

As I was cooking it, the difference became more obvious. As soon as the non-organic chicken hit the hot pan, it shrunk like wet sponge under the sun while the organic chicken held its shape quite well. While cooking the chicken was cooking, the non-organic chicken felt softer to the touch while organic chicken was a little bit tougher to the touch. After pan searing, the chicken was then finished in a 375 oven for 5-7 minutes. (both internal temperature of 70)

After it was finished cooking, I let the meat rest for 10 minutes before cutting it. For the purpose of the taste test experiment, I didn’t put any seasoning before nor after cooking in order to get the true flavor of the chicken.

 
Non-organic chicken

 

Organic chicken

The non-organic chicken was a little bit dryer and tougher than the organic chicken, while organic chicken was a bit moister and tenderer. The non-organic chicken has that chicken flavor that we are all familiar with but the organic chicken have a completely different taste profile; it has a really subtle milky flavor. Organic chicken have a strong aroma coming from chewing the meat in my mouth while the non-organic chicken have hardly any aroma at all.

I thought adding some salt might change the result, but I was wrong, the result still stands by itself.

Conclusion: Non-organic chicken tastes totally different from organic chicken. Not saying that organic chicken tastes bad but it just doesn’t have the “chicken flavor” that we are all so familiar with, but then maybe that we are just too accustomed to the taste of non-organic chicken that we already forgotten what chicken should really taste like. Texture wise I do like the organic chicken a lot more than non-organic chicken. With the price of the organic chicken at $12.99/pound, for me as a student it is just simply too expensive. I’m sure there are more reason to purchase organic chicken than just the price such as health and ethical problems but for now, I would rather stick with the $5.99/pound chicken.