What is the difference between white meat and dark meat?

white meat and dark meat differ in many ways, but the most important are colors, chemical makeup and nutritional composition. When most people talk about white and dark meat, they refer to poultry such as chickens, turkeys and ducks. The muscles that birds constantly use - for example, legs and thighs - usually form dark meat, which is brown or tanned and somewhat rough. On the other hand, the muscles that are used have only occasionally produce lighter, "white" tissues with softer texture. Both are edible and can usually be used interchangeably, even if they have a slightly different taste.

Biological reasons for color shift

The chemical difference between white meat and dark meat is usually related to how the animal used different parts of the body during life. For example, chickens and turkeys spend most of the time walking. Their thigh muscles are often greatly developed as a result of this and are therefore rich in dark meat. On the other side of the wings and breasts that are rarely used in most of these birds - they areOvi primarily white meat, which is softer and less thick.

things differ in ducks, geese and other animals that spend most of the time in the flight. The breasts and wings of these birds are mostly dark and especially active birds can bring completely dark meat. White meat is found in the legs and thighs if it is present at all. Almost all of this can be explained by biology.

muscles, which are rarely used or for quick escapes such as breast chicken, are fibers of "rapid twitch". They produce chemical glycogen , which is stored in muscle tissue and is easily accessible in an emergency. It is used mainly for a short energy explosion. The fibers of this category have very low pigmentation.

Compared to muscles that permanently fuel permanent activity contain mostly fibers "slowly twitching", which are powered by not glycogen but stored fat. Fat allows muscles to maintain energy levels for a longTime, but this process requires an almost constant supply of oxygen. myoglobin , protein, deposits oxygen in these muscle cells to facilitate the conversion of energy. It has quite a lot of pigment, which makes the meat seem darker.

nutritional differences

white and dark meat are generally considered relatively healthy, at least compared to other masses such as beef. Dark meat often contains a little more calories than its lighter counterparts, because it tends to be higher in fat, but it is also believed that it contains more useful vitamins and minerals. Chicken drumsticks contain nearly 10 times more folate that breasts make, and almost double the conccentration of iron and zinc. These proportions are comparable to other types of birds.

taste profile

White meat usually has a milder taste than its darker counterparts, and often what people associate with a "standard" taste of chicken, turkey or other poultry. In proper cooking it can be tender and juicy and can be goode mix with different flavors and sauces. But it is easy to overdo the breast meat and many people consider it too dry. Darker cuts have more fat and cooking takes longer, so they tend to be juicy, but also have a stronger game taste. Also buy often cheaper and sometimes considered inferior as a result.

questions surrounding Caging

People often wonder why there are distinct differences between the muscle tones of animals that grow up in cages, as common on commercial farms of poultry. These birds rarely use any of their muscles, which would seem to suggest that they should produce all white meat. In most cases, however, there are differences in the composition of the fast scenes and slowly twitching genetic more than anything else. Chicken, which rarely, if it ever gets in running, will usually have a lot of myoglobin in the feet as an evolutionary matter that will lead to the pockets of dark meat when it eventually cooks.

Classification of poultry meat

existedThere are many ways to classify meat products, although the terms "white" and "dark" are almost exclusively used in the context of poultry. To say that something is "white meat" is often a way to distinguish it from beef, game and other big games that are usually known as "red". As for how pork should be described, there is some controversy, but before cooking it is usually considered red based on its color. Farmers in the United States tried to have pork labeled as "other white meat®", partly as a way to connect it more with chickenness with beef in terms of health and calories. Most food experts teach that the only "real" white meat is poultry. Fish can sometimes be considered in this category, but the difference between white and dark meat is limited to birds.