Posts Tagged ‘meat’

BBQ Chicken – Flavor By The Mouthful

Monday, May 10th, 2010

One of the south’s favorite foods is BBQ chicken, but that popularity is also something that stretches the expanse of the whole country. People from all walks of life enjoy a good barbecued chicken breast or thigh, whether cooked in their own back yard or made by a professional in a restaurant.

When one says barbecue, they are often not talking about the method in which the chicken is cooked, but rather the taste of it. BBQ chicken is cooked with special sauce that can range from tangy to spicy, from sweet to sour. It all depends on the cook and the area of the country they are in or were raised in.

BBQ chicken that is found in the southeast US is most likely to have a tang to it thanks to the vinegar based BBQ sauce that is favored in that region. There are tomato based BBQ sauces to which honey is added resulting in a sweet flavor.

The grill is your best friend when cooking BBQ chicken, though even within that there are variations. Gas, propane, and charcoal grills are all common and give their own unique tastes. Different recipes will call for different cooking methods, including whether to bake the chicken. Follow the recipe as to whether grill or bake, and if it says to grill choose the option that has the best taste in your opinion.

If you are looking at recipes, most will recommend the cooking method you use, whether on a gas, propane, or charcoal grill, or even in the oven. As with any other chicken recipes, the meat should be well cooked as to avoid any possible parasites or bacteria dormant inside of the chicken. This is easier to control in an oven, but often grilling will result in a more juicy and delicious final product.

There are many restaurants especially in the southeast US that offer BBQ chicken on the menu. There are lunch specials that offer BBQ chicken and dinners that offer BBQ chicken. Most restaurants do not actually barbecue their BBQ chicken because it is not practical; there are small family owned restaurants that do in fact use a barbecue grill to cook their BBQ chicken. These family style restaurants are often favored by the locals for their BBQ chicken.

There is no set way to make delicious barbecue chicken, and likely any variation that you could come up with would be delicious. Get some tips at my site about making grade A BBQ.

The Benefits of Free Range Chicken

Monday, May 10th, 2010

The more time that has passed, the more people are looking at making healthier life choices, such as healthy eating. Keep in mind that healthy eating can mean a number of different things, it can mean that you are no longer eating animal products or that you are only going to eat a raw food diet and everything in between. Another term that has also become popular in the healthy eating arena is free range. Today you can find free range chickens, eggs and meats. Currently free range chicken is very popular. How did free range get its start? What is free range exactly? Are there really any benefits to eating free range? To help answer these questions as well as others you may have, here is unbiased information to help you make an informed decision.

The way free range is defined will depend greatly on where you live. In the United States then free range only applies to poultry. This would include free range turkey, ducks and chicken; they are animals that have access to the outside. In the US the amount of time these animals can be outside is not specified nor is the size of the outside area. Meaning that is a free range chicken wants to sit in the coup all day or in a small cage, it will. For those that live outside the United States, free range animals are animals that are allowed to roam anywhere and they are never caged. Chickens then have easy access to the green grass and sun.

Free range farming used to be the way farmers raised their animals until they started using chicken wire or barbed wire. Prior to the 20th century, all farmers knew about raising animals was to make sure they had a varied diet and plenty of sunshine. Ranchers that raised cattle found it difficult to keep the cattle in one place and provide feed to them, so they kept them on their ranch. Chickens were all free range chickens until 1920. When Vitamin D and Vitamin A were discovered in 1920, farmers realized that they could market their chickens commercially if they were confined. It was the confining of the chickens that lead to confinement of most other farm animals.

The debate if free range is better for us continues on. It seems as if everyone has an opinion for or against. Those who think free range chicken and free range meats are better for us have many valid points. One of them is that when we consume confined animals we have a higher chance of contracting disease. This is because free range animals have a lower chance of contracting illnesses and disease than those who are in such close quarters with each other. Another valid point is that the free range animals get a large amount of vitamins from the bugs and green grass they consume. These particular animals are then very good for us. Animals that are confined do not have access to these things thus making then void of nutrients. Chickens and other animals that are confined are given just enough food to survive. Included in this regime is a steady stream of antibiotics. They give them the antibiotics to attempt to keep them free of disease when living in these kinds of close quarters. We then consume antibiotic ridden animals. These are extremely detrimental to our health. Free range chickens and other free range animals are not given antibiotics, only the things they need to keep them healthy and thriving. This of course is another great reason why free range is so much better for us.

When deciding whether or not to take a certain avenue when it involves your health it should be researched thoroughly first. Just in the way this provides information on free range chickens and other free range animals, you can find pertinent information on almost every health subject. If you are well informed about something you can put it into effect easily and it is more than likely to be successful.

If you want to know more about Range Free Chicken go to www.brookersmeat.com to get more information and Great Recipes