Comment by beloch | Hacker News Reader

Comment by beloch | Hacker News Reader

A significant portion of the blandness of some supermarket foods is the result of processing, with "pro-juiciness" treatments being some of the worst offenders. Chicken (even whole chickens for roasting) are injected with water, oil, and water-binding compounds to plump them up. The water mostly evaporates during cooking so the result is usually blander rather than juicier. Most hams sold today are cured by injecting them with brine, as opposed to traditional surface-based dry curing methods that are slower and result in less mass. The result is bigger hams with inferior flavor and a somewhat gelatinous texture. It is still possible to find traditionally cured hams, but you often have to go to a specialized butcher.

So, it's not just breeding that has prioritized factors other than flavor, but also how foods are processed. We pay by the kilogram, so producers have found ways to make the same animals weigh more.

That's at the root of corn-fed beef too! Feeding cows corn the last days of their lives before they get on the truck to be weighed and cut up, raises their weight by far more than the cost of the corn. Its just economics. And the farmers set the beef grades, so beef raised this way is Grade A regardless of how it tastes.

Honestly I greatly prefer corn fed beef to grass fed regardless of economics. Grass fed is nice once in a while, but I think the best is grass fed, corn finished. It gives the meat a much fattier taste, and I've found also gives you a much nicer maillard crust.

Where and how are you eating that you are able to sample and differentiate:

- corn fed - grass fed - grass fed, corn finished - other permutations ?

Genuinely interested ... I mean, I know where I can go to get either corn or grass fed, but I wouldn't assume that other variables are controlled for. And then the grass fed, corn finished ... no idea who I would submit that request to ...

They sell these varieties all at Whole Foods. Usually Grass Fes and Corn Fed at the butcher section and Grass Fed Corn Finished pre-packed on the side.

Chicken is injected with water combos not simply to plump them up, it's called a brine.

By all means buy your poultry without being brined, I prefer mine with it.

Here's a nice "why" people do this:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniqu...

Brining and injecting water into birds to plump them up are not the same thing.

And either way I'd rather pay not $5/lbs or whatever for water.

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