Chicken can be consumed differently, such as boiling, frying, grilling, barbecuing, and baking, among many others suitable for your consumption. Chicken has been made known to contain a lower concentration of saturated fats and cholesterol, preventing cardiovascular diseases. This makes the chicken more healthy to consume than red meat. Chicken also contains high-quality protein and other nutrients that help the body build, repair, and perform all other proper body functions. It is also important for maintaining and reducing body weight.
There are different types of chicken which include; Broiler, Layers, and Cockerel.
A broiler is white-colored and bigger than layers. It is bred for meat production and consumption. Layers have a brown or golden brown color. It lays an egg. They are the only chicken that lays eggs, a reason it was given the name “Layers. ” Poultry farmers breed them both for meat and egg production and consumption. Cockerel, also known as a rooster, comes in different colors but can be identified by its dark-colored feathers at the buttocks, and it is sometimes bigger or slightly bigger than layers. The cockerel is a male chicken that is bred for mating, meat production, and consumption.
How to tell if a chicken is done depends on the type of chicken you want to cook and the variety of chicken you want to consume. Broiler and Cockerel take less time for it to be done more than Layers.
There are several ways to know if a chicken is done
Checking the meat’s size: Once the chicken is well cooked, it will be smaller than it was when first cooked. If your chicken looks white on the outside but is the same size, it may not be fully cooked yet. Continue the cooking till it shrinks from its previous size. Your meat is readily cooked after it shrinks.
Making a small cut on the thickest parts of the meat: When it comes to barbecue and grilled chicken, make a small incision on the thickest parts like the drum stick, thigh, and breast. Check later, if the small incisions on these parts of the meat change into a deep color, then the chicken is done.
Touching the meat with a fork or other utensils: Touch the meat with a fork to know if the texture is tender or hard. If it is tender enough, then the meat is done. If it is still hard, keep on cooking till you achieve the tenderness.
Well-cooked surface: If you are frying the meat, make sure all surfaces touch the frying pan, and when boiling, grilling, and barbecuing, make sure the surfaces are exposed to the heat. The surfaces of the meat change color and texture when well cooked. Undercooked chicken can harbor harmful pathogenic microorganisms like Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella-Shigella, and Campylobacter. We have the Thallophytes, which are pathogens that can survive under a high temperature of 158 F(70 C). Cooking your meat above this temperature can kill these microbial pathogens. Still, if the meat is not done enough, below 70 C, the microbes will survive to cause illness to the consumer, which can be deadly if it is not treated timely.
How do you know if your meat is cooked at a higher temperature?
By using a thermometer. This method is not much in use when cooking meat. People think thermometers are only used to check body temperature when someone has a high fever. It is not common to check the temperature for well-cooked meat with a thermometer. They prefer and believe other methods. Another way to check for higher temperature for well-cooked meat is by cooking your meat for a given length of time(10-15 minutes). Frying should take lesser time(2-3 minutes) because it has already gone through boiling before getting fried.
Broiler and Cockerel chicken takes less time to get well cooked when boiling than the Layers chicken because boiling goes through higher temperature with water aid. Water boils at a higher temperature quicker. Broiler and Cockerel both have naturally slight tender flesh. They are both used for barbecue and grilled chicken because of their natural tenderness, which is easier to consume by everyone, either young or old. This type of chicken is served in parties and restaurants, which I mentioned earlier in this article. Your grilled, boiled, barbecued, baked, and fried chicken has to be cooked at a higher temperature. This is how you can know your chicken is done for enjoyable consumption.
Microbiologists and Nutritionists created a dispute on cooking meat at higher temperatures. A microbiologist stated that meat should be well cooked under higher temperatures to prevent grave harm caused by the pathogens. Still, a nutritionist stated that if meat is cooked at a higher temperature to the extent that it is overcooked, the meat’s protein will denature, and other nutrients will be reduced. This theory shows that chicken meat should neither be undercook nor overcooked. To achieve nutritional and health benefits from chicken consumption, your meat has to be cooked moderately at a higher temperature of 70 C- 100 C. It must not be undercooked nor overcooked.
