The main cause of this is swine flu in China!

Thai exports of chicken to China have increased by 700% in the last year.

No industry can cope with such a dramatic change without problems.

Net result of such a sudden increase in demand is a drop in quality in favour of volume production. 

Don't expect much to change until China's pig production returns to normal.

 

7 minutes ago, peterrabbit said:

The main cause of this is swine flu in China!

Thai exports of chicken to China have increased by 700% in the last year.

No industry can cope with such a dramatic change without problems.

 

The Thais are working on new chickens to cope with the demand. They have bigger breasts. Sorry can't delete here the 2nd picture. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 20196 yr by Beggar

if yer havin' problems with the quality of yer meat a marinade before cooking is always recommended (olive oil based for western, soy sauce based for asia, etc)...always gotta check the cooking arrangement like oven, stove top, etc with temperature adjustments to boot...I'm eatin' a lot less meat these days as my digestion can't handle it...a lot more veg and tofu, etc...

 

also good fer the bowel movements...be judicious with yer spices and chiles...fresh chiles at the market these days always merit scrutiny...

 

reheated stir fry noodles tonite, mmm good...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/09/vegan-recipe-meera-sodha-mee-goreng-noodles-carrot-red-cabbage-and-tofu

 

 

.. was fine ... like always. 

Change your cook/restaurant/wife ????

56 minutes ago, peterrabbit said:

The main cause of this is swine flu in China!

Thai exports of chicken to China have increased by 700% in the last year.

No industry can cope with such a dramatic change without problems.

Net result of such a sudden increase in demand is a drop in quality in favour of volume production. 

Don't expect much to change until China's pig production returns to normal.

 

I (er, no, my wife) runs a commercial broiler farm. 5 grow-outs per year, 20,000 birds per grow-out. We can't suddenly squeeze in another 10,000 birds into the shed each time and we can't grow them any quicker. The net result of the swine 'flu problem in China is an increase in pork and chicken prices worldwide - look up pork prices in the UK increasing due to increased exports to China.

 

The reason for the OP's experience I think (and I can't be sure) is 'woody breast' affecting the chickens at the farm and the processors are allowing it through to the shops and consumer. The OP (OK, his wife) should point out the problem at the store. Probably won't do any good.

 

Like I said at the start, soak overnight in brine.

Edited November 15, 20196 yr by grollies

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

that's a sure way to end up with a slice of rubber, instead of nicely seasoned and tender chicken.  Sorry, but those grills are for the lazy cook not the cook who wants the best end result.  I see that after the initial splurge, sales of them fell away to near zero.  No surprise really. A poor man's BBQ process. 

Sure you,'re right,unfortunately cheap hotel rooms don,t come equipped with cordon bleu kitchens and it's a bit difficult lugging a bbq  7,000 miles

There is nothing wrong with the chicken breasts. The only thing that is wrong with here, is just some peoples poor ability to cook.

Edited November 15, 20196 yr by Matzzon

1 hour ago, kingdong said:

Sure you,'re right,unfortunately cheap hotel rooms don,t come equipped with cordon bleu kitchens and it's a bit difficult lugging a bbq  7,000 miles

I lived in a small condo ( one room) for a while, I bought a electric grill BBQ from Home Pro, about 600 Baht if I recall.  I then could marinade the meat and grill on that, and it worked fine.  Good cheap investment to get a much better result. 

28 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I lived in a small condo ( one room) for a while, I bought a electric grill BBQ from Home Pro, about 600 Baht if I recall.  I then could marinade the meat and grill on that, and it worked fine.  Good cheap investment to get a much better result. 

I use (in UK) a Halogen oven - compact, cheap to run and very convenient. No idea where you would buy one in Thailand but I'm sure they must be available - mine came from Amazon.

 

Oh, by the way, if the chicken you're using is frozen, defrost it SLOWLY. Move it from the freezer to the fridge overnight and take it out of the fridge a couple of hours before you need to start preparing it depending how hot your kitchen is. The faster you defrost it, the less tender it will be.

5 hours ago, Matzzon said:

There is nothing wrong with the chicken breasts. The only thing that is wrong with here, is just some peoples poor ability to cook.

Well let me give you my recipe

If you are in Thailand you most properly don't have an oven,but it can be done in a pot

with a lid or a slow cooker. It is very simple

fry the chicken breast till it is nice and slightly browned (about 1 large chicken breast) cut

in cubes, in a bit of oil or butter, add about 600ml or more cream (whipping cream or cooking cream)

1 packet of french onion soup (powder) and if you like add tinned mushrooms (champions or similar)

cook till the chicken is nice and tender( in slow cooker for many hours)

This will be the best chicken you have ever eaten and serve with rice of your choice. Please try.

 

3 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

Well let me give you my recipe

If you are in Thailand you most properly don't have an oven,but it can be done in a pot

with a lid or a slow cooker. It is very simple

fry the chicken breast till it is nice and slightly browned (about 1 large chicken breast) cut

in cubes, in a bit of oil or butter, add about 600ml or more cream (whipping cream or cooking cream)

1 packet of french onion soup (powder) and if you like add tinned mushrooms (champions or similar)

cook till the chicken is nice and tender( in slow cooker for many hours)

This will be the best chicken you have ever eaten and serve with rice of your choice. Please try.

 

Oh, thank you! I have an oven, electronic steamer, fryer, paste machine, double door refrigerator, box freezer and much much more that you appearently belive people living in Thailand no have. ????
However, with all that out of the way back to your recipe. I am pretty sure it will suffice for most people. This is my area, though. I have been working as a chef and restaurant owner, with high class on my food. What you are doing here is probably over cooking a chicken breast, but hide it through all the sauce you over cook the poor little piece of fine meat in.

After that add atificial soup powder and canned mushrooms, which will create the final cremation of all the lovely taste that once could have been created. I am sorry to say, but I make all from scratch and only use fresh ingredients in my food, for the utlimate perfection and taste.

In other words. Thanks again, but I will not try. Most definately it will not stand a chance against my explaination above, and will never ever be the best chicken I or anybody else with the taste and care for food have ever eaten. 

We cook chicken a few times a week in different dishes and have never had any problem with the chicken. So I think it is the way you cook probably. Cook chocken slow on low heat. We have never had any poor chicken meat in the last 10 years and we buy from Makro, Tesco, Tops etc. Ours is always delicious so I suggest you look at your cooking method.

It is a public secret English people cannot cook. They even are not able to cook a chicken the way it use to be. I have seen some good ideas in the replies on this topic but I only can give one advise: LEARN COOKING. And: there is a big difference in FRY,  BOIL or STEAM a chicken, just what you wants. Learn it from a French or a Belgian cook, they know how to prepare meat.

15 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

Eating animals is disgusting. Selfish and cruel.

Animals have been eating other animals since whoever put us on this planet. It's called the food chain. Fortunately we are near the top.

If you or other vegans do not want/like eating meat, don't need to tell us all, just get on with it.

However, I do realise that raising animals for food is a big drain on the Earth's natural resources and should be cut down. But then there is the problem of forests being cut down (again?) to make room for growing foodstuff (palm oil etc). 

7 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

Well let me give you my recipe

If you are in Thailand you most properly don't have an oven,but it can be done in a pot

with a lid or a slow cooker. It is very simple

fry the chicken breast till it is nice and slightly browned (about 1 large chicken breast) cut

in cubes, in a bit of oil or butter, add about 600ml or more cream (whipping cream or cooking cream)

1 packet of french onion soup (powder) and if you like add tinned mushrooms (champions or similar)

cook till the chicken is nice and tender( in slow cooker for many hours)

This will be the best chicken you have ever eaten and serve with rice of your choice. Please try.

 

Tinned mushrooms....yuk. The best chicken I have EVER eaten was a Dupiaza in Agra overlooking the Taj Mahal on my honeymoon in 1983.

15 hours ago, grollies said:

The reason for the OP's experience I think (and I can't be sure) is 'woody breast' affecting the chickens at the farm and the processors are allowing it through to the shops and consumer.

Good information and a credible reason suggested by a chook breeder. I was unaware of the condition but a quick google sorted that out. As someone who agrees that there's a detectable change, I will now pay more attention to the visual inspection and 'squeeze test' when buying chicken tits.

 

Thanks!

NL

I've always bought my fresh chicken breasts from Makro in Pranburi. I freeze them if not using immediately and have had no problems with the meat being tough or stringy. I cook the chicken breast in many ways ; whole in the frying pan or use them diced for curries etc. It always amazes me that the Thai's never seem to buy the breasts, but buy the chicken feet and wings which are more expensive.    

thanks for all the information guys and Yes I think the problem is definitely the chicken and not how i am cooking it. I decided to oven cook 2 pieces yesterday they came out perfectly cooked (For the west) still lots of juices inside but still chewy and not very nice to eat...I am going to stop buying the ones from central and try makro instead or just buy a whole cooked chicken as they taste great, you would think for the extra price of chicken breasts at central they would not have this problem!

Yes I have tried everything with these chicken breasts, marinading them for an hour, marinading overnight, cooking in frypan with and without lid, cooking in the oven covered and uncovered...No matter what I do the meat tastes chewy. I am pretty much sure it is the chicken breasts themselves so will definitely try topps and makro instead!

Put the chicken breast in a shallow pan add 1 small pebble, cover with water and simmer for 5 hours. Then throw away the chicken and eat the pebble.

 

Seriously, i only buy chicken from MAKRO  and never have any problem with it.

Thai breasts are small. 

3 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Thai breasts are small. 

You just have to eat them more often !!

I usually get whole chicken breasts from the vendor's bin at the traditional market...quite nice with green curry paste and aubergines, they look to be fresh most of the time...also good in indian curries with tomatoes, onions, fresh chiles, etc...nice with freshly made chapattis..

 

 

 have travelled all over the world and never had any trouble cooking chicken breast till I came here and even then it was fine till about 6 months ago. I buy my chicken from central festival shopping center and for the life of me no matter How I cook it, in the frying pan, oven it always comes out hard and chewy. I have bought both the s-pure and the normal chicken and have problems with both....Anyone having the same problem and any solutions??

 

buy chicken thighs cook them in a slow cooker over night, great taste.

The best ways I've found to cook chicken breast is:

 

1) Pan-sear - with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes and garlic

2) Grill - with avocado oil and some spices - paprika, salt, garlic power and pepper (see attached pics - my favorite

Additional tips:

 

1) Let the meat come down to room temperature before cooking it, especially if it's straight out of the fridge

2) Marinate the breast in the aforementioned spices for at least 10 minutes before cooking - the spices need time to infuse with the meat

3) If grilling, approx 10 min @230 celsius is enough for a 250-260 gram piece of chicken - let it rest for an additional 3-5 minutes after cooking

 

Edited November 18, 20196 yr by varun

On 11/14/2019 at 7:07 PM, Puchaiyank said:

Some good suggestions here already...if you boil your chicken in water, and it is still tough...do not purchase anymore from that place...they may be using chickens from an egg production farm...once the chickens are too old to produce eggs anymore...they may be passing them on to be slaughtered for food...meat will be tough and chewy...

 

I have bought my cooking chickens from Big-C and Makro without any problem...????

 

 

 

I thought all the old layer hens went to  kfc and other processors.  ????