Why do people pick chicken over turkey? It's not just a matter of taste. There's a whole bunch of reasons, from how easy it is to cook to how it fits into any meal you can think of. We're about to dive into why chicken is the star of the show way more often than turkey.
Table of Contents
- 1. Easy Breakdown
- 2. Hoovers
- 3. Price Point
- 4. Taste Test
- 5. Foreign Cuisine
- 6. Free Range
- 7. Cooking Process
- 8. Availability
- 9. Eggs
- 10. Out of Season
- Down on the Farm
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1. Easy Breakdown
One commenter pointed out that chicken breaks down easier into meal-size portions than a turkey, saying, "Chickens break down nicely. A quarter of a chicken makes for a good meal. A package sits nicely on a baking sheet and cooks easily without worrying about drying the meat out. I can easily roast a whole bird in a way that I can't do with turkey."
2. Hoovers
Another person made light of the fact that turkeys quickly become expensive if you're trying to grow them bigger. They said, "When they start getting big, they become food vacuum cleaners. Unless they are free-range, they get expensive quickly. That might be why they mostly see smaller ones."
3. Price Point
Piggybacking on the idea that turkeys become expensive to feed, it means they'll be more expensive in-store, especially outside Thanksgiving and Christmas (at least in the U.S.). One contributor mentioned the fact that turkey is almost always more costly price-wise than the smaller chicken. "I see turkey in the frozen meat aisle all the time. It's just so much more expensive than chicken."
4. Taste Test
Turkey can be an acquired taste as it tends to be gamier than chicken, and for several people, it's so much so they won't even go near the bigger birds. One said, "Turkey tastes worse, that's why. Chicken is superior to turkey in every way. I'll die on this hill."
5. Foreign Cuisine
One Asian person was quick to point out that turkey doesn't mix well with a lot of Asian cooking options. "I'm Asian, and the few times I've had turkey have been disappointing. I'll stick to chicken, thank you very much."
6. Free Range
Poultry can be ornery, especially if you have a male mixed with a harem of females. Roosters get very defensive of their ladies and will attack you without provocation just for entering the yard where their girls are hanging out. Turkeys are even more so. One interested party shared that turkeys are bigger and meaner than chickens, and will do their best to be jerks to you if they get the chance.
7. Cooking Process
Chickens, even when they're whole, fit side by side easily in a 13X9 inch baking dish. When roasting a whole turkey, you need considerably more room and much longer to cook them thoroughly without drying them out. The last thing you want is to cut a turkey and have it pop open like the Thanksgiving turkey on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. You can also salvage chicken easier than turkey if something goes wrong.
8. Availability
Plenty of countries have seasons for turkey, although most did say they could find it on the shelf at their grocery stores year-round. However, one knowledgeable worker shared why that is. "I used to work for a major national U.S. grocery chain, and if we had frozen birds for sale, they were 100% leftover from the previous Thanksgiving. "
9. Eggs
Both turkeys and chickens produce eggs, but rarely do you go into the local grocery store and find turkey eggs sitting cold on the shelf. Chickens are mass-produced to cultivate egg production, and when they've gone past their peak production output, they are slaughtered for meat. This double-effect sale makes them especially valuable over turkeys and will likely always contribute to why chickens are more favored in U.S. kitchens.
10. Out of Season
Chicken is always in season. You will rarely go to the store and see them out of chicken, no matter how you want to see it processed. For one individual who consulted a butcher, this is what they found out. "Turkey harvests only come twice a year. Around early November and around May/April. So if you see turkey in grocery stores outside of those times, he said they've been on ice until they were sent to the store or they're sold frozen."
Down on the Farm
I've raised both chickens and turkeys, and I can concur that chickens are far easier to grow and cheaper when it comes to feed. You can quickly raise half a dozen chickens on what it takes to care for one full-grown turkey before it goes to slaughter. And if you're butchering your game, turkeys produce an off-putting smell that chickens do not create.
Source: Reddit.
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