Problems with new supplier of pre-cooked chicken strips
HI Everyone,
We recently switched chicken suppliers and are having some issues.
We purchase pre-cooked chicken strips that contain water and salt.
They look like they are under cooked because they are pink and somewhat translucent.
We have been cooking them further ourselves but the chicken is still coming out pink and translucent even though we are fully cooking it.
Is there something that is happening with the water and salt solution that could be causing this?
Thanks!
Could it be nitrite contamination? Does your chicken supplier also handle other products that contain nitrates such as small goods, Hams etc. I used to work for a dry good blending operation making premixes for the small goods industry, and we always had to be careful not to allow any traces of the sodium nitrate to get into anything going into or onto chicken as it causes the chicken to stay pink.
Do not know if this is your answer, but it may be a question worth asking.
Bawdy.
I have read (albeit quite some time ago) that some chicken will still be pink due to genetic issues with the meat. I have also recently read that meat will still be pink after proper cooking due to the youth of the chickens. Apparently they chickens are now being processed much earlier and the lack of maturity causes the meat to stay pink.
I had also read that the young age of the chickens results in the marrow from the bones seeps out during cooking and results in a pink colouration, despite the measurement of core temperature demonstrates cooking temperatures being achieved.