All About Chicken

Chicken is one of the best lean sources of protein you can get and is one that many individuals who are active or who are pursuing competitive fitness or bodybuilding choose to utilize. It's relatively cost effective, easy to prepare and comes in a few different varieties.

Keep in mind however that the variety you choose will differ slightly in nutritional content.

Below is the nutritional information for various boneless chicken pieces (for a three oz serving size).

Skinless chicken breast - 120 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 24 grams protein

Skinless drumstick - 130 calories, 4 grams fat, 23 grams protein

Breast with skin - 170 calories, 7 grams of fat, 25 grams of protein

Drumstick with skin - 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 23 grams of protein

Skinless chicken Wing - 150 calories, 6 grams of fat, 23 grams of protein

Whenever possible you're always wisest to order your chicken without the skin as obviously that is where the majority of the fat is. If you are concerned that having the chicken without the skin will leave it tasteless and dry, consider using a marinate before cooking as this is a great way to add taste and moisture.

Some ideas for marinades would include olive oil (which will provide you will healthy fats), skim milk, low fat yogurt, wine, lemon juice or simply rubbing in some spices such as thyme, basil, rosemary or garlic. These will all add few calories while upping the flavour.

Additionally, when trying to reduce the fat content in your chicken you should always try and choose light meat over dark meat. The light meat will have a higher protein content along with a lower fat content, which fits the goals of many. For example, based on a 100 gram serving, stewed dark meat will have 25.97 grams of protein and about 9 grams of fat whereas light meat will have 29 grams of protein and four grams of fat.

In terms of cooking the actual chicken, baking, broiling, grilling, steaming and roasting are your safest bests in terms of keeping the fat low. Obviously frying is not the best option; a much better choice would be stir-frying using some chicken broth or a small amount of olive oil.

Cooking Your Chicken

The type of chicken you purchase will determine how you should cook it. Below is a good guideline to keep handy to refer to when preparing your chicken.

If you are purchasing a whole broiler/fryer, unstuffed chicken, weighing between 3-4 pounds, the following cooking methods can be used:

Roasting (at 350 degrees F) - 1 ¼ hours to 1 ½ hours

Simmering - 60-75 minutes

Grilling - 60-75 minutes

If you are preparing a whole roasting hen, weighing between five and seven pounds, then these are the cooking times you should follow:

Roasting (at 350 degrees F) - 2 - 2 ¼ hours

Simmering - 60-75 minutes - 1 ¾ hours - 2 hours

Grilling - 80-100 minutes (about 20-25 minutes per pound)

Chicken breast halves are probably the most popular to cook as they are conveniently sized and require less total cooking time. For a 4 oz boneless breast, aim for:

Roasting (at 350 degrees F) - 20-30 minutes

Simmering - 60-75 minutes - 25-30 minutes

Grilling - 6-8 minutes per side

Chicken legs or thighs are sometimes a popular option for some people and again these are relatively simple to prepare. When cooking at 4-8 oz portion you will need about:

Roasting (at 350 degrees F) - 40-50 minutes

Simmering - 60-75 minutes - 40-50 minutes

Grilling - 10-15 minutes per side

Lastly, if a drumstick is your choice of meat, then cook it for the following duration (assuming about a 4 oz serving):

Roasting (at 350 degrees F) - 35-45 minutes

Simmering - 60-75 minutes - 40-50 minutes

Grilling - 8-12 minutes per side

Cooking times will vary slightly, depending on how well done your like your chicken. Always make sure however that the inner portion of the chicken has reached 180 degrees at the minimum before eating to ensure safety. If you don't have a thermometer to measure for doneness, try piercing it will a fork. The juices on the inside should run clear when it's appropriately cooked.

Types Of Chicken

When in the grocery store, your choices of chicken normally fall into seven different classification categories.

First there are the broiler-fryer chickens. These are the most popular chickens and most of your chicken breasts, legs, and so on come from these types of chickens. They usually come in weights up to three and a half pounds and are best either broiled or fried as the name suggests.

Then there are roasting chickens. These have a weight of two and a half to five pounds and are one of the more flavourful chicken choices. They do usually have more fat however but this does make them slightly better for roasting or rotisserie cooking.

Stewing chickens are also relatively common, also called hens, boiling fowl and fowl they are about 3-6 pounds and are slightly less tender than the other varieties. Stewing does tend to add a little more moisture itself so that can most often make up for the lack of moisture seen in the actual meat.

Lastly, free range chickens are usually a more expensive selection because they are bred in ideal conditions and fed a better diet that is free from antibiotics, animal byproducts and growth enhancers. They usually average about 4 and a half pounds and are best cooked by broiling, grilling, roasting, stewing or frying.

When you are buying your chicken, one of the most important things to consider is odor. If you detect any sort of 'off' odor coming from it, it is not a good choice to buy and may not be safe to eat. Furthermore, the bird should have no bruises, broken bones or discoloration shown, although do keep in mind that the skin color can vary from creamy white to golden yellow depending on what the bird's diet is like.

If you buy a chicken that does have skin on it and you wish to remove it, it's always best to remove before cooking, unless you are using the roasting method. The easiest way to remove the skin from a raw chicken is to use a paper towel to hold the chicken in one hand and then take the bone in another. Pull the skin down towards the bone end, twisting if you need to until it becomes free.

It's also good to know that you don't need to be all that concerned with watching the raw chicken before it's cooked as any germs that may be present will be killed while cooking, plus the more handling you do of the chicken before cooking, the more likely you are to spread salmonella around your kitchen - something that you definitely do want to avoid.

So don't forget to include this high protein food in your diet. Regardless of whether you are training for a fitness competition or bodybuilding show, it is an excellent addition to anyone's diet. Dieter's in particular should enjoy it because it is lower in calories and fat than many of the other more common meat sources out there.