John Myers
The quality of poultry can be derived, among other things, from its commercial class. Voluntary information on the type of husbandry, type of feeding, and cooling process also provides information about the condition of the product. In addition, when buying meat, the color, smell, and fiber structure provide reliable information about the quality of poultry.
Fresh poultry should be well bled and plucked with clean, unbroken skin. When buying poultry, like other meat, you should also check the freshness criteria of surface, smell, and color. Poultry meat should smell fresh and typical of poultry, under no circumstances should it give off a sweet or otherwise intense, unpleasant smell. On the surface, you can tell the quality of poultry by the fact that the meat feels firm and not spongy or greasy. Poultry has a fine fiber structure with little connective tissue – when processed, this has an effect on the short cooking times compared to mammalian meat.
The color of fresh poultry meat varies depending on the animal species. Age, feeding, species, and part of the body also influence the color of the respective product. In general, the breast meat is the lightest, while the thighs, wings, and drumsticks are darker in color. Goose and duck have darker meat than turkey or chicken.
In Germany, poultry meat is only offered in trade class A, for which certain quality standards must be met. According to these quality criteria, the flesh of the chicken, turkey, or goose must be full flesh, the breast of the bird must be well developed, wide, and long. On the other hand, the fat deposits should be even and thin; soup hens, early fattening geese, young geese, and ducks may also have a thicker, evenly distributed layer of fat.
Discoloration, bruising and other damages to the meat are not permitted in commercial class A on the breast and thighs of the meat. In other places, however, slight damage is permitted. Similar rules apply to freezer burn. Slight, accidental damage is permitted, but this must be inconspicuous and must not be on the breast or thighs – otherwise, the quality of poultry is no longer assigned to Class A. Definitely freshly offered poultry must not have been previously frozen. Small feathers and bits of feathers may be present all over the body of ducks, turkeys, and geese, but only on the trunk, ankles and wing tips, breast, and thighs of other animals.
