Page 31 - Barbecue Chicken Made Easy
P. 31
holding at the plant and unloading the birds. Climatic conditions can also have an impact. These are all things we try to control since meat [from these animals] will not retain moisture during further processing. This leads to a less juicy product for the consumer, and yield loss, which is money to us.”
Pink meat
The chicken thigh with the purple bone below was cooked to 180°F. It is well past safe. It is also scary. Dr. O. Peter Snyder of the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management reports that red or purple bones are more common because “Chicken is so young [at slaughter] and the bones are too porous.”
Red or purple is the color of bone marrow because that's where blood is made. As birds age, more calcium is deposited on the exterior of bones so the blood in the marrow becomes less visible. According to Dr. John Marcy, Professor and Poultry Processing
