# Turkey: Light Meat or Dark?



## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 25, 2011)

Most people seem to prefer their turkey meat light. I prefer the dark meat and from what I've seen I'm the exception. To me light meat seems dry and flavorless, dark meat tastes moist, juicy and has more flavor.

Which do you prefer? And why?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 25, 2011)

Dark meat, always.  Moist and flavorful!  Shrek likes the light meat, we have the whole bird covered.


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## taxlady (Dec 25, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Dark meat, always.  Moist and flavorful!  Shrek likes the light meat, we have the whole bird covered.



Same here, for all birds, so we don't have duck or goose at my house (phooey). I don't really care for turkey, so we don't cook that here either, but sometimes have it at his mum's house. DH likes turkey a little bit, so once or twice a year is enough for him. Yup, Canadian and the mummy-in-law usually makes turkey for Xmas.


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## DaveSoMD (Dec 25, 2011)

Dark meat here too. I think it has more flavor and is never the slightest bit dry.


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## Robo410 (Dec 25, 2011)

dark next to stuffing with gravy.  light in a sandwich with mayo lettuce and tomato


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## Kayelle (Dec 25, 2011)

The dark meat answers above are kind of surprising to me.  I also prefer  dark meat with turkey and chicken.  I'll eat a sandwich out of breast  because I use enough mayo to make it edible, otherwise I think breast is  mostly dry and tasteless.
I think we probably should keep this information under wraps until turkeys start growing thighs as big as hooters.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 25, 2011)

Kayelle said:


> The dark meat answers above are kind of surprising to me.  I also prefer  dark meat with turkey and chicken.  I'll eat a sandwich out of breast  because I use enough mayo to make it edible, otherwise I think breast is  mostly dry and tasteless.



Here's a few more questions to think about: Chicken breasts: bone-in or boneless? Steaks: bone-in or boneless? How do you want that steak cooked? I suspect that many of us on the forum recognize that meat cooked on the bone is more tasty, more tender. I bet those of us  on the forum are more likely to order our steaks medium-rare than medium-well or (horrors, horrors!) well done.

I agree that turkey breast is okay on sandwiches as long as there's lots of mayonnaise, but it's not at all unusual for me to load up with nothing but dark meat when roasted turkey is served, preferably thigh meat. It's the juiciest, most tender and flavorful part of the turkey.

I don't even understand why most people go for the white meat, but it's a fact. And I'm not going to try to convince anybody to switch to the dark meat. There's more left for me!


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## taxlady (Dec 25, 2011)

Kayelle said:


> The dark meat answers above are kind of surprising to me.  I also prefer  dark meat with turkey and chicken.  I'll eat a sandwich out of breast  because I use enough mayo to make it edible, otherwise I think breast is  mostly dry and tasteless.
> I think we probably should keep this information under wraps until turkeys start growing thighs as big as hooters.



I nearly lost my breath laughing. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 25, 2011)

There's a Chinese restaurant I go to that has a notice they will prepare chicken dishes with white meat only for a $1 extra charge. I've been tempted to ask them if they'd give me a discount for dark meat only.


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## bakechef (Dec 25, 2011)

I don't care for the stronger taste of dark meat, nor the fat, veins and tendons that you have to eat around.  If your breast meat is dry and tasteless, then it isn't cooked right.


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## Andy M. (Dec 25, 2011)

I prefer dark but also enjoy white.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 25, 2011)

That's why I like the thighs, not the legs or wings, because of the lack of tendons etc. There's no doubt dark meat has a stronger taste, so I guess it depends on individual preference if they like that taste or not.


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## Addie (Dec 25, 2011)

Hold a gun to my head and I will nibble on the thigh. I don'tlike turkey. And I only eat the thigh of a chicken. A very small thigh.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 25, 2011)

Addie said:


> Hold a gun to my head ...


Why would anybody want to force somebody else to eat some food item? IMO that's why some people develop food dislikes, because they were forced to eat something and they built up a life long aversion to that food. Because they were forced to eat it.


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## vitauta (Dec 25, 2011)

love that dark meat--legs and thighs.  duckling and goose--all dark meat--sighs....

for me, white meat needs considerable "doctoring" in order to be palatable.


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## Timothy (Dec 25, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Why would anybody want to force somebody else to eat some food item? IMO that's why some people develop food dislikes, because they were forced to eat something and they built up a life long aversion to that food. Because they were forced to eat it.


 
I too only like dark meat. Regardless of how well white meat is cooked, it has this weird "dryness" to it that is unappealing to me. Like others, if I eat it on a sandwich, it is loaded with mayo or anything moist like pickles and the like so I can swallow it. Otherwise, it's like trying to eat sawdust.

Greg, when I was a child, we ate everything on our plates after my Dad served the plates. If we didn't eat it at the supper table and we wern't sick, then it was what we had for breakfast the next day. So I guess you could say we were "forced" to eat every food that was served to us.

We weren't allowed to "dislike" any foods. It's why I grew up liking all types of foods. A picky eater in my Dad's house would starve to death.


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## vitauta (Dec 26, 2011)

tim, i for one would like to see a thread about picky eaters, and how they think they got that way.  i don't know how much science there is about this subject.  if it exists, i've somehow managed to miss it entirely.  care to start that thread, tim?

then again, in a group of mostly avowed foodies, there may not be many picky eaters among us--or are there?


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## buckytom (Dec 26, 2011)

i go for both dark and white meats with equal enthusiasm.

it's true that on a whole bird, it's very difficult to get really moist white meat while ensuring the darker meat is cooked properly. but from a bird divided into parts, it's just a matter of removing the white meat from the oven, skillet, or grill at the right time while letting the dark meat go longer. 
even so, white meat has very little room for error. a minute too soon, and it's still pink and undercooked. a minute or so too long, and it's dry and not juicy in any shape or form. but then, that's what gravy is for.

dw have a 20 year running battle about how i cook turkey and chicken breasts. she cooks hers to death - imo, but i tend to undercook it in her eyes. she always cuts into any bird i cook with the precision of a surgeon, trying to find a pink spot to prove i'm undercooking it.

occasionally, i nail it and she's happy. no pink, but nice, juicy, white meat. since she's a health nut, we don't have gravy often to make up for overcooking, so my m.o. is to err on the side of the undercooked. 

i was watching a gordon ramsay special about christmas feasts the other day and he mentioned that when he was in culinary school, he was taught to rest the bird after cooking for as long as he'd actually cooked it. 3 hour cooking time = 3 hours resting.

he seemed to scoff a bit at it, but still tried to make the point that if you want juicy meat, rest the bird a good long time, then serve with a hot gravy to make up for the then room temperature meat.


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## Foodfiend (Dec 26, 2011)

If it's a Butterball Turkey I like both the white and dark meat.  If it's a different brand turkey it's strictly dark.  The Butterball Turkey has a moister white meat than other brands, and I can't stand dry white meat.


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## Timothy (Dec 26, 2011)

vitauta said:


> tim, i for one would like to see a thread about picky eaters, and how they think they got that way. i don't know how much science there is about this subject. if it exists, i've somehow managed to miss it entirely. care to start that thread, tim?
> 
> then again, in a group of mostly avowed foodies, there may not be many picky eaters among us--or are there?


Hey vitauta, I seem to remember a "Picky Eaters" thread just recently. Perhaps one of the Mods or other members will remember it and provide a link. Before starting another, lets see if that develops first.

Here are the threads I found:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f164/help-picky-in-laws-coming-76581.html

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/fussy-eaters-75363.html

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/help-with-a-picky-eater-71090.html

http://www.discusscooking.com/forum...-person-youd-ever-have-to-cook-for-64458.html


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## Barbara L (Dec 26, 2011)

I love the dark meat, especially when it is first cooked, and later in gravy.  I like the white meat the next day, cold, with a bit of salt, or in a sandwich.  I have had dry, tasteless turkey breast on occasion, but I cannot recall ever having that happen at home.  I know a couple people who are so worried about under cooking poultry (and pork) that they tend to cook it way too long.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 26, 2011)

I think that motivates a lot of people to overcook turkey, worry that they might under cook it and cause food poisoning. I totally trust my meat thermometer and commonly accepted temperature guidelines, and also take into account that the temperature will continue to rise after the turkey is out of the oven and resting.

It's not that I need a meat thermometer... It's just that it works so perfectly for me every time.


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## PattY1 (Dec 26, 2011)

bakechef said:


> i don't care for the stronger taste of dark meat, nor the fat, veins and tendons that you have to eat around.  If your breast meat is dry and tasteless, then it isn't cooked right.




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## CharlieD (Dec 26, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> ... ... To me light meat seems dry and flavorless ...



If you run into dry and flavorless meat you can be assured the person who cooked doesn't know how to cook. 
Now having said that I do like dark meat better.


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## CharlieD (Dec 26, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> There's a Chinese restaurant I go to that has a notice they will prepare chicken dishes with white meat only for a $1 extra charge. I've been tempted to ask them if they'd give me a discount for dark meat only.



Now that you brought Chinese restaurant, that is a whole different story, there I only order dishes made out of white meat. Dark meat doesn't really work well in Chinese dishes at all.


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## Andy M. (Dec 26, 2011)

This thread is interesting.  Many (not all) of you cite the dryness of white meat as the reason you prefer dark.  It's not that hard to have juicy breast meat along with properly cooked dark meat.  

I guess a better question would be:  if properly cooked and juicy white and dark meats were offered, would you still pick dark meat?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 26, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> This thread is interesting.  Many (not all) of you cite the dryness of white meat as the reason you prefer dark.  It's not that hard to have juicy breast meat along with properly cooked dark meat.
> 
> I guess a better question would be:  if properly cooked and juicy white and dark meats were offered, would you still pick dark meat?



Yes, I would still pick dark meat!


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## Andy M. (Dec 26, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Yes, I would still pick dark meat!



Me too.


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## babetoo (Dec 26, 2011)

dark for me. i did cook a turkey breast side down and the white was juicy. i still prefer the dark thigh


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 26, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> I guess a better question would be:  if properly cooked and juicy white and dark meats were offered, would you still pick dark meat?



Dark. Bring it! Nobody will convince me that white could ever taste as good as dark because of one simple fact: fat content. Fat tastes good. We've been evolved for 100's of thousands of years or millions of years to like the taste of fat. There will never be any way to make white, lean meat taste as good as dark meat, because of the desirable taste of fat. It is genetically programmed into us.


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## PattY1 (Dec 26, 2011)

I am a foodie, I like to cook, I am in tune with what is really good and I prefer Turkey Breast meat.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 26, 2011)

The poll speaks for itself. In real life I observe most people want white meat, yet the poll shows that more than 50% forum members prefer dark meat. I can think of no other explanation. I'll entertain other explanations.

Please note there is no right or wrong answer to the poll. It only indicates preferences, and like the Internet abbreviation: YMMV (your mileage may vary)


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## chopper (Dec 26, 2011)

I will eat both white meat and dark, but I too prefer dark. That is why I serve duck for Christmas. This year was no different. I made two ducks, and they turned out fantastic!  Gotta live an all dark meat bird!


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 26, 2011)

chopper said:


> I will eat both white meat and dark, but I too prefer dark. That is why I serve duck for Christmas. This year was no different. I made two ducks, and they turned out fantastic!  Gotta live an all dark meat bird!



That's why I like duck too. Nothing like quackers for dinner! 

You do have to cook them pretty hard though...


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## Dawgluver (Dec 26, 2011)

i prefer white meat.  Dark meat goes into soup, and I don't tell me it's dark meat.  That way I don't know.


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