Yellow "skin" on chicken

[mightyro_cooking4u]

Does anyone know what the yellow skin or film is on the chicken? It is annoying trying to get it off.

[Zurie]

Are you talking about a whole chicken, skin on?

If you mean skinned chicken pieces, I have no idea, as it should be pinkish and shiny-clean!

If it's a whole chicken with skin, where are you finding this "yellow skin"? If it's on the bottom of the legs, it might mean it hasn't been well cleaned. Scrape it off and rinse the chicken.

[Zeldaz]

A chicken with a yellow skin has had a pretty good diet. It should pull off just as easily as any other color skin. I'm not sure what you mean by a film, though.

[mightyro_cooking4u]

I call it a film because it does rub off. It gives the chicken a yellow "tint" until it is rubbed off. I find it on whole and chicken pieces.

[*Lena*]

Sometimes my chicken has yellow skin, too. By film, do you mean the part of the skin that's almost translucent? Seems like it clings to meat more tightly than the loose skin, beneath it? If that makes sense.

I make sure my knife is very sharp and lift it off the meat if I can, make a cut in the membrane and pull back from there. Sometimes I have to use a paper towel to grip it and pull, it gives you a little more traction.

[Chef #563218]

I know exactly what it is that you're talking about. It's that nasty yellow film that clings to the skin. You have to scrape it off, and it takes forever to do. I seem to find it most on Purdue chickens. I found it on the cornish hens that I made yesterday, too. I have no idea what it is.

[Chef TotalFark]

[quote="Chef #563218"]I know exactly what it is that you're talking about. It's that nasty yellow film that clings to the skin. You have to scrape it off, and it takes forever to do. I seem to find it most on Purdue chickens. I found it on the cornish hens that I made yesterday, too. I have no idea what it is.[/quote]

That stuff that seems to be mainly on the legs-towards the feet especially, and the wings? I think it's actually a result of incomplete feather development-it seems to be scaly and like a thin layer of the feather quills.

[Chef #563218]

Yeah, there's that stuff, but the other stuff I'm talking about is like a soft, yellow film all over the skin of the breast. It rubs off when you rub the skin.

[mightyro_cooking4u]

Newbie "Fry Cook" Poster, you hit dead on the head. It rubs off when you rub the skin.

[conniecooks]

Pinky bluish chicken often found in the supermarket, is force fed, lives in crowded conditions, and is too young. Range fed organic chicken,usually has a dry yellowish skin. Range fed means that they get to scratch about in the hen yard. They are a wee bit older, and much more flavorable.. This is also a much more humane life for the bird.

[Zeldaz]

I've not experienced this. Does washing the skin with water remove it?

[Chef #563218]

You would need a power washer to remove it with just water (I've tried). The only way I've been able to get it off is by rubbing it with a dish cloth or paper towel.

[Foodtography]

The coloring comes from the diet they chickens are fed. Typically, the yellow skinned chickens are fed a more expensive diet than white or cream colored chickens. You can use the Flamingo bird as as an example- they are fed a diet rich in red beets in captivity to achieve the rich pink and burgundy coloring that they display in the wild from eating algae high in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments.
In short, eating a yellow skinned chicken won't hurt you and in most cases, has been fed a better diet.

[Mami J]

Thanks for all the info!
When I first moved to the US with my family, we were all grossed out by the white-skinned chickens, there's nothing like that here in Mexico. In the past few years, large supermarket chains have been selling chickens from US companies based here (meaning the chickens are raised here as well). They all have that white skin. A lot of people think they are better because of it.

[Amberngriffinco]

i rinse the chicken, smell to make sure it's good and that slimy stuff comes off then with a dry paper towel..

yeah, it's gross.