what causes the darker color of dark meat in chickens?

Now that you’ve got it figured out, you can cook up one of these chicken dishes! Cashew Chicken Lemon Parmesan Chicken Orange Tarragon Chicken Salad It’s super tender and juicy and is extremely difficult – though not impossible – to overcook. The additional protein gives dark meat its richer taste and texture, which makes it my favorite to cook with. The thigh and leg muscles are worked frequently, (all that running around like a chicken with its head…well, you get the picture) requiring more myoglobin. Chickens don’t fly so the breast and wing aren’t put to much use, requiring very little myoglobin. Myoglobin supplies oxygen to the chicken’s muscles, so the more the muscles used, the more myoglobin in the muscle. And here’s why… Dark Meat vs White Meatĭark meat’s darker in color because of a protein called myoglobin. At some point I figured out that white meat referred to the oft-overcooked chicken breast and wings and the moist, juicy legs and thighs were the dark meat. I had no idea what it meant then, only that it somehow affected how many drumsticks – my personal favorite – ended up in the bucket.

Dark meat vs white meat? I can remember as a kid hearing these words tossed around while standing in line at KFC.

What causes the darker color of dark meat in chickens?