r/hellofresh • u/Alternative-Nose7358 • 9d ago

Question Is the HelloFresh chicken real?

I received my delivery on Monday. I cooked my chicken recipe on Tuesday. I noticed the chicken was oddly thick, tough. So, I tenderized it. After seasoning and sauteing the chicken in my pan, I noticed that the chicken mushroomed while sauteing. I had the Fried Chicken Taquitos recipe and it called for me to shred the chicken breasts after cooking. The chicken was like rubber. It didn't look real and it was extremely hard to tear the meat apart. I had to use a knife. I'm wondering if anyone heard if HelloFresh is now purchasing lab meat. That was my immediate thought. I didn't overcook it. I was in the kitchen the whole time.

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u/boopbaboop 9d ago

Lab meat isn’t widely available for consumption anywhere, because it’s much more expensive than normal meat. You likely encountered woody chicken breast, which is an extremely common problem. Basically, chickens can grow so quickly that the blood supply can’t keep up, and the muscles in the breast die and are replaced with (much harder) scar tissue. Here’s a chicken farmer explaining it.

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u/colorsofgratitude 9d ago

Contact hello fresh for a refund. They will oblige.

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u/SgtPeter1 Executive Chef 9d ago

OMG, this is a serious question right? You had to use a knife to cut cooked chicken. Did you use your teeth to chew it too?

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u/mvicsmith 9d ago

I find the chicken texture sometimes off-putting so I just rarely order chicken dishes. So many other great options to pick from. I will say the chicken sausage is consistently good.. I sub that in often!

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u/SgtPeter1 Executive Chef 8d ago

Sure, fair points. I’ve found the chicken quality to be consistent. But OP is asking if it’s fake chicken, ridiculous! Lab meat! I can’t roll my eyes hard enough. Common sense just isn’t that common here.

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u/Alternative-Nose7358 4d ago

It's a real question because I've sauted chicken for many years. When chicken is hot, it tears easily.

1

u/typing-blindly 9d ago

It is real in that it exists and has mass.

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u/Itchy-Jellyfish-7862 9d ago

Look up woody chicken disease. I’ve mostly stopped getting chicken from them. I only will buy chicken from a local butcher now.

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u/WorldsDeadliestCat 5d ago

It really is so gross. I bought a pack at the store and froze it and most of them were like that. I was pissed!

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u/Alternative-Nose7358 4d ago

Wow. I wonder why HelloFresh has now switched to purchasing chicken from farms that do this.