Can you still get local free range chicken?

Sadly, at the end of last year, I lost my supplier of excellent free range, slow-grown chicken, David Knipe of Heartwood Poultry of Tebay, as he was killed in a quad bike accident while out on his farm. Really dreadful for his family, of course, but also for those of us who put up with his terrible jokes at farmer's markets, where he sold most of his birds. Unfortunately, it seems his work is not being continued by his family.

They really were terrific chickens.
 
Glad to know that Bresse chicken is back to "normal". I was not overly impressed by the quality when I had it in Paris in 2023; when I got some in Selfridges (they sold French chicken then) before pandemic it was pretty flavoursome.

Virus evolving seems to be a bit strange excuse to me. As we all learned (?) from Covid time, the more individuals getting virus, the higher chance it mutate. Plus, hasn't DEFRA just approved a Bluetongue Virus type 3 vaccine for sheeps? It looks to me that the standard is the cost of each animal rather than anything.
 
I don't eat meat but my son does and last summer in France - after buying and roasting a chicken from the local market for the rest of my family - he asked why chicken didn't taste of much in England ...
 
Not sure about this, but maybe vaccinations result in what would otherwise be organic premium chicken (or lamb for that matter) suddenly becoming non-organic, with corresponding drop in sales value?
 
I'm not disagreeing Thom. We grow a lot of our own stuff and I've had the opportunity to compare some products with supermarket or wholesale both ordinary, organic, Duchy original etc. In the vast majority of cases I would defy anyone to tell the difference on the plate. Fresh peas or broad beans - you can tell the ones that were picked 10 minutes ago and on the plate inside an hour, but for most things the commercial growers tend to produce a better and cleaner product than the small organic grower.

Same applies to eggs. People say that free range is better / has yellower yolks, firmer albumen or whatever. But do a blind taste test and it is nigh on impossible to differentiate. Many restaurants and bakers buy wholesale liquid yolks and liquid whites anyway. Pasteurised. You can bet your life they're just factory production.

Edward. Yes. I agree. However, my point is that I struggle to get top notch local chicken that is grown to high welfare standards. In fact it is now apparently impossible. I'm not interested in commercially grown broilers. Local producers have had too many culls, too many random Defra inspections. The lady farmer near us had six since October' 24, and she has to be present for each one plus paperwork for each flock changeover.
 
AJ Temple said:
People say that free range is better / has yellower yolks, firmer albumen or whatever.
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'Free range' is a description is now so broad as to be virtually meaningless, except that poultry which doesn't carry even that designation tends to be actually inedible, as evidenced by the atrocity that now goes under the name 'Gressingham duck'. It was perfectly respectable when they began but now they seem to have succeeded in closing all competition it is a repulsive product.
 
^^ Yes. And this is why I try my hardest to buy local from people I know. And it's why I tend to use teh phrase "high welfare'. Hence the butcher / farmer I use: I can see the cattle, neighbours sheep, pigs reared outdoors. So when I say to my family or customers "this is where it came from and this is where it was slaughtered" (yes, we've been there too to help drop cattle off) then I know it is honest. Used to have that with chickens - but no more.

I don't really buy much duck. It's become very "supermarkety" where they whip the breasts off and presumably the rest goes into pet food or something. We used to rear our own geese and ducks years ago, but no more.
 
AJ Temple said:
Same applies to eggs. People say that free range is better / has yellower yolks, firmer albumen or whatever. But do a blind taste test and it is nigh on impossible to differentiate.
Click to expand...
I find it hard to believe that anyone could not differentiate between the incredibly broad spectrum of quality of eggs available to the UK shopper.
Setting aside whether the label claim is Organic, Free Range, Barn or whatever the differences are enormous.
Ranging from watery and colour deficient to bright orange and way to thick a texture.
And that is without starting on taste and flavour.
If I can't easily get to a local farm that trades as "The Egg Shed" I presently settle for M&S mixed size free range which are amazing value at £1.35 for 6.
Ignoring the nearly 4 quid for 6 Burfords alongside on the shelf as the yolk viscosity for me resembles expensive orange wallpaper paste.
Edit :
I am talking about eggs to be eaten as eggs like fried, boiled or poached not as part of a recipe.
 
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Fully and appearance agree freshness helps - not so much the taste as the experience of cooking it. I get through about 40 - 50 ish eggs a week usually. Mostly making custards for things like onion tart, ice cream, creme anglaise etc plus I eat them myself most days (just one). So they are always pretty fresh. During the summer I get them from a lady with a small flock within walking distance, but in winter the laying is unreliable so I buy a flat each week from elsewhere.
 
Phil David said:
Assuming organic status to be an arbiter of quality is somewhat missing the point of organic food production.
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Certainly, but it is always disappointing when the world isn't as one would wish it to be. I retain a strong faith in the intersection of gastronomic excellence, wholesomeness and sustainability but I am fully aware of my own naivety.
 
James Starke said:
I don't eat meat but my son does and last summer in France - after buying and roasting a chicken from the local market for the rest of my family - he asked why chicken didn't taste of much in England ...
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If you suddenly want some French chicken in London, go to Chinese supermarket (even the very local small one near my home routinely stock at least one in their fridge). There are certain Chinese dishes you simply cannot use British chicken; it wouldn't work.
 
Po-yu Sung said:
If you suddenly want some French chicken in London, go to Chinese supermarket (even the very local small one near my home routinely stock at least one in their fridge). There are certain Chinese dishes you simply cannot use British chicken; it wouldn't work.
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See Woo in Lisle Street used to be my regular chicken haunt pre brexit but they have stopped bringing in the good ones and of course the price of the ones they have has doubled.
They briefly had a first class fish section but that's ineviutably gone down the pan also.
 
Raymond Tilney said:
I find it hard to believe that anyone could not differentiate between the incredibly broad spectrum of quality of eggs available to the UK shopper.
Setting aside whether the label claim is Organic, Free Range, Barn or whatever the differences are enormous.
Ranging from watery and colour deficient to bright orange and way to thick a texture.
And that is without starting on taste and flavour.
If I can't easily get to a local farm that trades as "The Egg Shed" I presently settle for M&S mixed size free range which are amazing value at £1.35 for 6.
Ignoring the nearly 4 quid for 6 Burfords alongside on the shelf as the yolk viscosity for me resembles expensive orange wallpaper paste.
Edit :
I am talking about eggs to be eaten as eggs like fried, boiled or poached not as part of a recipe.
Click to expand...
Agree entirely about those mixed M and S eggs .
 
Thom Blach said:
See Woo in Lisle Street used to be my regular chicken haunt pre brexit but they have stopped bringing in the good ones and of course the price of the ones they have has doubled.
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Besides the basic ones (named as "yellow-fat" chicken), last week I saw an more expensive kind sold in See Woo (I forget if it's Loue, but label Rouge for sure). Not sure if it's just for the Chinese New Year; will report if I see it again!
 
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