Why is duck meat red meat and can be consumed medium rare and chicken meat white meat which should be cooked thoroughly even though they’re both birds?

Question

Why is duck meat red meat and can be consumed medium rare and chicken meat white meat which should be cooked thoroughly even though they’re both birds?

In: 8573

Answer 1

Ducks are regarded as red meat in culinary tradition because the breast meat is darker in color. This is thanks to higher levels of myoglobin in their breast muscles. Both should be cooked to the same internal temperature in the thickest part to eliminate most food borne pathogens. That’s 165 ºF / 74 ºC. The appearance and texture will be different due to the difference in myoglobin and fat content. The higher fat content in duck meat makes it juicier and more moist compared to chicken. The higher myoglobin content will make it look more like what we associate with medium rare from steaks.

The chance of chickens carrying food borne pathogens like Salmonella is higher than that of ducks because of how chickens are farmed compared to ducks. Much more extensively and in more crowded conditions. That means the meat has a higher chance of being contaminated when the bird is slaughtered.

*Bonus ELI5: Myoglobin is an oxygen-binding protein similar to haemoglobin. It’s predominantly found in muscle cells and serves as a short-term store of oxygen. Birds that fly long distances would have lots of these in the breast muscles to help supply the oxygen needed for flight.*

Edit: Thank you for the awards, kind ELI5 friends!