Side by side
Breast
White meat · suprême · pechuga
The flight muscle of a bird that does not fly, so it is built from fast-twitch white fibre with almost no fat or myoglobin. That makes it the leanest thing on the chicken and the easiest to ruin: it holds moisture only up to about 65°C, and every degree beyond that is squeezed out.
Even thickness matters more than size — butterfly or pound a thick fillet so the thin end is not overcooked by the time the middle is done.
Wing
Drumette & flat · alitas · tebasaki
Three joints with a high ratio of skin and collagen to actual meat. That is precisely the point: skin crisps, collagen turns sticky, and the bones give the sauce something to cling to. It is the cheapest part of the bird and the one entire restaurant categories are built on.
Dry the skin thoroughly before it meets heat. Surface moisture is the difference between crisp and leathery.
Which one to buy
- Better forBreast : Wing
- Pan-searingBreast88 : —
- PoachingBreast80 : —
- RoastingAbout the same74 : 76
- FryingWing— : 95
- GrillingWing— : 88
Other comparisons
All cuts
Beef Primals
Chicken Portions
Bluefin Tuna Cuts
Temperatures are guidance for whole-muscle cuts. Ground meat and poultry need 71°C / 160°F throughout.