My life has been crazy busy lately between work and personal activities (not to mention my daughter’s torn ACL surgery). When life gets this way, my go-to dinner is a rotisserie chicken. I am not going to lie — I have eaten several in the last couple of weeks. Pull off a leg and add a salad and dinner is done. You can’t get any easier than that.

I love the ability to “fix” dinner in 15 seconds or less. However, I am disappointed in most of the rotisserie choices. I want a rotisserie redo! Over the last two weeks, I purchased them from several stores and the ingredients included “water, salt and chicken broth." One even had “water, sea salt and chicken broth.”

I can pretty much tell the eating quality of these rotisserie chickens just from the ingredient statements. Maybe I have been doing this too long. I am a quality geek! Whenever I see “water, salt and chicken broth” as ingredients, I know the texture is not going to be up to my standards. Whenever I see “water, salt and phosphate,” I know this is going to be a good dinner option. My palette will be happy. Unfortunately, I rarely ever see phosphates anymore.

Where’s the phosphate? When are we going to dispute the issue of phosphate use with consumers? I want good eating quality. Without it, what is the point of eating! I might as well eat stale bread and oxidized butter. No thanks.

There are many phosphate replacers out there. But let’s be honest: There is no such thing as a phosphate replacer. It's like replacing an egg in a recipe; have you ever done that? The result is adding several functional ingredients, and by the time all is said and done, you should have just used the egg. The same thing applies to phosphates. We know scientifically that salt is less functional without the phosphate, chicken broth does nothing for water retention (aka juiciness), and don’t even get me started on sea salt.

Let me tell you what I really think: There is no such thing as a phosphate replacer and there is no better ingredient than phosphates for meat quality. We have phosphate in our bodies (ATP) which allows us to walk and move our muscles. It is the energy our body needs to function. So, why in the world can’t I eat it?

Can we consider making rotisserie chicken with “water, salt and phosphates” again? Please, my palette really needs it. I cannot be the only one that feels this way. Where are my quality peeps? Let me hear from you. Do you agree?

At some point, consumer choices/voices are going to drive the quality of our poultry meat into the ground and all without considering the science behind the why. Please continue to educate and talk the talk — speak the science. I want a rotisserie redo. Let’s add the phosphate back into these products so I can enjoy my dinner again.

Rotisserie redo

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