Mieral poultry for grilling
Poultry is readily available at discounters for just a few euros. These animals usually come from factory farming. Many people base their shopping decisions on low prices – even when it comes to poultry. The producers have largely adapted to this trend. They enable low prices through mass animal husbandry in confined spaces, rapid fattening to slaughter weight, and the administration of antibiotics. Quality is no longer the focus of production, but mostly just profit. Chickens from mass breeding already reach the usual slaughter weight within a month. However, there is a different approach demonstrated by Mieral Poultry. Jean-Claude Mieral from France has a different demand for chickens. For him, the species-appropriate husbandry of poultry and their quality are paramount.
Love for Poultry
Mieral Poultry is highly valued by gourmets and Michelin-starred chefs worldwide. The Mieral Bresse chickens are particularly famous. The French are known as gourmets for whom quality is more important than cheap prices. To counteract the industrially dominated development in poultry farming, they profiled a quality criterion – the “Appellation d´Origine Contrôlée” (AOC). Bresse chickens must be bred and kept in a purely traditional manner for AOC certification.
For AOC certification, Bresse chickens must grow up in a defined geographical area, and the feed or ingredients must also be from there. Bresse chickens come into the hands of breeders as chicks. They are raised in groups of up to 500 chickens under heat-generating lamps in barns. The grazing area per group must be 5,000 square meters. Each Bresse chicken must have at least 10 square meters available. This gives them enough space to move around. The Bresse chickens stay in the pastures for at least nine weeks before moving to darkened barns for fattening. The fattening period lasts for 10 to 18 days, during which they are fed buckwheat, corn, cooked grain, and cream. Incidentally, the cream must come only from cows that share the pastures with the chickens. All the chickens’ food, including larvae and worms from the pastures, must come from the Bresse, as demanded by AOC certification. Another requirement of AOC certification is particularly gentle slaughter.
Where to Buy Mieral Poultry?
While the coveted Bresse chickens already represent a specialty, Jean-Claude Mieral aims for the perfect poultry. Out of about 400 breeders in the region, Mieral has selected 40 to produce for him. He has particularly high demands to make the good even better. Thus, Mieral Poultry has a slightly firmer texture but is still tender. The juicy meat possesses a very special aroma. Mieral Poultry not only honors the Bresse chicken but also includes other special chickens, capons, and ducks under the Rouge Label “Prince de Dombes.” These come from the pond and lake landscape of Dombes. Additionally, there is a premium line “Excellence” from Mieral with guinea fowl, pigeons, and ducks.
Grilling Mieral Bresse Chicken
A Mieral Bresse chicken has lean meat. This means it can quickly overcook on the grill. From the outside, it is not visible whether the meat is already cooked inside. Since poultry generally carries a risk of salmonella, it must also reach a core temperature of at least 70°C inside. To master this narrow margin between the required core temperature and overcooking, we recommend using a grill thermometer for measuring the core temperature of Mieral poultry and other poultry in general. Similarly, separate grilling utensils should be used for raw meat and finished meat to prevent the spread of any salmonella.
The Mieral poultry is prepared using a combination of direct grilling and indirect grilling. After being taken out of the refrigerator, it needs to warm up for about 90 minutes before going on the grill. The grill can be preheated and cleaned during this time. The grill grate should be clean and brushed with oil. At 180°C, the Mieral poultry is grilled directly for about 4 minutes. Direct grilling means over the heat source of the gas or charcoal grill. Afterward, it is moved to the zone next to the heat source for further cooking (indirect grilling). Here, the Mieral poultry can gently cook for about 45 minutes at 100°C – close the lid. It is fully cooked when it reaches a core temperature of 80 to 85°C. It is important to ensure that at all points, at least 73°C has been reached. Keimes and bacteria are killed off at 70°C.
If you only want to grill a breast from the Mieral poultry, you should take it off the grill before it reaches 80 to 85°C. It is the leanest piece of meat from the already lean Mieral poultry. A core temperature of 73°C is sufficient here.
Where to Buy Mieral Poultry?
You may now be wondering where to buy Mieral poultry for grilling. We have also searched locally at markets, butchers, and supermarkets. We were not successful. So we tried buying Mieral poultry online. What was delivered to us from poultry of this top class was very positive and enjoyable for us. It may not be possible to deliver immediately. Online butchers often have to order a delivery directly from the producer themselves. Therefore, consider planning for a short wait. Our experience with buying Mieral poultry online has been positive so far. From our point of view, we can recommend these sources. We appreciate being able to avoid time-consuming search efforts when buying Mieral poultry.
Our Conclusion
We can recommend to any poultry lover to buy Mieral poultry at least once. Personally, we order it again and again just to have some variety on the grill. However, we also like poultry from Germany, which is regularly placed on our grill grate. You can also serve the same side dishes with Mieral poultry as with any other poultry. The same marinades are also suitable. Now we wish you a lot of pleasure in grilling this special poultry meat.
