Did I cook it wrong?

TracieWomble wrote: »

the pink bits that turned brown/black were blood spots...not really poisonous or harmful, but visually enough to make you nauseous - you eat with your eyes and tummies are very suggestable. if you are unsure, you should look for the texture change, as well as colour, cooked chicken has the grains, like wood grain, running through it and raw or undercooked is still smooth

This. I thought it just sounded like a little blood vessel. They do sometimes stay pink if the chicken is only just cooked.
Made sense to me that it might go darker on later microwaving too.

Whenever I cook chicken, I just slice into the biggest piece and check that it's grained all the way through.
If it's not, it all goes back in the pan/oven/whatever for a few more minutes.
No thermometer, no food poisoning ever, just the kind of common sense check that my grandma used to do!

CMNVA wrote: »

Chicken breasts these days can be GIGANTIC and they often don't cook evenly. Best thing to do is lay them out flat and slide your knife through horizontally so you get two, thinner pieces. You can also pound them down as another poster said but I've not had much luck getting those big ones down to a manageable size.

This. I always broil mine after slicing horizontally and have had excellent results.