Who else can’t make chicken to save your life?

COGypsy wrote: »

Another vote for grocery store rotisserie chicken. Anything else is pretty much wasted kitchen time.

I used to to subscribe to this philosophy when time-pressed.
Then I started reading labels a bit closer, and realized that my beloved birds were ‘injected with up to 12% of a solution of blablabla’ - All things that were NOT chicken.
These days I stay away needle-enhanced meal at a general rule. Conventional farming makes that difficult so I do pasture raised whenever possible.

That all said: we pick our battles. Rotisserie is a time-saving option that is likely to correlate with better health markers than chicken nugget-type options, is more palatable then poorly prepared chx breasts, and far more versatile.

purplefizzy wrote: »

Boneless skinless makes me sorta sad.

I knew someone once who BOILED chicken breasts. That made me shudder.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with this. I simmer chicken breasts on the stove top all the time. Then shred the meat with a fork to use in soups or baked Mexican dishes. It also gives me the chicken stock I need for soups without all the added salt from canned stocks.

Two words: Immersion Circulater (or Sous-Vide if you want to get technical).

Take a frozen chicken breast, some fresh herbs and seal them in a zip lock back, making sure you get all of the air out before sealing (straws work well for this)

Attach your immersion circulater to the side of a large pot and add hot water. Set temperature to 144 degrees and set the timer for 1.5 hours and drop bagged chicken into pot.

Go for a walk, prep your vegetables/sides, set table.

Remove perfectly done, juicy chicken breast, saving the stock in the bag for soups or other cooking.

When I ate chicken I would slice it into 1/4 inch medallions and cook it in butter. The butter lent a nice flavor and the smaller portions cooked quicker and you could easily tell when it was done!

If you are roasting a whole chicken, spatchcock it by cutting down the backbown with poultry shears or a strong pair of regular scissors. Spread the chicken out on the roasting tin and press down with your palm on the breast to flatten it. In my experience spathcocking is the only way to roast a whole chicken so that the breasts and legs are done at the same time.

This technique makes use of the fact that in conventional oven, it is hotter on the perimeter (where the legs are) than the centre (where the breasts are). If I don't spatchcock, I always end up with overcooked breasts if I roast until the legs are done.

Rsanfilippo3 wrote: »

Literally wasted 1 hour of my time and the chicken tastes terrible! Hard, over cooked, tough And I’m on the verge of a breakdown 🙄😒

How did you cook it? Did you follow a recipe or just chuck a raw plain boneless, skinless breast in the oven?
It sounds like it was mainly cooked too long. If you are baking chicken breast maybe start checking for doneness with a meat thermometer about 25 minutes. It should be about 165° F.
Add some liquid to your baking dish and/or cover with foil.

If you are doing boneless, skinless chicken breasts, use a meat mallet to pound them to an even thickness. I don’t use frozen breasts (they are soaked in a saline brine before being frozen usually), but if you do, make sure they are thawed first. You can use a ziplock bag or plastic wrap for pounding them in. Key to not over cooking because it’s equal thickness. Also an instant read thermometer. Bake or sauté with your favorite spices, seasonings, herbs. Letting the cooked breast rest before slicing or eating, helps keep the juices in the cooked meat.

Great ideas!!!!

Cook it low and slow Baby!