What's the best way to cook very large chicken breast filets?

Question

Thanks to coronavirus, a local restaurant supply company is offering home delivery, and I ordered a ten pound bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts. There were eight of them in there...EIGHT! For an average weight of 20 oz each!

I have kids who like their food white. My usual method for BSCBs of a reasonable size is a quick brine and bake, pound them a bit and steam in a covered skillet, or just boil 'em (I know, it's sad). Will these monsters turn out okay if I treat them this way?

Secondarily, if I were going to cook something with actual flavors, what would you recommend?

Answer 1

It really depends on what types of meals you plan to make with them.

If you would typically serve people a whole breast, then I'd cut each one down into more reasonable sizes (slice vaguely across the grain ... I usually start at the more bulbous end and slice diagonally through it so I end up with a chunk that's mostly from the thin end)

For the size you're starting with, you might want to cut each one into 4 to 6 pieces. If you're planning on pounding them, I might even go with 8 to 10 pieces.

Once they're a more reasonable size, you can then brine and bake them or pound them out, them like you normally would.

As you mention boiling them ... I would recommended poaching them instead. If you cut them up first, go with my original recommendation of an hour. If they went in whole, I might give it two hours. The technique that I mention is more like a slow cooker -- it's more forgiving and doesn't tend to overcook the outside before the middle is done (although, it can get fall-apart tender, and start breaking up as you try to fish them out with tongs.