40
votes
How to pound chicken breasts without a meat tenderizer?
This might seem silly but, . . . I use my fist. I always cover my chicken with plastic wrap to contain the mess before I pound it. You can also glove up instead/as well.
I have found that punching it ...
- 3,022
37
votes
Accepted
How to properly brown cut-up chicken breast pieces?
You have overcrowded your pan. All you have to do is to brown it in batches.
Each batch should be so small that you have only one layer of chicken cubes on the pan bottom. The pieces will still lose ...
- 133k
35
votes
How to pound chicken breasts without a meat tenderizer?
Anything flat, non-breakable, and reasonably heavy would work: rubber mallet, rolling pin, flat-bottomed wooden bowl, etc. I would suggest protecting the meat and implement from one another with ...
- 1,091
21
votes
Accepted
Advice for making/keeping shredded chicken moist?
The first issue I see is that you are over cooking your chicken breast. 20 minutes in a pressure cooker is really over doing it. Even a little over cooking dries chicken breast. Chicken breast ...
- 70.4k
20
votes
Why did my smoked boneless chicken breast come out dry and without apple flavor?
As moscafj's answer correctly states, the lowest average temp on that grill is more like 180-200F so you annihilated that poor bird! Even though the final temp may have been 150, it was almost ...
- 956
15
votes
How to pound chicken breasts without a meat tenderizer?
Put breast between baking paper, roll like dough with a rolling pin. If you have any spices/herbs/salt/pepper to add you can sprinkle then mid rolling as this will push them inside meat.
- 4,113
14
votes
How to properly brown cut-up chicken breast pieces?
First of all, chicken breast doesn't brown well, because it's low in fat. Additionally, in places like the US, supermarket chicken tends to be heavily brined, retaining a lot of extra water which ...
- 24.6k
14
votes
Why did my smoked boneless chicken breast come out dry and without apple flavor?
I'm not sure where your numbers are coming from. According to the Pit Boss Lexington manual, the lowest smoking temperature is 200F (about 95C). It looks like your temperatures are off. Also, three ...
- 70.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Lots of water coming out of chicken breasts when cooking in pan. Why?
Liquid naturally comes out of all meats as they cook. If you're using high heat and a frying pan, you don't really notice it because it evaporates quickly. That brown stuff you see in a frying pan ...
- 289
9
votes
Smoking chicken breasts with and without skin
It's not a question of fat.
Tougher meat- that is, meat with more connective tissue- needs to be cooked low and slow to melt out that collagen and make the meat fall-apart-delicious.
Meat with little ...
- 47.4k
9
votes
Is "parboiling" chicken stupid (or wasteful)?
Chicken breast is so lean and bland already that I'm not sure this method would really be that much worse than a different method especially when being shredded and mixed with strong flavors.
I don't ...
- 1,064
8
votes
Whenever I put breadcrumbs on chicken breast, they turn out soggy and moist
The classic method of breading ("Wiener Schnitzel") is a three-step process:
flour
Only a thin layer: you can add salt or spices to the flour instead of or in addition to seasoning the meat.
egg
...
- 57.5k
8
votes
Accepted
My chicken breasts release a lot of fluid when cooked. How do I prevent this?
Moisture-release is not a result of the cooking process but of the quality of the chicken.
Try the following experiment:
Buy halal or kosher chicken breast
Buy the cheapest chicken breast you can ...
- 5,817
8
votes
Accepted
What's this white strip on the top side of my boneless skinless chicken breast?
Structurally it is similar to silver-skin on tenderloin and other red meat muscles, some connective tissue marking the muscle boundary. I have seen it be a little tough on older, non-broiler birds ...
- 8,643
8
votes
Best way to Store and Rewarm Fried Chicken
Nothing you do will be perfect but here are a few things you can do to help.
When done frying dry well in a dry space.
Sealed spaces will trap the moisture released by the chicken as it cools. ...
- 3,022
8
votes
Is "parboiling" chicken stupid (or wasteful)?
I do this all the time when there's a good sale on chicken ... but I start them in boiling water, then turn the pot to low and let it simmer so I don't overcook it. (and it'd be considered poaching, ...
- 77.7k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the quickest way to evenly slice chicken breasts for jerky?
Freeze the breasts, then use a mandoline to make even slices. (If you have access to a deli slicer with its rotary blade, that would be even faster; however, a mandoline slicer is more typical in a ...
- 8,322
7
votes
Accepted
Cooking chicken breasts in Buffalo sauce, cast iron
You could just add water instead of extra sauce. The water will cook off just as much as the sauce would have, leaving you with essentially just sauce by the end. If that's not spicy/saucy enough for ...
- 58k
7
votes
My chicken breasts release a lot of fluid when cooked. How do I prevent this?
It sounds like you're buying a cheaper cut of meat - one that's likely been infused with water to plump and to rapidly chill the meat to a safe temperature after butchery. Look for packages that state ...
- 134
7
votes
Advice for making/keeping shredded chicken moist?
Chicken breast is not suitable for making shredded meat. For that, you need collagen-rich dark meat, for example chicken thighs.
If you cook your chicken breast less, as moscafj suggested, you can ...
- 133k
7
votes
Accepted
Using up raw chicken with freezer burn - how to cook to make the best of it
You can still save this breast if you:
Use a velveting technique to give it a silky texture and help retain moisture when you stir fry it
boil in broth and shred it (for a salad or a soup, for ...
- 4,772
6
votes
What is the best way to cook chicken for enchiladas?
Most recipes say to use a slow cooker, but some say boil. Why would one be better than the other?
It is better to slow simmer. As a very general rule, it is better to moist cook meat or poultry ...
- 58.3k
6
votes
Advice for making/keeping shredded chicken moist?
First, I would recommend changing how you cook the breasts -- I usually poach breasts, starting it in boiling liquid then putting on a lid, turning the heat down to low and letting it sit for an hour.
...
- 77.7k
6
votes
What's the best way to cook very large chicken breast filets?
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 ...
- 77.7k
5
votes
Protein in cooked vs. raw chicken breast filet
Proteins are complex chemical forms so it depends. Let me elaborate by giving 2 extreme examples:
If you boil an egg, the proteins unfold, hook into one another and therefore a liquid becomes a ...
- 5,817
5
votes
Baking juicier chicken breast without brining?
Since you sear the meat first you could probably lower the oven temp, but that will probably take longer to cook... You'd need to experiment with times and temps. I'd cover the chicken with aluminium ...
- 4,772
5
votes
How to properly brown cut-up chicken breast pieces?
It could be that what you perceive as water is in fact ... water. Unfortunately the practice of 'plumping' chicken with saltwater is pretty common in the industry as it bulks up weight cheaply. The ...
- 73.1k
4
votes
Cooking chicken breasts in Buffalo sauce, cast iron
First of all, there's no reason why the sauce would dry up faster simply because you're using cast iron instead of a teflon pan. So, you might wish to reexamine your mother's technique to see if there'...
- 2,709
4
votes
Lots of water coming out of chicken breasts when cooking in pan. Why?
There is no way to completely prevent the chicken breasts from releasing water. However, you can minimize it by the way you cook. Not crowding the number of pieces in the pan is the most effective, ...
- 2,360
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