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Subscribe!Moist Chicken breasts (poached)
Breasts, nice moist breasts.
When it comes to humans, the moistness of the breast isn’t really a huge factor in deciding its quality, but with chicken it’s all a bit different.
I’ve read a few different articles and blog posts over the past few days about chicken breasts, with people saying how much drier they can be than other bits of the bird.
If you have a problem with dry breasts then there are some excellent creams available, just ask your local pharmacist. With regard to your bits of chicken though, it’s all about the way that you cook it.
Grilling or frying chicken breasts can leave them dry, but here is one cooking method that will leave you with beautiful succulent meat every time. We are going to poach it.
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Start by seasoning your chicken breasts with salt and freshly ground pepper, then wrap each breast tightly in clingfilm – this will ensure that the meat will keep it’s shape while cooking.
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Heat a saucepan of water to a gentle boil, gently put the chicken into the water, and poach it for about 12-15 minutes.
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Remove the chicken from the water but don’t unwrap it, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
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Heat some butter in a frying pan, unwrap the chicken and add it to the butter. Cook the chicken slowly in the butter until the skin has a beautiful golden colour.
One of the key things it to always buy chicken breasts with the skin on them. They simply taste better (they are also cheaper)!
Serve it however you like, the meat will be nice and moist so you don’t need to cover it in a creamy sauce.
Entries (RSS)
July 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I season mine, wrap them in foil and stick them in the oven. They steam in their own juices, or whatever I’ve added to the foil. Always moist, always juicy and fabulous.
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Nasty chemicals leak from plastic wrap, or clingfilm as you put it, when its heated.Research it.Since I dont like cancer with my chicken I will pass on this tip
I might try the foil one that katyboo1 said though.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
The toxicity of plastics when heated during cooking is a really interesting topic, with a lot of different ‘scientific evidence’ and mudslinging on both sides of the debate.
I’m actually working on an article about this very topic, which should be finished in the next few days.
September 6th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
i had a comment from a friend of mine the other day, when i said that i make my own chicken stock, she said that she didnt realise that things were that bad for me!!!!!
I buy a whole chicken chopped up into eatable sizes and then just make an enormous stockpot with vegetables, in the entirety, herbs and spices and cook it very slowly over a few of hours until The chicken is extremely tender which i take out to use for different types of dishes or freeze and is also quicker to cook as the chicken is already done. with the vegetables they are either used as a side dish, blended to make a soup, or chopped up into other dishes.
July 4th, 2011 at 5:43 am
The important thing here is really not overcooking them.
The way they are cooked does not matter so much.
You could also brine them to help keep them moist.
You can easily dry them out overcooking them though – no matter if you are poaching or whatnot.
This is often a mistake people make – thinking if they are cooking in a sauce or liquid then they do not need to worry about overcooking chicken as it is in liquid so how could it dry out?
But that isn’t how it works.
You have to watch your timing and then take a piece of the chicken and check it to be sure. (though if you make it the same way all the time then the timing will do after some practice runs)
July 4th, 2011 at 9:38 am
Mike – I agree completely, you can overcook them using any method, but poaching is much more forgiving than most others.
April 8th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Hello! Super great information. Keep it going!