How can I get chicken breasts to be tender and moist?!
How can I get chicken breasts to be tender and moist?
Whenever I go to a restaurant and order a dish with boneless/skinless chicken like "chicken marsala" or "chicken parmesan" the breasts are very tender and juicy. But when I follow the recipes at home, I get good flavor but not very tender meat.
I never overcook the chicken so what do I do before beginning my recipe to tenderize the chicken breasts? Please be specific with your answer - for example if it really helps to soak the chicken in beer, for how long? And if pounding works, to what thickness?
Any help is appreicate b/c I'm preparing a new smothered chicken recipe for my husband's birthday tonight!
Answers:
Dry meat and tough meat are not the same thing. A lot of people make this mistake.
Pounding and marinating works well to tenderize beef and pork, as these techniques break up the thick muscle fibers that make these meats tough. Chicken is very tender on its own, but it dries out quickly. We marinate chicken for flavor, not to reduce toughness.
There are many ways to help retain the moisture in a cooking chicken breast. These are only a few. You can use any or all of these techniques at the same time. For any kind of smothered chicken, I would use salt, steam, infusion, and browning, at the very least.
ALWAYS cook chicken slowly, unless you're frying.
Good luck! I hope it comes out great. Wish your husband Happy Birthday for me!
Breading. This helps keep fried chicken and chicken parmesan moist. The breading acts as a barrier to evaporating moisture.
Salt. Increasing the sodium content forces the meat to retain moisture through osmosis. Marinating or brining your chicken overnight forces a lot of sodium into the meat. Even marinating for an hour or so can help.
Infusion. One way to make your chicken moist is to physically inject liquid into it. Meat injection syringes are very cheap and available at most grocery stores. Meat should be injected before being cooked. This is also a great way to get flavor into your meat.
Browning. Quickly browning the chicken breasts in a hot skillet before cooking creates a layer of dry meat on the outside of the breast. This layer helps trap the internal moisture, just like searing a steak.
Steam. Just like your body can't evaporate sweat if the humidity is high, your chicken can't dry out if it's surrounded by steam. There are several ways to increase the humidity around your chicken breast. You could place a little water or sauce in the bottom of your cooking pan, and cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil. Alternatively, you can place a pan of water on an oven rack beneath the chicken. The steam will rise as the water heats.
Marrow. One of the reasons why boneless, skinless chicken breast is so dry is that you have removed the two best methods of keeping the moisture in. Buy whole (bone-in) chicken breasts, and cook them with the bone side down. The ribs contain lots of marrow, which will slowly release moisture into the meat as it cooks. The bones can easily be peeled off after the breast has cooked.
Oil. Brushing the breasts with olive oil or real butter will help keep them moist. Obviously, oil and water don't mix. Putting oil on the outside helps keep the moisture inside.
Glazing. Glazing the chicken breast (as with chicken marsala or barbeque) creates a barrier of carmelized sugars on the surface of the chicken. This helps keep moisture in.
Soak them in mojo and water before you cook them and then when you go to cook then cook them at a low temp. and keep adding water.
SOAK THEM IN BUTTER
You'll want to brine them. I do this for chicken breasts and pork chops.
Try bring them and you'll never have dry chicken again.
Tender Lemon Chicken
1 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons oil
4 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped celery, with leaves
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
In dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in oil.
Add chicken and brown lightly.
Add next 6 ingredients.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover tightly, and simmer for 35 minutes.
Add more broth if needed.
Remove chicken.
Mix cornstarch and water, add, stirring to pan.
Boil 1 minute.
Return chicken and turn to coat.
Sometimes I simply cut the breast in half, some of those boneless/skinless ones are fairly large. If you pound them, go to about just under an inch.
An even easier solution is to buy an injector. I usually inject some olive oil, works like a charm.
Also, watch the heat. If they are drying out it could be too much heat, turn it down a bit and cook when using recipes that call for the oven, but same with the stove top, turn down the heat!!
you're overcooking them. you really are.
If the recipe doesn't call for the chicken to be breaded, what I've found keeps the chicken moist is actually something I learned from the Marshall Fields Cookbook I have.
They have a recipe for white meat chicken salad from their restaurant, and the way they say that they keep the chicken moist is to season the chicken and spray a baking sheet w/ nonstick spray, put the breasts in, carefully pour in about 1/4 inch of water, and cover tightly w/ foil. Bake 20-30 mins until done.
(I did this w/ 3 chicken breasts today, it only took 20 mins)
Try:
marinades
broil instead of fry
roasting bags
if you do fry, use low heat.
soak them in milk and just enough hot sauce to make it slightly orange. it locks in moisture and flavor and not so much heat.
OR
soak in buttermilk. if you don't have buttermilk, stir in 2T fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup milk. let set on the counter for about 5-10 minutes.
OR
soak in salt water for a few hours before cooking
I put them for at least two hours in 4 tablespoons of white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (per 1 pound of chicken breasts), or barbecue sauce if you don't have soy sauce. If you are baking them, you can try using oven bags, these really keep the moisture inside.
SMOTHERED CHICKEN (BAKED)
Skinless chicken breasts
Cream of mushroom soup
Seasonings (garlic, salt & pepper)
Sour cream
Butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put pat of butter on each chicken breast. Thin soup with a little sour cream, pour over seasoned chicken breasts. Put on some sour cream. Crumble can of French fried onions, save for last 15 minutes of baking. Cover chicken and bake 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle with crushed onions, bake for 15 minutes longer.
This recipe is so tender and moist! Our Daughter (16) cooks this for her Daddy twice a month. It is soooo good and easy, easy.