Its no wonder why when it comes to cooking meat, chicken wins the popularity contest, being the most widely consumed meat in the United States. In fact, according to historians, humans have been eating chickens for thousands of years. Chicken is lean, tasty, and relatively inexpensive compared to other meats, and it can be incorporated into a wide variety of different cuisines. It has a mild taste, which makes it easy to pair with other foods and flavors to make a perfect plate for lunch or dinner.
But cooking chicken is not as easy as it may seem. The most common issue with poultry is that it tends to dry out during the cooking process, leaving you with a chewy, tough mouthful of chicken, a reality that is hard to swallow. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this sad state of affairs.
If you follow some simple tips and tricks, you can avoid ever having to dine on dry chicken again. Youll be making meals in no time that feature this versatile, healthy bird at its juiciest and most delicious.
Truss the legs of the bird It’s a little fussy, but trussing a chicken has an important effect on the finished product: when the wings and legs are tucked in close to the body, the end of the drumstick covers part of the breast, making sure it stays moist and helping the chicken cook evenly.
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Use a meat mallet
When chicken is overcooked, it is not exactly a pleasant experience to chew. The muscle fibers are long and stringy and sometimes it can seem impossible to swallow a bite of chicken without a glass of water to wash it down with. Instead of tiring your jaw out trying to get that lean protein, you can break up the fibers before the cooking process even begins by using a meat mallet so that the chicken melts in your mouth.
The tip to remember when tenderizing a cut of meat with a mallet is that the two different sides (one spiky and one flat) have different applications. The spiky side is usually used for red meat while the flat side is used for chicken. When youre pounding the meat, make sure to do it slowly and lightly so that you avoid turning your piece of chicken into a pile of mush.
Pound the meat out
Although chicken breast has a reputation for being a simple piece of meat to cook, its not an easy task to execute if you want moist, juicy chicken. Chicken breasts often have one nice, tender bite in the middle, but the edges are bone dry. But there is a simple trick that makes chicken breasts so much better, and all you need is a little brute force.
If you pound your chicken breast to an even thickness before it hits the grill or the pan, cooking it evenly becomes much easier because you avoid the problem of having dry spots where the meat is thinner and cooks much more quickly. Also, when you have a thinner piece of meat, its easier to bring it all up to the right temperature at the same time and get the center cooked without drying out the edges. And you dont need any specialty equipment — you can use a whole host of common kitchen items. Wrap your chicken in plastic or parchment paper and you can hit it with a rolling pin, a jar, or a wine bottle until it reaches an even thickness. And get some of that pent-up energy out while youre at it!
DO THIS TO PREVENT YOUR CHICKEN BREAST FROM DRYING OUT DURING COOKING
FAQ
How do you bake chicken so it doesn’t dry out?
How do you keep chicken breast moist when roasting?
How do you keep chicken from drying out when cooking?
The technique could hardly be simpler: season your chicken, place it in a baking dish, and then cover it with lightly oiled parchment paper, tucking the paper under the breasts to help it stay in place. As steam escapes the chicken while cooking, the parchment paper traps this moisture, creating a self-contained environment that resists drying out.
Do eggs from home-raised chickens need to be refrigerated?
Home-raised chickens eggs should be refrigerated once they are free of feathers and poop. Although, unwashed eggs with cuticles intact can safely be stored at room temperature, but, refrigerating them will help them last longer; about 5 or 6 weeks.
Does roasting chicken dry out in the oven?
Roasting chicken is a healthy cooking method, allowing much of the fat to drain off, but the white meat in particular can dry out in the oven if you aren’t careful. There’s more than one way to keep chicken moist while it’s cooking, so pick the method that works best for you.
How do you dry roast chicken skin before cooking?
If you’re really shooting for that classic crisp “tap it with a fork” skin on your roast chicken, make sure you’ve allowed the moisture on the bird’s skin to dry out. You can also use paper towels to further pat the chicken dry, according to Chatelaine, ensuring there’s as little water as possible on the skin before cooking.