cooking chicken

[swan_tower]

A question for the culinary types.

I recently made a meal (chicken vesuvio, though not quite the version described there) that turned out pretty well, except the texture of the chicken breasts was less than ideal. The outer portion was great, but the core was kind of tough, and I’m wondering what the reason for that is.

The recipe calls for the breasts to be lightly browned and then put into the pan with potatoes, broth, and cooking wine and simmered for about 12-18 minutes. My impression is that the browning part went great (which is why the exterior of the meat was in good shape), but the simmering is where things went wrong. Could it be that the meat simmered too fast, or reached too hot a temperature? I’m supposed to get it up to 160 degrees; after 12 minutes it had already shot past that. My stove tends to run hot, so I feel like maybe it would turn out better if I reduced the heat (it calls for medium-low, so I could go to low) and let it cook a bit more slowly. But I don’t actually know the dynamics of how these things work, so I could use either confirmation of my theory, or an explanation of what’s more likely to have been the problem.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[via_ostiense]

Chicken breast frequently is dry and tough. If you simmered it at a lower temperature (a simmer means there should just barely be tiny bubbles breaking through the surface of the liquid) or cooked it with the bone in, that would help, but my recommendation would be to use chicken thighs instead.

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

Yes. Cooked too hot too fast toughens protein.

[slb44.livejournal.com]

The important thing is the simmer. You want to keep the liquid at a temperature where it barely bubbles. If it's boiling, then it's way too hot. Keeping an eye on the small gentle bubbles in the liquid is so much easier then checking the temp of the meat repeatedly. As the other comment states, cooking meat too quickly at too high a temperature makes it tough.

[sheff-dogs.livejournal.com]

I agree, the odd lazy bubble is all you need, not boiling. The rule is ferocious for the browning so it happens as quickly as possible, bringing the liquid up to the simmer quickly, then slow everything right down for the cooking in liquid bit.

If you want to know the science behind this or any cooking 'McGee on Food and Cooking' is the book to go to, it even has a chemistry revision chapter in the back so you can get up to speed if all your school chemistry went out of your mind as soon as you left school. It is a fascinating book if you like food and maybe want to improve your cooking.