Cooking animal meat is tricky because you have to be careful about overcooking and undercooking it. Unlike vegetables, it can either get rubber-like chewy or have a burnt flavour, both can hamper the culinary experience. When it comes to cooking chicken breasts, it is not just the flame that you have to be watchful of but also a few other things that can ruin your meal.
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Here are a few handy tips that can help you cook chicken breasts to perfection without much hassle. Not only will you have a great meal on the dining table, but you will become the star of the evening by adding a sumptuous delectable to the spread.
Cooking With Cold Chicken Breasts
The biggest mistake that you can make is starting the cooking process with cold chicken breasts. No matter what kind of meat you are cooking, if you cook it cold, you will end up exposing it to heat for more than the requisite time for obvious reasons. Moreover, since it takes longer to cook the middle portion of the meat. It is highly likely that you end up with a chewy crust and raw middle portion. The best way is to leave chicken breasts outside for at least 30-45 minutes to defrost and begin the cooking process after that.
Slicing Too Soon
Many people make the mistake of slicing the meat right off and taking off the grilling pan. If you do not allow the cooked meat to rest and slice it open, it will end up losing all its juice. This can ruin the hard work you put into cooking perfect chicken breasts. Even if the meat is cooked to perfection, it will lose its texture. Therefore, wait for at least 5-10 minutes after turning off the flame to slice chicken breasts.
Overcooking Meat
Your fear of serving undercooked meat can lead you to make the mistake of overcooking it, especially chicken breasts, which are lean. While it is crucial to cook the meat all the way through, it should not be overcooked. The ideal temperature for the centre is 73.8°C (165°F). You can use a thermometer to check. Another way to check is to see if the colour of the juice is clear. If it is pink, the meat needs more cooking.
Cooking Chicken Breasts And Vegetables Together
No matter how soft the meat is, vegetables can cook faster. Moreover, when you cook meat, its juices will cook vegetables in the steam rather than stir-frying them. What you will get as a final product will be mushy vegetables and chewy meat. The simplest solution is to cook chicken and vegetables separately.
Washing Meat Before Cooking
Studies suggest raw meat contains germs and pathogens which cannot be washed no matter how much you soak, rinse, or rigorously wash it. Instead, these processes can leave your entire kitchen contaminated. You should use a fresh paper towel to pat dry chicken breasts. When you cook the meat, the heat will help you get rid of all kinds of contamination.
Heating Roasted Chicken Multiple Times
Once you have roasted chicken breasts, there is no point in reheating them. The process will leave the meat dry and chewy. The best way is to enjoy hot piping chicken breasts when they are made. However, if you have prepared a large amount of meat, you should reheat only a small portion that you want to eat.