WHY IS MY CHICKEN TOUGH!??? :(

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

I boil my chicken...... I take it right out of the freezer and put it in hot water and simmer / boil it until done. Last time it was HORRIBLE! VERY tough! HELP!!

[norgeskog]

boiling any protein makes it tough, simmer it or braise. also probably boiled too long. Perhaps boiling from the frozen state contributed to it.

[htc]

Can someone knows these types of things answer my question: I thought you weren't supposed to cook frozen raw meat? I thought you are supposed to thaw it in the fridge first. That may well have been why it turned out bad.

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Thanks.... hey Im cooking (boiling) chicken now. And on the top of the water is a yellowish foam. Whats up with THAT??!!

[DampCharcoal]

HTC, not so sure about frozen chicken but I will take the opportunity to mention that frozen hamburger patties turn out GREAT on the grill. The outside doesn't burn and the middle stays very juicy even when cooked well done. I don't thaw anything in the fridge because it takes days and I've never had any problem thawing at room temperature. My two cents! :D

[wasabi]

Why is your chicken tough? Because it had a hard life...kidding...

[htc]

sushi, that's the scum stuff, just take a spoon or laddle and skim if off. Though if you're not using the broth, you could probably just leave it and it won't hurt...It would be there even if your chicken were thawed.

Charcoal, I didn't even think about frozen patties. I guess it would be ok to cook frozen meat. I try to defrost in the fridge (if I plan ahead enough), since that's the "proper" way, but *shhhh* sometimes I defrost your way as well. :-) It's much faster and that's how my Mom did it when I was a kid...I'm still alive and kickin!

[norgeskog]

Originally Posted by -DEADLY SUSHI-

Thanks.... hey Im cooking (boiling) chicken now. And on the top of the water is a yellowish foam. Whats up with THAT??!!

scrape it off with a spoon and go ahead, it always does that, and it will not hurt you but it is unappetizing.

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Why is your chicken tough? Because it had a hard life...kidding

Ohhhhhhhh man....... LOL!

Ok I skimmed it off.

Im using the broth as stock for my chicken soup. :D

[Michael in FtW]

The brown foam scum is proteins - definately skim it off, it doesn't taste good.

The yellow stuff is fat - wait until the "stock" cools off and you'll be able to skim more of it off ... when it's cool and you put it in a container in the 'fridge overnight all the fat will congeal at the top and you can lift it all off even easier. Of course, this "schmaltz" is to a Jewish Grandma what rendered bacon fat (Bacon Drippin's) were to my southern (USA) Grandmas.

While you can fry a frozen beef burger pattie with fairly good results - it doesn't work the same with a frozen chicken - the chicken is thicker and needs to be cooked to a higher internal temp than a beef pattie - rare beef is ok, rare chicken is a no-no.

Why is it tough? Norgeskog was definately on the right track - when you heat proteins they contract - how they are heated impacts how tightly they bunch up - and that makes meat tougher. This goes along with what HTC said .... you throw a frozen chicken into a pot of boiling liquid and your going to have the proteins in the meat seize up as quickly as they thaw.

Next time - thaw the chicken first .... and then let it sit at room temp for about 30-minutes to an hour to get it near room temp (assuming your kitchen is about 70-F). Then, when you cook it, start it in a pot of COLD (room temp or so) liquid. Since the heating will be more gentle the proteins will not seize up as tight.