Tenderizing chicken

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jjomall

Assistant Cook
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Dec 22, 2012
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Maplewood, MN
So I was making fajitas last night and the recipe specifically said not to even the breast pieces out by pounding them flat, in a parentheses it said this would change the texture of the chicken. Now I like chicken but I'm no connoisseur so I don't know and am wondering does this change the texture? If so how so?
 
So I was making fajitas last night and the recipe specifically said not to even the breast pieces out by pounding them flat, in a parentheses it said this would change the texture of the chicken. Now I like chicken but I'm no connoisseur so I don't know and am wondering does this change the texture? If so how so?[/QUOTE
Pounding it will break the chicken down somewhat. That is how it gets tenderized. I doubt that it will make too much difference.If you want to even out the breasted pieces you could just slice through them as if you were going to butterfly the breasted. Hope this helps.
 
This is a long article, but the gist of it is, historic breeds of chicken and methods of raising and butchering them are quite different from modern mass-production methods. In general, chicken meat today is already tender because the birds are slaughtered when they are very young. So old-fashioned methods of tenderizing chicken, such as soaking in buttermilk or pounding, are unnecessary. Pounding is more often used to make the breast meat even in thickness to promote even cooking.

Rediscovering Traditional Meats from Historic Chicken Breeds

An important generality about the difference between cooking modern meat line chickens and cooking historic breed chickens is that for the latter there is a bigger distinction in time needed to cook the light and dark meat. Modern meat line chickens, being all butchered within a very young age range, all have leg meat nearly as tender as the breast meat, which will cook about as fast. The historic breed chicken has had more exercise over a longer time before it is butchered, which greatly increases flavor but also increases cooking time for those muscles. This becomes noticeable in the fryer age range: the breast meat of a fryer will reach optimal doneness noticeably before the legs. The difference increases as the butchering age increases, and seems pronounced in birds over one year. The cook has to plan how to prevent the breast meat from getting overcooked, and dry, by the time the leg meat is done. Good cooks will find many ways to achieve this end, and the results are well worthwhile.
 
I do know that when I researched meat breeds, the "modern" ones were mature enough to slaughter between 8 and 10 weeks and that some of the modern meat breeds, because of the fast growth rate, can no longer support their body weights at 18 months (and typically die of heart failure). My three chicks are now around 11 weeks old (Rhode Island Reds). They won't make a very satisfying meal at this stage. I doubt that any of them weigh a pound yet. They are still small. Lovely little ladies <g>. I won't be slaughtering them, anyway, but they will not be full grown for some time yet.
 
So I was making fajitas last night and the recipe specifically said not to even the breast pieces out by pounding them flat, in a parentheses it said this would change the texture of the chicken. Now I like chicken but I'm no connoisseur so I don't know and am wondering does this change the texture? If so how so?
If you pound any raw meat it tenderises it by breaking down the fibres. It's often done with steak that's a bit tough. Unless you particularly want the chicken flat there shouldn't be any need to tenderise it by pounding as chicken is relatively tender anyway.
 
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Ah! someone else cuddles their chicken too. Our two wait at night by their gate for a goodnight hug before being put to bed, even after dark. My husband always has a laugh about them but guess who does his share of the cuddling. The girls are high producers of eggs for us which means they must be happy so I call that a win-win situation.
Come on, everyone needs a hug sometime right?
 
Ah! someone else cuddles their chicken too. Our two wait at night by their gate for a goodnight hug before being put to bed, even after dark. My husband always has a laugh about them but guess who does his share of the cuddling. The girls are high producers of eggs for us which means they must be happy so I call that a win-win situation.
Come on, everyone needs a hug sometime right?
There's an organisation in the UK called Pets As Therapy (PAT) which takes dogs and cats into old people's homes and long-stay hospitals to socialise with the patients. It's believed that stroking the dogs and talking to them helps the patients psychologically.

Chickens probably have the same effect on their owners. I know the Wonder Horse does.

I was pecked by a chicken I was given to hold when I was little. Perhaps I should take the hint.
 
I almost gave up on cooking chicken breasts UNTIL I discovered a much better way to cook them so they don't come out tough. If you cook them or bake them in a covered dish in the oven with their skin and bones (split breasts). They always come out tender. Then just remove them and simply through them in your pan with spices and veggies just before serving to roll them in with the spice. Now I go even one step further. I just bake a whole chicken and turn the leftovers into fajitas. Where I live you can get whole chickens much cheaper than breasts when they go on sale.
 
An important generality about the difference between cooking modern meat line chickens and cooking historic breed chickens is that for the latter there is a bigger distinction in time needed to cook the light and dark meat. Modern meat line chickens, being all butchered within a very young age range, all have leg meat nearly as tender as the breast meat, which will cook about as fast. The historic breed chicken has had more exercise over a longer time before it is butchered, which greatly increases flavor but also increases cooking time for those muscles. This becomes noticeable in the fryer age range: the breast meat of a fryer will reach optimal doneness noticeably before the legs. The difference increases as the butchering age increases, and seems pronounced in birds over one year. The cook has to plan how to prevent the breast meat from getting overcooked, and dry, by the time the leg meat is done. Good cooks will find many ways to achieve this end, and the results are well worthwhile.

I usually cook mixed pieces instead of a whole chicken. I like dark mean and DH likes white meat. I put the dark me on to cook 15-20 minutes before adding the white meat to have it all done at the same time. I like my dark meat done really, really well. I don't like to see the red next to the bone that happens sometimes when the meat isn't cooked long enough.

I don't usually have a problem when roasting a turkey. It is usually all done and not dry. But then, I don't eat the white meat, so I don't care if it's dry. LOL Bad, Bad wife!
 
The red color next to the bone is not necessarily a sign that the meat is not done. Often, especially in the case of young chicken, the marrow will leach through the bone and the result is a red "stain", if you will, on the meat. Your meat thermometer is your friend.
 
The red color next to the bone is not necessarily a sign that the meat is not done. Often, especially in the case of young chicken, the marrow will leach through the bone and the result is a red "stain", if you will, on the meat. Your meat thermometer is your friend.


I do use an instant read thermometer, but I still don't like the red. I haven't actually seen it for a while.
 
If your thermometer tells you it's cooked but there is still red at the bone, what do you do?


I let my dark meat cook so long that there is no longer any red. There is a restaurant where I order a half roasted chicken for my meal. I eat the white meat and bring the dark meat home and cook it some more for the next day for my lunch.

Remember our discussion about cleaning my new self cleaning oven? Well that was because I left the chicken in way too long and it splashed grease all over the oven. There was no red in that chicken. :)
 
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