First, I puncture the breasts thoroughly. Then, I submerge them in Dales for 24-48hrs. Cook to your liking
OT - Cooking Chicken Breasts
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Strain Stubs Chili, Lime, and Ginger marinade. Inject the liquid into the thighs and breasts. Separate the skin from the meat but leave it intact. Rub the solids you strained under the skin of the breasts and thighs. Pat dry. Cover the entire bird in Plowboys Yardbird seasoning. Truss up the bird
Throw it on the rotisserie at 350 for an hour and a half.
Give the breast to some other shmuck and take a whole quarter. Both if you're really hungry.
It's the juiciest, crispy skinned, and most flavor packed chicken you can make. Brining is better than nothing, but poultry is best when it's injected. Mix and match your flavors and seasoning, but straining the marinade and rubbing the goodies under the skin is legit. And the rotisserie over hot coals inside a closed lid destroys every other method of cooking chicken (at least unbattered chicken.)
Throw it on the rotisserie at 350 for an hour and a half.
Give the breast to some other shmuck and take a whole quarter. Both if you're really hungry.
It's the juiciest, crispy skinned, and most flavor packed chicken you can make. Brining is better than nothing, but poultry is best when it's injected. Mix and match your flavors and seasoning, but straining the marinade and rubbing the goodies under the skin is legit. And the rotisserie over hot coals inside a closed lid destroys every other method of cooking chicken (at least unbattered chicken.)
Please tell me you add at least a tablespoon of salt to the breasts after marinating. 2 days is not nearly long enough to absorb the proper level of salt from the Dale's.
Brining is a must for chicken or turkey. No other way to effectively impart flavor to the meat itself. If you don't have the time or will to brine, pound those breasts to about 1/2" flat, put on your favorite dry-rub and pan-fry the way you like. Breast meat will still be bland, but you'll get enough of your dry-rub with each bite to compensate.
Chicken thighs are the best for flavor. We used to cook and grill wings and breasts but the price has gone up for what you get. Same with drumsticks. We moved to thighs and found them even more flavorful.
Find a good Chicken Marsala recipe and marinade overnight. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chicken-marsala.html
We cook it about once a month.
Dump the breasts and go with thighs only, you won't look back. I've never understood how anyone can put that white dry stringy stuff in their mouth.
Someone said sous vide - I have one, and maybe I did it wrong, but it over cooked it the one time I tried. Have to marinade. I do mine in a vacuum sealed container with my food saver. It makes it marinate way faster. Brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, garlic, w sauce, a little lemon, hot sauce. You can’t mess it up really, use whatever you want. I plan on doing sweet tea at some point. Fruit juices are good too - peach is really good.
Change up the seasonings each week. Sometimes do a bbq rub and smoke them. Sometimes make them Mexican. I’m signed up for kosmos q monthly secret seasoning thing where you get sampler bags of seasoning and you vote on whether they need to mass produce it or not - so I use the sampler a lot of times. Meahead’s Simon and Garfunkel rug is great on chicken - look up the recipe. Or, just use coarse salt and pepper, garlic, and a little paprika. Baste it with butter, garlic and herbs.
In the end, it’s hard to screw up the flavor of a chicken breast - it’s about temperature. Pull it at 160, cover with foil. It’ll rise to 165 and be perfectly juicy.
Change up the seasonings each week. Sometimes do a bbq rub and smoke them. Sometimes make them Mexican. I’m signed up for kosmos q monthly secret seasoning thing where you get sampler bags of seasoning and you vote on whether they need to mass produce it or not - so I use the sampler a lot of times. Meahead’s Simon and Garfunkel rug is great on chicken - look up the recipe. Or, just use coarse salt and pepper, garlic, and a little paprika. Baste it with butter, garlic and herbs.
In the end, it’s hard to screw up the flavor of a chicken breast - it’s about temperature. Pull it at 160, cover with foil. It’ll rise to 165 and be perfectly juicy.
You probably went to hot. I did my first time with the SV.
The old 165° minimum temp is really talking about pasteurizing poultry to make it safe to eat. If it hits 165° for just a few seconds it's good. It can also pasteurize at 145° for 10 minutes. If you go 165° on the sous vide with a breast you are going to have a bag full of juice and stringy dry chicken.
I go 145° for 1.5-2 hours depending on the thickness. I pack the bag with a little seasoning and let it soak in overnight if I can. You end up with super tender and juicy chicken but it's weird not having a little crust. I either shred it or cube it for enchiladas or chicken salad, or just kiss it on a few sides in the skillet or griddle for some kind of color if not using it in another dish.
ETA. For thighs go higher for longer 165° for 2-4 hours is best.
Banquet Boil In Bag, the original Sous Vide, from 50 years ago.
Then bake you a little cake and you've got a complete meal
I can’t remember the temp I went with, but it was below 165 for sure. I cooked for probably two hours then quickly seared. Just wasn’t very good. I’ll try again soon
Oh, it's still not going to be real good lol. It's always going to be a bit off vs cooking traditionally. Anyone telling you they get great steak, chops, or chicken off the sous vide has different standards than me I guess. It's just a matter of convenience like a crockpot.
Have you reheated your BBQ in it yet? I took mine with me this past weekend on a trip in the RV. I had leftover beef ribs, sausage, and pulled pork from last weekend and it's just so good when you vac seal the leftovers, freeze it, and reheat in the SV. Outside of the less crispy bark, it's just as good as the day it was smoked. No other way to reheat Q for me now.
Instant pot, then boil 4 minutes on each side with your preferred seasoning
I've done breasts in the airfryer once. Didn't like the texture, won't bother again. I will saute, grill, or bake. Depends on which way as to the seasoning or marinade.
Sous vide is a lot more accurate than that.
You can cook chicken that you want pulled to go in a soup or dumplings to a perfect temp.
You can cook chicken to 130f over night, remove and then dry and sear over a pan.
Lots of options.
That’s what I’ve used it for mostly and it’s great. I think it makes a really good filet too. I cook it to 115, sear until 125 and rest. I’m waiting to run across some really thick pork chops that aren’t over-priced and will try them like a steak.
I’m not gonna lie. I lived off the boil in bag turkey and gravy when I was in college. Put that **** on a piece of toast and you had a gourmet meal for about a dollar.
Oh yeah of course. Heavy S&P rub before they go on the flame/skillet