Perfect poached chicken breasts every time

[hhhh1]

When I do mine (9-12) at a time, I use cold water bring to the boil boil for 5 then turn off, and walk away. I tend to come back to them 30-45 minutes later some times it can be a few hours later. Its all good just leave them for a while and they will cook.

Last night I forgo them completely and my husband had to put them in the fridge, I was busy sorting out all our food to take camping and just forgot and fell asleep on the couch.

but seriously sounds like theres plenty of potential for food-poisoning if you do that

[Pseudonym]

Come on hhhh1, I don't think we need to stop and point every time Andre mentions his husband. Most of us already know he's gay, and couldn't care less. Those that don't know can work it out for themselves.

However, I agree with you about the food poisoning risk. It all depends on the size of the chicken breasts and the type of pan you're using. I cook mine in a big deep frying pan, but the larger surface area means it will lose its heat a lot faster than a saucepan. I've also had some massive great chicken breasts recently (seriously - they made me question whether moa were really extinct after all). I'm sure that they'd never had cooked if I'd turned off the heat after 5 minutes. The safest way is to just reduce the heat and keep them on a slow simmer for 15-30 minutes, or until the juice is clear when you cut into the deepest part of the meat.

Now I'm thinking about all sorts of other possibilities involving ginger, lemon zest, mint...

I'd forgotten about this one. I'll try it this afternoon. :nod:

[Andre01]

Ive been doing my chicken this way for a while now and never had any issues with it. Ive never done more than a weeks worth at a time, and I have never, never had any issues with the way that I do it. I just normally let it cool down in the poaching liquor and then it goes straight into the freezer or fridge. The freezer will kill any bacteria that may survive the cooking process (as per our pathophysiology tutor told us) I have a a rather large pot that I do mine in and bring it to a rapid boil, then let it cool down. Not a problem at all.

[hhhh1]

the freezer wont kill a lot of bacteria, just slow down their reproductive rate to a negligible level. also if bacteria produce toxins and then you kill the bacteria, the toxins remain and will still make you sick

[Andre01]

My tutor has her PhD and one of the areas that she studies is bacteria so I wont be having that argument with her. :doh:

[gixxer]

i poach my chickens everytime now... They become mint when this is being done. I also chuck in low cal stock to give them some flavour...

best tip in years

[drizzt]

^Same, even making curries and stuff, I poach the chicken first and then add it in.

[severe]

We cooked this tonight, using soba noodles. Nice bro.

[Mike250]

i've tried this and I have to say it was not that good. I think I will just stick to grilling or drop the chicken all together.

So you don't like chicken? What was not good about it? Probably what you did with it afterwards

Or before...

the taste is inferior to chargrilled chicken. it's personal preference that is all

[Diab0lic]

So you don't like chicken? What was not good about it? Probably what you did with it afterwards

Or before...

the taste is inferior to chargrilled chicken. it's personal preference that is all

I agree and I BBQ a lot of my chicken This is just the easiest (and probably healthiest overall) way to cook the stuff

[kxer]

Chuck it in the bottom of a steamer pan with broccolli etc in the steamer. Such a good recipe for cutting :nod:

[SoulFate]

Pretty much the main reason I signed up to these forums was so I could say thanks to Diab0lic for this tip. Hadn't tried boiling chicken before so this was a gem to find. I tried 2 breasts to see if I liked them, had 2 mouthfuls when they came out and instantly put 5 more on lol. Cheers bro