Moist chicken

[MrsJREwing]

Right apart from a quick roasted whole chicken, cooked to perfection breasts or stew of legs how to you get your chicken moist and what cuts do you use? as mine is dry otherwise

Am a big fan of boned thigh. Delicious just poached . Use poached chicken thighs for sandwiches, coronation chicken and added last minute to curries. It's a bit unusual I know but unless you can afford a very well reared organic bird it's a good way round dry meat .

Slow cooked chicken. Mmmmmmm

Chicken thighs are the best.

Nigella's tenderest chicken recipe - marinate in buttermilk and garlic. I use skin-on, bone-in breasts, but it would work for any cut I think. Yummy, tender and really moist.

Thighs. Yes agree.
Bone makes them tender.

I do them a billion different ways. Much nicer than breasts.

Now, do you poach thighs in a stock cube and water, buttermilk and garlic?

Thighs or whole chicken are far better in my opinion, but this is a brilliant technique for getting really moist chicken breasts:

www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-moist-tender-chicken-breasts-every-time-36891

In a bit of -knorr- homemade chicken stock gently.

Also, don't overcook. Most recipe timings are way longer than is required. Even an average supermarket chicken breast is much moister when just cooked than 5 mins later - depending on thickness start checking from 10 mins (should be white and opaque, obv) rather than 20 mins, honestly this is key IMO...

Put wole raw chicken in slow cooker, pour in half a cup of water. Put in slow cooker overnight on low. Next morning, v tender chicken, lovely in curries, stews etc

I second pinkegg's suggestion. Have been using that recipe for a while and it works beautifully.

Herby spatchcock chicken

Yoghurty spatchcock chicken

I have tried both of these and they are incredibly moist. Spatchcocking?s where you cut out the back bone of the chicken and flatten it so that it cooks evenly. Heat in the oven circulates in a certain way and when you flatten the chicken?or spatchcock it (sorry, had to type ?spatchcock? again!)?more heat goes to the legs and thighs (which take longer to cook) and less heat goes to the breast (which dries out quickly). What you get is a moist, moist, moist chicken that cooks (on a cookie sheet) in a shorter period of time: 50 minutes at 400 degrees before the breast reaches 150°F and the legs reach 170°F (you should definitely get an instant-read thermometer for this; it comes in handy whenever you cook meat.)

You can buy them ready spatcocked in Tesco for £5 or 2 for £8, you can get your butcher to do it for you or you can do it yourself with a pair of meat scissors and a you tube video.

Got the info about it here

Cook it in a slow cooker

Yup, for fried chicken pieces the nigella thing - marinade in a bit of milk and yoghurt with a bit of soy and honey. Drain and pan fry ( or breadcrumb for chicken nuggets)

For curry etc... cook the sauce first then turn right down and drop in chicken pieces. The surface shouldn't be bubbling.

The tenderest chicken recipe is in Nigella's How to Eat book.

Don't cook it for as long as most recipies or packets state!
Overcooked is dry!

And thighs / drumsticks are better due to the skin - get breasts with skin on if you can find them or use the butcher

I bought a chicken yesterday that said cook it for 45 mins. I did and at a much higher temp and it wasn't fully cooked after 45 mins so be careful about not following packet instructions.

Agree with the cook much less than it says on the packet.

Especially for whole chickens. Cook for about 2/3 of the rec time, and most important of all, rest breast down for at least 15 mins.

It will carry on cooking and the juices will all go into the main bit you eat, rather than onto the plate.

I cook chickens about the size to feed 4 people for a bit less than an hour at about gm 6.

I also slash the thighs al la Jamie Oliver so they cook too.

Then stick upside down for about 15 mins

Foil on the breast is good too, take off for the last 20 mins.

And I know this is MN wank, but I buy organic from the butcher, which is about 6 quid for a 4 person bird, which does 2 adults and one child for 2 meals, plus makes brilliant stock (you can fanny about or just stick it in a pot with water and simmer for about an hour and a half)

That becomes soup or base for a sauce, so sort of 3 meals from one chicken.

Also agree with the people who say definitely don't go by supermarket guidelines. They are so over cautious as they don't want people to accuse them of giving recipes for undercooked chicken.

Thighs are the best, flavoursome and moist. Chicken breasts are crazy expensive, I think they're popular as lots of people either are squeamish about meat on the bone or just like the ease of chopping a breast. But they don't have half the flavour.

Agree with 'undercooking' it if its a whole one, and another thing I do (which will probably be flamed on here!) is to coat the top of chicken breasts with a layer of Paxo and bake it

"Especially for whole chickens. Cook for about 2/3 of the rec time, and most important of all, rest breast down for at least 15 mins."

Perhaps if I'd done that with the 45 minute spatch cocked chicken I wouldn't have had to put it back in the oven for 5-10 mins more?

I start cooking it when it's still frozen in the middle (only ever when slow cooking in a sauce or something), but it means it's lovely and not dry at all.

Wrap chicken breasts in pancetta or parma ham, then drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The ham keeps it moist.

(I stuff them with mozzarella and chilli too, and sometimes also drizzle lemon or lime juice over the top)

That's interesting Jareth because I've always been led to believe we'll die of food poisoning if I start cooking it before it's totally defrosted.