Can you save my rubber breasts?

[SaveRubberBreasts]

Sorry for the clickbait!

Yesterday, I cooked 5 chicken breasts with soy sauce and ginger to make Chicken Ramen (wagamama recipe). They were at 200c fan and cooked for 50 minutes in middle of the oven uncovered. They came out pale-ish so I thought they were fine. They rested for 15 minutes before slicing. When we bit into them they were so chewy. Not dry just really rubbery. They were bog-standard Sainsbury's chicken with plenty of use before days left.

I have 4 chicken breasts left in the fridge. Is there anyway to make them less rubbery and chewy? Should I rehydrate them somehow or chop smaller and fry off? We will suffer eating them as too salty for foxes and cats to eat but would love ideas to make them a bit more palatable. Thank you so much 😜

That sounds like a long time to cook them for!

I’d make a sauce to eat them with (Katsu curry or sweet and sour?).

That does sound like a long time in the oven for breasts. We do a Wagamama style chicken ramen (although we don't follow exact technique or recipe) and we season heavily then fry the chicken on both sides for a few minutes before putting in the oven for 20 mins or so. Turns out really juicy!

I have discovered that poaching chicken breasts in stock makes them much more tender and juicy. 50 minutes uncovered in the oven was always going to result in dry chewy chicken.

@Infusionist Excellent idea thank you!
@eandz13 So it's like red meat, searing it and giving it colour then cooking it properly from the inside in the oven? I will try this next time. What do you season it with when you make chicken ramen please? What else do you change about the recipe?

I probably should have checked at 30 to 35 minutes as they were thick like 1.5 to 2 inch thick I guess.

Would you poach chicken for a ramen? Do you follow it up with oven/grill/pan frying or just have it pale?

Far too long in the oven at that temperature, I would do them for more like 20min as suggested by pp.

20 minutes?! OK I was thinking 30-35 minutes. 😲

I make that same ramen often (it's my fave) and I do the chicken for 30 mins in the over @ 200

Cooked far too long sadly , and could be un-rescuable But it was me ( although I am not sure it will work totally but is worth a try)...I would poach them slowly in a stock ( a salt free veg cube made up into 500ml of water I think would be best ) for about 20 mins .. Then either shred and have with a stirfry or make into soup ..

@CaribbeanCupcake Yep! Lesson learnt! It's a family favourite here too :)

@Laska2Meryls thank you for the great ideas 👌

50 mins is what I would use for a whole chicken! 40 mins for boneless thigh, skin-on so the skin browns. For chicken breasts, unless they're still on the bird I wouldn't do the oven at all. Either poach briefly as suggested by pp or cut into straps and stir-fry VERY briefly at high temperature.

Thank you, yeah I'm annoyed I ruined the breasts. I'm so worried of giving my family food poisoning that I tend to overcook......... oh my poor, long suffering family! 😂
Taking notes of all the tips, thank you lovely MNers 💐I knew you'd set me right 😆

Poach them Very very gently and heat the stock up first....you really dont want to cook them any more !
I would also slice them before putting them inthe stock..
Hopefully they will be more tender after ..

Poach in flavoured stock for 20 minutes then sear in a pan if you want a bit of crispy.
You basically killed those breasts for a second time

I would do 35 mins. I'd be worried 20 mins wasn't long enough but 50 is definitely too long uncovered

Many chicken breasts seem to be like this recently. You can tell when you slice it. Harder and rubbery. Poor quality chicken I think. From many supermarkets

I only ever cook a whole chicken for 60mins, then rest it for 30mins.

Definitely 20-25 mins. I always check after 20 and give extra if necessary.

To be fair, although they were clearly over cooked, sometimes I've had chicken breasts from sainsbury and Tesco's that's been very rubbery in texture. I assume it's due to added water, it's just been the odd pack (that I've emailed them about and been refunded for every time). As a result I now use skinless thighs all the time.

I had a hello fresh recipe last week where I butterflied the chicken breasts, fried for a few mins on each side to brown them, then popped in the oven under foil to cook through (the instructions were to cook in pan for whole time but the pan was too small!).

They were so juicy, I’ve never butterflied chicken before but definitely worth doing to reduce the cooking time.

I agree you probably overcooked them a bit but this is definitely my experience with Sainsbury's chicken breasts recently. It's not a "dryness" issue like when you just overcook chicken, it's the rubbery texture, awful. I've gone back to boneless thighs.
OP when this happened to me I shredded as best I could/sliced the rest thinly and made a sort of "crispy chicken" sweet and sour dish.

Soy sauce has sodium in it. Sodium applied for too long to uncooked chicken can turn it dry (about 30 mins max before cooking sodium turns it moist and juicy).

Next time, marinate and then either 25mins in the oven or around 15 pan fried should be perfect.

Oh and to use it up I'd chop it find and mix with mayo for a sandwich or slice thinly and possibly soak in gravy.

Dice them up and stick them in a casserole for hours. Works wonders for rescuing disasters.

Cut em into bits, feed them to the cats.. or rats if you have them