How long to cook chicken?

[question everything]

I follow recipes. Have several that start with sauteing boneless skinless chicken breasts. I saute them 4-5 min on each side, then remove them and add liquid to the skillet to scrap the brown stuff.

And now I am looking at an interesting recipe Southwest Chicken Skillet Dinner.

It starts with sauteing boneless skinless chicken breasts (2lb, I will cut by half) 5 min on each side. Then add frozen kernels, salsa and black beans and water. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until chicken is "cooked through, about 15 minutes."

What? This chicken will be booked for 25 minutes? Wouldn't it be too hard?

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Laffy Kat]

1. Can you cut into the chx to check at about 10 min?

I shouldn't be giving out advice, I always over-cook chicken.

[leftieNanner]

4. You don't ever want to cut into meat to see if it's done

That will just cause the juices to run out and you will have dry meat. I tried to convince my husband that you don't check a steak on the grill by cutting into it.

And now I do all of the grilling!

I have learned to check doneness by pressing gently on it. Cooked chicken should be firm to the touch.

[htuttle]

2. Rule of thumb I use for chicken

For a saute/simmer pair (saute to brown a bit, then add liquid to simmer), I simmer for 20 minutes or so. 25 wouldn't be too much. If you're adding frozen ingredients, too, I'd go with up to 30 min. Just make sure the liquid doesn't evaporate. I use the same technique for everything from chicken curries to Italian dishes like Chicken Marsala. I do usually cube the chicken first, so keep that in mind if you are cooking the breast whole (might take a bit longer to cook through).

For roasting, 40 min at 375 makes the chicken tender and moist, and the skin perfectly crispy (no basting while cooking please!)

[question everything]

6. If you just want to brown them, do you, then saute just for a mintue or two?

Thanks

[htuttle]

7. I saute them just enough to get some color on them (so they aren't pink on the outside anymore)

Then I put the liquid in (whatever it is), bring to a near boil, then simmer for 20-25 min.

[wryter2000]

3. The extra time is probably to cook the other ingredients

IMHO, the only way to cook chicken breasts is to pound them to a uniform thickness and sautee them for as little time as possible. Any amount of overcooking will make them dry as a bone.

I'd guess you're going to get some kind of stewed thing with an interesting flavor by using this recipe. 15 minutes should be fine if the other ingredients look the way you want them to.

[question everything]

5. Thank you. This is how I do - pound them

And 4-5 minutes on each side is perfect and they get a nice brown cover.

So, will follow the directions. But will saute them for about 4 min. And, yes, i do check the clock.

Will report later this evening.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. No matter what advice you end up taking...

For god's sake stay away from corn-flake breading!

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. ....

[question everything]

15. Of course

Never use it anywhere.

[procon]

9. Cooking times vary depending on heat as well as other factors.

Pans heat differently depending on what metal it's made from, how thick is the base, and the setting of the heat source, as well as the thickness and density of the food. Cooking times are an approximation at best because they vary a lot. For best results, eliminate the guesswork and just use a meat thermometer, the safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165°.

Chicken that is braised, such as the recipe you describe, cook slowly over a low/med heat, so they do take longer to get cooked through.

[Bantamfancier]

11. Get an instant read thermometer.

Chicken should be cooked to an internal temp of 165. Don’t guess, Campylobacter or Salmonella is a real concern.

[jpak]

12. Cook until done

The End

[912gdm]

13. best bet is to get an instant thermometer

the correct temperature to aim for is 165, but I pull mine at 160 and let it rest. It continues to cook internally and all the bad stuff would be killed off at 155. But that's me, if your not comfortable with that temp don't do it.


you don't need to goto a crazy kitchen speciality store, pretty much every supermarket now has instant read thermometers in their little kitchen area and they are only a few bux.

[Major Nikon]

14. Many of the cheaper ones aren't instant read

Even the ones billed as instant read can take 30 seconds or more to stabilize and even then aren’t terribly accurate. I like the ones made by Thermoworks. Some of theirs cost around $20 and work exceptionally well. I tested one against my NIST calibrated datalogger and it was spot on.

The 165F temp the USDA recommends is for instantaneous kill for common poultry pathogens. It’s not necessarily the temperature you should pull as carry over cooking will cause the internal temp to rise provided you are giving it a rest.

[question everything]

16. Came out OK

Slightly drier than what we are used to when we prepare a sauce from the browning of the skillet and then pour it on it.

The final direction was to pour some lime juice. I just poured it on the salsa ingredient, should pour some on the chicken, too.

Interesting - I always use 1-2 TBS olive oil to saute the chicken breasts. Here the directions were for 1 tsp.. I used 2...

Again, thanks for all the ideas.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. OK...this is my completely scientific method, so bear with me.

First, grab and squeeze a raw oyster or clam.

This does nothing at all for cooking your chicken, it just feels cool and gross at the same time.

Second. Peel your chicken. Start at the end where the stem came out and insert a chainsaw precisely 1/32nd of a foot into the top of the chicken. Turn on the chainsaw. Run.

Now that the chicken is properly peeled, place onto a snow shovel and put in your oven set at 1400 degrees kelvin. Take out exactly 9 seconds later.

Smother in barbecue sauce and feed to the cat.

Go out to eat.

Delicious!

Bon Appetite'

[Flaleftist]

19. My oven doesn't go that high.

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. Well clearly you don't have the nuclear option.

Just set it to "All hell breaks loose"

[Flaleftist]

21. Okay. Thanks.

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. No worries.

My work here is done.

[jmowreader]

18. Just boil it for about an hour

Any pathogens that were in said chicken when you started, will not be when you finish.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. With something like that, I cut the chicken up

into bite size chunks. It will cook faster and more thoroughly without drying out.