I need tender chicken!

[Beirut]

How's that for a thread title.

I just made a very nice chicken Vindaloo and it was tasty indeed, but the chicken was dry and a bit tough. I can deal with lamb and pork and beef, but I cannot get my chicken to be juicy and tender. Whether I cook it fast or slow, high heat or low, in a fire, over a tire, standing next to a liar, nothing works.

If any of you can help, I'll send you some Vindaloo in the mail.

Thanks.

[Tribesman]

Lemons . Its acid man

[Ayachuco]

Just use some meat tenderizer or use some acid base marinades.

[pevergreen]

Dont know about up there, but down here, a barbeque chicken from the local grocery store, in the oven for 30-50 minutes - beautiful

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Inject it with butter. You can use a syringe.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'm dead serious, I saw it on a cooking show, tried it, and it works.

[Beirut]

Inject it with butter. You can use a syringe.

While it's still alive? What if it gets hooked?

I'm frying the chicken pieces in oil with the onions and spice paste, than adding broth/yogurt/whatever and cooking it into a proper curry, but I just can't get that delicious soft chicken like in the real curry joints. It's always dry and tough.

I am so bummed out...

[Mouzafphaerre]

Lemons . Its acid man

.

.

[Ramses II CP]

Well, your cook times will depend on your setup, but I usually give a good size breast 1-2 minutes per side on high on the stove top and about five to seven minutes at 350 inside the oven to finish. Inside the oven slower is better, so don't go over 350 and if you have time take it down to 300 and check it for doneness at 10-12 minutes. Slower is better after you've browned the outside.

It really dries out the meat to cook chicken all the way to properly done temperatures on the stove top.

Lemon or acid based marination helps too, but don't go overboard or your chicken will start to lose texture.

If you really want to cook solely in the pan on the stove top then switch to very thinly sliced chicken and cook it only long enough to brown both sides. Whatever you do, don't buy frozen chicken.

Oh, and if you're willing to deal with a whole chicken then use an oven bag with a little fat and salt inside. Guaranteed juicy.

FYI: I personally remove the skin from chicken before cooking so if you prefer it skin on your cook times will differ (Which they probably will anyway. It's an art, not a science).



edit: I should add that all mentioned temperatures are in Farhenheit. Pretty obvious, but just in case. :)

[seireikhaan]

Hmm. My chicken's always pretty good. I just use our magnificent George Foreman grill. Unless you're planning on whole chickens, it's been rather good for the smaller stuff. Also, I suppose if you were going to make a larger amount of chicken, say for a family dinner, then a grill would be more expedient. But the Foreman just rocks for whatever can be fit onto it.

[Proletariat]

What sort of chicken are you using for your vindaloo? Boneless skinless breasts? I make vindaloo fairly frequently, but I think it's best with beef (I know that's not traditional, but meh). It just seems to hold the paste better, imo. One key is to make sure your chicken pieces are sliced thinly. It's especially important with beef. Large beef cubes in curry feel like you're chewing through the whole bloody cow.

[naut]

Use fattier chickens, whole chickens or chicken meat with the skin still on Beirut, that'll do the trick. I'm sure most Indian curry resturants/outlets use whole chickens and then dice them up to be used in the curry, this means the meat is quite fatty and will retain more moisture as it cooks. Whereas skinless chicken breasts have most of the fat removed, meaning they dry out quicker when cooked.

[Sigurd]

Your chicken always get dry? ...

Ok I am a chicken man since I can't eat red meat anymore.
I always buy the chicken breast filets at the store. As Ramses mentioned the method of briefly frying the filets on a frying pan on a high temperature (make sure you get a real crust) and then proceed to slip them into the oven on a low to middle temperature, makes the juciest chicken breast ever.

I also buy the ready whole grilled chicken (warm and ready to be eaten) - and I must say there are grocery stores that know what they are doing. You can peel the chicken and make salads, burrito de pollo, and soups.

Woking the filets also produce tender chicken. you cut the filets up and fry them in the wok briefly and take them out again. Then you wok the vegetables and at the end you throw the chicken back in. The chicken doesn't dry out.

A question about the vindaloo though,
I used to visit Scotland often and frequented at tandoori restaurants. The Vindaloo (which basically was the strenght of the spices) was so hot that I could not take more than a few bites. The Madras was the hottest I could stomack and where it was still tasteful.
You could get chicken, pork, lamb and beef in the strenghts: Korma, Curry, Madras, Vindaloo [and Paan(sp) which was beyond reason].

I guess this is a simplified view of the indian cousine.

[Fragony]

Vindalo isn't the best introduction to Indian cuisine if you aren't used to spicy food, doesn't come any spicier then a good vindalo. If it says medium it's still pretty spicy, and if it says hot they mean it. Vindalo is very hot.

On chicken, best way to keep it juicy is using a whole chicken (don't remove the skin) put in in a heat-sack or whatever it's called there, 1 hour on 200 degrees celcius, it will drop right from the bones. Biologically cultivated chicken is generally dryer and firmer, and costs more, normal chicken should do just fine. Won't be like the real thing, these Tandoori stoves just can't be simulated.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Did someone say 'curry'...?

Am i wanted?

EDIT: I keep forgetting i changed my name back to Mikeus Caesar. I'm not Currywurry anymore :(

[pevergreen]

Change back!

[Beirut]

Use fattier chickens, whole chickens or chicken meat with the skin still on Beirut, that'll do the trick. I'm sure most Indian curry resturants/outlets use whole chickens and then dice them up to be used in the curry, this means the meat is quite fatty and will retain more moisture as it cooks. Whereas skinless chicken breasts have most of the fat removed, meaning they dry out quicker when cooked.

Really, you think they roast the whole chicken and add the meat to the curry after? Very interesting!

What sort of chicken are you using for your vindaloo? Boneless skinless breasts? I make vindaloo fairly frequently, but I think it's best with beef (I know that's not traditional, but meh). It just seems to hold the paste better, imo. One key is to make sure your chicken pieces are sliced thinly. It's especially important with beef. Large beef cubes in curry feel like you're chewing through the whole bloody cow.

Yep, boneless chicken breasts. I can, I should say, make good chicken, it's that I can't make curry with soft, juicy chicken.

I prefer a lamb curry but it's nice to have all kinds. (I use beef for Rendang curry and it's great.) There's an Irish pub in Montreal that makes insane chicken curry and the meat is soft and tender like a dream. That's what I'm looking for.

[Fragony]

You could try just baking the breasts first on a high fire, lower fire and add some water. Juicy galore. That's how my grandma makes it.

[naut]

Really, you think they roast the whole chicken and add the meat to the curry after?

Not roasted, what I mean is they get a whole chicken and cut into into chunks, sometimes with bones, sometimes not. So its not processed or with the fat removed, then its put in the tandoori oven and then into the curry.

[KukriKhan]

Use thigh meat, instead of breast meat, I suggest.

When all I have available is breast meat, I 'nuke it' in the microwave for about a minute first, then cut it/chop it into bite-sized pieces, and then finish it off in the pan with whatever I'm making with it. A mere 5 minutes in the pan mixture will get those breast pieces to the required 180F degrees. Still, that's just a work-around, really.

Go with thigh meat in the first place, and voila! no-muss, no-fuss tender chicken.

edit: I've never made Vindaloo, so had to look it up. This online recipe calls for chicken-thigh meat. I feel vindicated! :)

[edyzmedieval]

Lemon juice and lots of spices. My recipe for yummyness.

[Prodigal]

slow cook whole chicken breasts in a covered container with a small amount of water in with them, then slice & stir into your sauce when cooked.

If you want tender BBQ chicken then nothing beats beer can chicken, america's greatest invention.

[Fragony]

Not roasted, what I mean is they get a whole chicken and cut into into chunks, sometimes with bones, sometimes not. So its not processed or with the fat removed, then its put in the tandoori oven and then into the curry.

Yep.

evidence: always holes in the meat of the whateveritscalleds they stick in it before putting it in the tandoori oven.

Hmmm, starting to get hungry. Chicken tikka, indian spinach(that is sooooooo good try it next time) and a nan, food of the gods.

[Vuk]

Lemons . Its acid man

Wrong.

How's that for a thread title.

I just made a very nice chicken Vindaloo and it was tasty indeed, but the chicken was dry and a bit tough. I can deal with lamb and pork and beef, but I cannot get my chicken to be juicy and tender. Whether I cook it fast or slow, high heat or low, in a fire, over a tire, standing next to a liar, nothing works.

If any of you can help, I'll send you some Vindaloo in the mail.

Thanks.

Beirut, take it from the Vuk. You probably are not going to find a better Chef. :)

What Tribesman said about does HELP, but it is not what makes the chicken tender, it ONLY helps.

What contributes the most to getting it tender, is how you prepare it.

First of all (despite its effects on the taste), it is sometimes helpful to saturate the meat in a solution, and then freeze it. This really helps to break the meat fiber up. (though it does add an adverse flavor to the meat. If it will not spoil your recipe, you could flavor the solution with wine and garlic, and possibly a light acid solution)

The really important part of getting it tender, is the malleting. Get a tenderizing mallet, lay the meat out on a wooden cutting board, and give it good, deep hits...without messing the meat up to badly. For Vindaloo, you probably do not want to flatten the meat (as you would for Chicken Cordon Bleu or a similar dish), but rather break the internal fibers. To aid in this, soak it in wine before you mallet it, and after.

In addition to soaking it in wine, you can also soak it in an acid solution (such as lemon, like Tribesman suggested) if you do not object to the flavor in the final dish.
If you do soak it in wine, make sure that you warm the wine in a pan first, as the heat really helps it work.

Hope this helps,
Vuk


EDIT: When I say to heat the wine BTW, I mean with the chicken in it.
Just read some of these posts, DO NOT NUKE IT! It hurts the texture of the meat, all you want to do is open the meat up, break the fibers up, let the natural juices flow, and indoctrinate it with whatever you want.
Another tip for Vindaloo, always cut parralel to the grain. It helps with the palleting process, and help the meat to absorb.
Also (I am going on to long, I know), cut all the fat off the meat first. It does not help. :P

[Fragony]

You would have to have fresh meat if you want to freeze it, but most meat has been frozen already. The hammer works wonders with a good steak, (owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww god now I am really getting hungy STEAK STEAK bloooooooooooooooooooood. tastes like iron) but you have to keep a good chick firmly in place.

[Stig]

take some chicken fillets
marinade them in Ketjap Manis
fry in oil

easy, even I can do it.

Or chop it into little blocks
Marinade
Fry in wok
Put rice with it

[Vuk]

You would have to have fresh meat if you want to freeze it, but most meat has been frozen already. The hammer works wonders with a good steak, (owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww god now I am really getting hungy STEAK STEAK bloooooooooooooooooooood. tastes like iron) but you have to keep a good chick firmly in place.

lol, we are not talking about fresh chicken? oh, my mistake. :P I used to butcher my RhodeIsland Reds myself, but don't keep birds anymore. I just buy them from a friend. :P (If you do this, make sure it is someone you can trust. Many people abuse their animals and the meat is usually very unclean)

The hammer works wonders with a good steak, but you have to keep a good chick firmly in place

lol, that is why I said not to deform it. It is just impact that will break the internal fibers. (and allow the meat to soak a lot better)

I took lessons from a Certified Master Chef from the American Culinary Federation. Literally...he was my Uncle. :P He was Italian, and LOVED to cook wierd Italian dishes whenever he came over. Alas, it was he who started my life-long love of lasagna...hmmm... (He was certified as a Master Chef in Italy, not the US. :P I think it is a lot harder to get certified in the US.)

He taught me a lot about preparing meat when I was younger, as I usually was stuck butchering the family's chickens and I liked to hunt a lot.
He is the one who told me that a chef's greatest weapons are common day salt and pepper. :P (He was referring to preparing meat.

Mostly due to his influence (and nothing to do with my lack of self-control) I was quite a fat little child...but I took care of that. :P

While it is true that I only met him when I was really little, and am in no way able to acredit myself with any real credentials, it is also true that I DID learn a lot from him, and have loved cooking my entire life.
That is why I told Beirut,

You probably are not going to find a better Chef

[Vuk]

take some chicken fillets
marinade them in Ketjap Manis
fry in oil

easy, even I can do it.

Or chop it into little blocks
Marinade
Fry in wok
Put rice with it

That won't help with his recipe. :P

[Stig]

That won't help with his recipe. :P

It's not what's meant to be done but it will help to make the chicken taste better

[Vuk]

It's not what's meant to be done but it will help to make the chicken taste better

That my dear sir, is murder!

[Stig]

Do you even know what I'm talking about, or are you just spamming again?