Topic: How to precook meat

[Dylan]

Oops, what I meant Ray was that it wouldnt cook after the usual 20 minutes so I kept cooking it, hoping it would turn edible!!? The only clue I have is the tomato paste here could have something in it that prevented my chicken from cooking!!? other than that, everything was the same as in the US.

What was the cut of chicken? Was it breast filllet (as used in most BIRs) or some other cut, thighs for example? Chicken breast will usually cook very quickly. Other fattier cuts (especially those "on the bone") take significantly longer. The fattier cuts are also less prone to overcooking and dryness.

[traveller]

It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco.  Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane.  So nobody has had problems that I know of.  It must be the tomato paste.  When defrosted, the meat looked great and sliced perfectly too - so I dont think it is the chicken but i will cook some more in a different style to see what the problem was.  Then I may know the answer.

[raygraham]

It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco.? Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane.

Hi Payal,

I shall stick my neck out here and say I reckon your problem is tough chicken of poorer quality and also due to the fact it was frozen and dare I say it.......cheap!!
It may be better value to buy a bag of frozen but I find it to be tougher. I don't know why, maybe older Chickens, hence cheaper or perhaps the rapid freezing process destroys the texture?.
I don't buy bags of frozen as I also find it's a bit like shoe leather.?
The moral being "you pays yer money you gets the goods" !!
The price of chicken breast over here is insane I agree but they do give consistently good results.

Ray

[traveller]

uh oh, so it may be the chicken....hmm...mine was just like shoe leather   I will try making a different recipe with it and see what happens next week....we eat meat (chicken) once every 2 weeks or so only - rest is veg.

[Nessa]

I think most bags of frozen chicken breasts have water and various chemicals added 'for succulence'.  Check the labels carefully!

[raygraham]

uh oh, so it may be the chicken....hmm...mine was just like shoe leather

Hi Payal

Don't worry about your tough chicken, I expect someone out there will have a great recipe for "Shoe Leather Madras"!
I reckon wev'e all made something like that before!

Ray

[DARTHPHALL]

This is how i cook my Chicken.
Chop 7-8 chicken breasts into as even pieces as you can ( i cut to the size of a ?2 pound coin = width height). I hope this helps. ;D
Boil a kettle.
Put chicken in pan.
Pour boiled water over chicken to just cover it.
Bring water to boil turn down immediately & slowly cook on simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Look for one of the biggest pieces take out & cut in half to make sure its cooked through.
Take out immediately & put into your pot of Curry.
This may sound simple but like all of our recipes there is a knack.
I keep checking to see if cooked after about 5 minutes .
My Chicken is tender beyond words due to the lower heat & the small size.
DARTHPHALL..........

[traveller]

Thanks for your cooking method....I will try that this week and let you know what happens....I have never precooked the meat but perhaps I should.  I am still trying to understand why people here use kettles!!  I had never seen one being used in the US

[DARTHPHALL]

Well, i use the Kettle method so i can get the cooking time right,  i get my chicken really tender, yes we do things a little different here in the UK COZ WE ARE MAAAD  ;D

Yours DARTH....

[George]

It was boneless skinless breast meat - it came in a large bag - frozen - from Costco.  Some other americans had recommended that I use it as the price of fresh chicken boneless skinless breasts here is insane. 

I recommend removing the breasts from whole chickens. Even if you throw the rest of the chicken away, which isn't necessary, it will still be ?'s cheaper than buying breasts sold neatly packaged, or even frozen, probably.

I use 1.5Kg frozen chickens from Lidl which currently cost only ?1.49. So two chicken breasts cost me just ?1.49. They take only seconds to cut out once the chicken is defrosted. It would take me longer to cut open a supermarket pack of chicken breasts!

I can't belive the sky-high prices many people pay for some things, including chicken breasts.

Regards
George