Chicken is by far one of the most versatile ingredients you can use in cooking. You can impress your family with your fancy French culinary skills with a Chicken Cordon Bleu, or you can throw together some chicken quesadillas in under 30 minutes on a busy night. The possibilities are endless when it comes to cooking chicken, but there may be some common mistakes you're making with its preparation. Looking to up your cooking game, or do you want to make sure you're handling it safely? We've got you covered. In this video, we'll show you the biggest mistake you make when cooking chicken.
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00:00People tend to think of chicken as an easy choice of meat, but the truth is that getting
00:04it right is actually pretty tough.
00:06You may even be surprised at just how many of these poultry-based mistakes you're making
00:10in the kitchen, and that chicken deserves better.
00:13Who loves chicken?
00:14You do!
00:15Delicious chicken!
00:16Swing on through!"
00:18Just like with any kind of meat or fish, the first job when preparing chicken is choosing
00:23a high-quality cut or bird.
00:24People put a lot of thought into how their beef looks, and chicken really shouldn't be
00:28any different.
00:29There are a few key ways you can tell whether chicken is any good or not.
00:32Firstly, the meat ought to be bright pink all over, including the crevice areas, such
00:36as the thighs and wings.
00:38If that chicken is going gray, it's going bad.
00:41The flesh should be firm, but not stiff, and springy to the touch.
00:44Equally, chicken that has developed an odor should be avoided like the plague.
00:48Finally, there should be absolutely no blood visible in the meat.
00:51Follow those rules, and you'll be going home with a potentially tasty chicken.
00:56There's nothing like a good, tender chicken breast to make a good meal, is there?
00:59After all, it's the cut of the bird with the most meat, it's easy to cook, and it's super
01:03tasty.
01:04What's not to love?
01:05Well, it might give you the most meat, but the breast isn't actually the easiest to cook,
01:09and it's not the best, either.
01:10Too many people gravitate towards it because it appears to be the choicest cut, causing
01:14them to overlook some far more interesting parts of the bird.
01:18That includes the most underrated chicken part of all, the thigh.
01:21The advantages of cooking with chicken thighs are numerous.
01:24They're even easier to cook than breasts, which are very easy to overdo.
01:28They have fantastic texture, season easily, and often just taste a whole lot better than
01:32the other parts of the chicken.
01:34Find a good recipe, and you might never go back to breasts.
01:36"...I will have a chicken breast.
01:38Hold the chicken."
01:39By and large, the points we've hit so far have dealt with ensuring the meat you're using
01:44is high quality and suitable, and results in deliciousness rather than disappointment.
01:49Now here's an altogether more serious element of the cooking process.
01:52Put short, never wash raw chicken.
01:55According to the USDA, running raw chicken under the tap will likely increase your risk
01:59of food poisoning.
02:00This is because the water droplets which splash onto the chicken from the tap can travel over
02:05a foot and a half in any direction, and that means that raw chicken water is splattering
02:09all over cooking equipment, clothing, and kitchen surfaces.
02:12And given that it doesn't take much to cause you to come down with a case of food poisoning
02:16misery that can last up to five days, you'll need to just trust the cooking process to
02:20kill bacteria.
02:21So just stop rinsing.
02:23Ideally, you'll want to cook chicken fresh and avoid freezing it at all.
02:27Sometimes, however, that's not an option, so you're forced to stick it in the freezer
02:30and defrost it later.
02:32If that's the case, make sure you don't thaw it on the counter, or you're just asking for
02:36trouble.
02:37According to the USDA, raw and cooked meat must be kept at a safe temperature during
02:41the thawing process.
02:42As soon as it begins to defrost and hits temperatures of 40 degrees and above, bacteria that might
02:47have been present in the meat can start to multiply.
02:49This will also happen if you let it sit at room temperature for more than two hours,
02:53or if you thaw it in hot water.
02:55If you've got to defrost chicken, the best way to do it is to let it slowly thaw in the
02:58refrigerator, where it'll stay at a cool enough temperature to stop all that nasty bacteria
03:02from spreading.
03:03You can also defrost it in cold water, or in the microwave, as long as you get cooking
03:07from the very moment it's defrosted.
03:10If you don't remember anything else, remember that there's never any good reason to remove
03:14the skin, especially if you're using chicken thighs.
03:17That's because the chicken skin has a number of uses during cooking.
03:20It acts as a kind of sponge full of tasty juices, and if you leave it on, they'll be
03:24released to the meat during the cooking process.
03:26It also protects that same meat from the heat, and allows the meat to cook at a slower pace
03:30and retain its moisture.
03:32If you take the skin off before cooking, there's a good chance that what you find on the other
03:35end is a dry, tasteless chicken.
03:38If you really, really don't like the skin, just remove it after cooking instead.
03:42You'll find a use for it.
03:43"...silence of the land...hello Clarice, it's good to see you again."
03:52Brining or marinating your chicken before cooking can be a game-changer, and once you
03:56find your go-to method for chicken prep, you'll never go back.
04:00If you have some time, consider wet brining.
04:02That involves making a solution of salt, sugar, water, herbs, spices, and aromatics, which
04:07is then boiled, stirred, then cooled to kill any bacteria.
04:10Then submerge the entire bird or cuts, leaving them to brine for up to two days in the refrigerator.
04:16Dry brining is a similar technique, in which the salt, sugar, and seasonings are rubbed
04:20straight onto the meat, allowing for a quicker turnaround since they'll soak in after just
04:24a few hours.
04:25Don't have that much time?
04:26Try marinating, and the good thing here is that even a quick soak in marinade for just
04:3015 to 20 minutes will make a huge difference in the final product.
04:34In fact, you don't want to let it sit for too long, as it'll get stringy and mushy.
04:38No one wants that.
04:39There'll be people watching this around the globe, jealous of this chicken.
04:43Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
04:46This is a must-do on the preparation checklist if you've got chicken breasts in mind for
04:49your recipe.
04:50Many of the issues that come with cooking chicken breasts can be mitigated, if not avoided
04:54altogether, with a good bit of heavy tenderizing prior to cooking.
04:57Pounding and tenderizing the chicken helps spread out the thickness and allows the meat
05:02to cook more evenly and quickly.
05:04The process also makes the resulting chicken juicier and tastier, which is especially helpful
05:08considering chicken breasts can often be neither of those things.
05:11The method is simple.
05:13All you have to do is wrap up the chicken in plastic wrap, or put it in a plastic storage
05:17bag.
05:18Grab a heavy object, such as a ladle or saucepan, and start hitting it.
05:23Oh!
05:24Oh!
05:25Oh!
05:26Oh!
05:27Oh!
05:28Oh!
05:29Oh!
05:30Oh!
05:31Oh!
05:32Then slowly, work your way to the thinner bits, until the whole thing is finally thin
05:36and flat.
05:37Once that's done, you're ready to season and cook.
05:39Easy!
05:40This is probably the most downright criminal mistake people can make while cooking chicken,
05:45but we'd hazard a guess that it's probably a fairly common one, too.
05:48Please, don't forget to season your chicken.
05:50Meat that only has salt and or pepper added to it is bad enough, but serving up something
05:54without even that is just sinful.
05:57Here are some golden rules for seasoning chicken.
06:00Salt is the big dog, but you've got to get it right.
06:03Try to use kosher or sea salt to keep sodium levels down while getting maximum flavor.
06:07Make sure the other seasonings you're using are suitable for chicken.
06:10Good starting points include basil, rosemary, garlic, mustard, paprika, thyme, parsley,
06:16celery seed, cumin, and cayenne.
06:18But don't be afraid to play around.
06:20You never know what will work, and a failed experiment is still going to be far more satisfying
06:24than a tasteless, unseasoned husk of a bird.
06:27The word dry might seem like the exact opposite of what you want to hear, but the truth is
06:32that drying out your meat after brining is a must-do for any poultry cook worth their
06:36salt.
06:37According to James Wilska, the executive chef of Filafare in Hollywood, people want to get
06:42really crispy meat, and the general rule of cooking is moisture is the enemy of caramelization.
06:47When you want to get meat crispy, you want the skin as dry as possible.
06:51You should air dry the meat out of its packaging in the fridge for up to four hours, although
06:55it could take up to a day or two if you're making something like fried chicken.
06:58Then take it out, pat it down with a paper towel, and you're good to go.
07:02This might go against the instincts of anyone who's particularly safety-conscious when it
07:06comes to handling and preparing raw meat, but it's actually a good idea to let your
07:10chicken sit out for a little while before you cook it.
07:13Tempering chicken has a few key benefits.
07:14It'll help your chicken hit that key temperature more quickly, helps the chicken cook more
07:18evenly all the way through, and makes the end result juicier.
07:22And that's never a bad thing, is it?
07:23As long as you're careful, the process isn't going to cause you any harm, either.
07:27Don't allow it to sit out anywhere it can come into contact with other food, wash your
07:31hands, and don't let it sit out for longer than two hours, and you'll be just fine.
07:35No surprise here, but it's always worth saying just in case.
07:39Always make sure your chicken is cooked to a hot enough temperature, otherwise you're
07:42just asking for a world of pain to come crashing down on top of you.
07:46The USDA states that the ideal temperature for chicken to be cooked at is 165 degrees.
07:51This temperature will effectively destroy Salmonella bacteria, which has the highest
07:55heat resistance of the pathogens that regularly grow on raw poultry.
07:59Certain cuts require higher temperatures, albeit for quality reasons more than safety
08:03ones.
08:04For example, whole muscle breast meat should be cooked at 170 degrees, while whole muscle
08:08thigh meat should be cooked as high as 180 degrees.
08:11The best way to ascertain whether your chicken has cooked through enough is to get a food
08:15thermometer.
08:17Stick it into the meat, make sure it's hit that golden number, and keep it cooking if
08:20it hasn't.
08:22This is another common mistake made during the actual process of cooking.
08:27If you're pan-frying, pan-searing, or sautéing chicken, you ought to make sure the pan is
08:31never overcrowded.
08:32This is because one of the main things which gives chicken its flavor is browning, a reaction
08:37which happens when the food comes into contact with very high temperatures.
08:40You need some heat in that pan, remember?
08:42No color, no flavor.
08:43No color, no…
08:44Flavor!
08:45Unfortunately, if the pan is too crowded, the moisture that comes off the chicken will
08:50have no room to spread and evaporate, and it'll turn into steam or water instead.
08:55Instead of browning, the chicken will end up steaming, and you'll have poached chicken.
08:59This is all easily avoidable.
09:01Just make sure there's plenty of room for the chicken in the pan.
09:04The pieces shouldn't be overlapping or smashed up against each other, and it's an easy fix
09:08for something that's a big deal.
09:09Getting it wrong can completely ruin your dish.
09:13This is the last thing you should do before serving up your chicken, especially if it's
09:16a roast.
09:17Roasting involves allowing the chicken to sit out for anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes
09:21once it's cooked.
09:22The reasons for doing this are twofold.
09:24Firstly, cutting into chicken straight away can cause liquid to pool out and the meat
09:28will end up dry.
09:29Allowing it to sit for a while will help the chicken absorb the moisture back into the
09:33meat.
09:34Secondly, meat tends to continue to cook even after you've taken it out of the oven, and
09:38it's always good to let it continue to do so.
09:40It's even built into many recipes that suggest taking meat out of the oven just before it's
09:44done cooking for this reason.
09:46Take the chicken out, keep it in foil to make sure it stays warm, and keep yourself
09:50otherwise occupied for a while.
09:52It'll all be worth it in the end.