Chicken breasts

[Norm Matthews]

There is a recipe that my family really likes and I have made it often. It's Breast of Chicken, Martini-Style from chef Pino Luongo and it has you pound out the breasts until they are thin.  Lately I usually butterfly the breasts instead.  I am wondering if there is any culinary reason why the breasts should be pounded out instead of just cut thin?  Chicken breasts don't need tenderizing and they are just as thin when butterflied as they are when pounding plus it's faster and doesn't wake anyone up. 

Edited August 19, 2015 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Dave W]

I always butterfly chicken breasts for the reasons you mention. I guess it might be easier to get even thickness by pounding or to avoid cutting a hole in the breast by accident, but once you learn how to do it, it's pretty easy to stay consistent.

 

Butterflied breasts do better on the grill, too, in my opinion. Just when they've taken on good grill marks on both sides, they're cooked to a proper internal temperature. And no later.

[Shelby]

I only pound when I need to get out some built up aggression.

[Jon Savage]

You pound them to create uniformity. Otherwise it is difficult to get the breasts done correctly(= evenly done).

Same reason people spatchock chix.

 

If you are butterflying them the result would be similar to pounding them.

 

--edited for clarity

Edited August 20, 2015 by Jon Savage (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Aside from uniformity, there's the issue of changing chickens. In 1980, chicken was about 18% fat, now, it's closer to 30%. They get bigger at a much younger age, and are therefore much more tender than in the past. And, the size of the breast relative to the size bird is much larger & thicker. In the past, pounding helped tenderize (which might have been necessary) and was easier to do on smaller, thinner breasts. IMHO, butterflying  or just plain horizontal slicing into multiple portions, is fine. I have seen some breasts recently that were incredibly thick, and it seemed like a LOT of pounding (destruction) would be needed to make a classic paillard.

[haresfur]

I usually do both to get them uniformly even and thin with minimal tearing. It only takes a few whacks with the bottom of a fry pan.

[heidih]

OK - I seem to be a lone voice here. To me there is more to pounding than thinning and evening. I find it a much different bite than butterflied where the long "fibers" are still in place. 

[scubadoo97]

I agree. I think there are textural differences

[gfweb]

I butterfly and pound. Texture and even (quick) cooking.