Revelation to me - Silpat for pounding chicken breasts

[MaryIsobel]

Starting prep for chicken Parm tonight so first step was pounding out the chicken breasts. Was reaching for my parchment, which I have been using as I find it sturdier than cling wrap, when I encountered my silpat sheets and thought, why not? No tearing and a much sturdier surface to pound upon. Perhaps it has been done, but it new to me.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Smithy
Corrected title spelling (log)

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Starting prep for chicken Parm tonight so first step was pounding out the chicken breasts. Was reaching for my parchment, which I have been using as I find it sturdier than cling wrap, when I encountered my silpat sheets and thought, why not? No tearing and a much sturdier surface to pound upon. Perhaps it has been done, but it new to me.

Not to be a downer, but are you putting plastic wrap on top of the breasts? 

[MaryIsobel]

23 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Not to be a downer, but are you putting plastic wrap on top of the breasts? 

No, I just drop the silpat in a sink of soapy water with a tsp of bleach. Have I done something wrong?

Edited to add that I was not clear. I pounded one chicken breast at a time within a folded over silpat.

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by MaryIsobel (log)

[Anna N]

36 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

No, I just drop the silpat in a sink of soapy water with a tsp of bleach. Have I done something wrong?

Edited to add that I was not clear. I pounded one chicken breast at a time within a folded over silpat.

 

I just worry about the splashes!  I can be quite anal about such things. Others may have no issue.

[Anna N]

Just now, Anna N said:

I just worry about the splashes!  I can be quite anal about such things. Others may have no issue.

OK so we cross posted. That sounds much better than no cover for the breasts. 

[&roid]

Interesting! I’d not thought of doing that. Any sign of damage to the silpat? I guess they’re pretty robust…

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

OK so we cross posted. That sounds much better than no cover for the breasts. 

I appreciate the input as always. Egullet is a community looking out for me. I am concientious about contamination, maybe a little more than the average person. Case in point, when my daughters both took "Food Safe" as required, they both said "we already knew all that stuff." 😂

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

I appreciate the input as always. Egullet is a community looking out for me. I am concientious about contamination, maybe a little more than the average person. Case in point, when my daughters both took "Food Safe" as required, they both said "we already knew all that stuff." 😂

Sorry if it came across as judgmental. I certainly didn’t mean it to. It was a knee-jerk reaction on my part. 

[MaryIsobel]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Sorry if it came across as judgmental. I certainly didn’t mean it to. It was a knee-jerk reaction on my part. 

Not at all. Inititally I thought that perhaps the chicken yuck could somehow contaminate the silpat. Always open to learning.

[haresfur]

I find baking paper works fine. Better than plastic and doesn't need any cleanup like a silplat would

[MaryIsobel]

11 minutes ago, haresfur said:

I find baking paper works fine. Better than plastic and doesn't need any cleanup like a silplat would

You are absolutely right. We are under ethical pressure here to reduce waste, so it is always on my mind. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'd worry about the mess of cleaning the Silpat.  My method is to put the protein to be pounded into a sous vide bag.

 

[haresfur]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

You are absolutely right. We are under ethical pressure here to reduce waste, so it is always on my mind. 

 

 

Fair enough but I'm not worried about a little paper waste when I'm avoiding plastic use. Most years we are under pressure to conserve water.

[AlaMoi]

I pound/thin chick/pork/beef on the wooden cutting board - scrape off and wash.  ueber non wasteful..

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have no desire to create waste.  However for sanitary reasons I don't prepare protein on any of my wooden cutting boards.  The thought alone causes me shudder.  I used to pound chicken parts on one of my NFS plastic boards till I got tired of chicken bits on my glasses and in my hair.

 

With a sous vide bag I don't have to wash a cutting board, my pounder, or my hair.  Plus, I figure I have a lifetime supply of sous vide bags, particularly the larger size.  And whatever I pound on, the bags and I will be in the landfill soon enough.

 

[lemniscate]

I have seen a source on Reddit that swears by using a cast iron tortilla press to flatten chicken breast and pork filets.

I don't like chicken breast so there is no reason for me to test this in my tortilla press, but it seems plausible.  There would be little to no detritus shooting out with a press I assume.

 

People are using tortilla presses to make smash burgers, again, something I'm not interested in to try.