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Fatty Succulent Tender Breast Meat


scott123

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I live for chicken wings but they are just too freakin expensive. I can sit down and eat 3 lbs. of wings (weight before cooking) and still be hungry. That doesn't work for my budget.

I've been pondering ways of cooking breast meat in such a way that it will be more wing like- fatty, tender, succulent. From what I understand about deep frying, the 375 temp is recommended so that the meat doesn't absorb grease. What if absorbing grease were to be the goal? Would drastically lowering the deep frying temp, to say, 200 degrees, achieve a wing-like piece of breast meat?

I don't have chicken fat on hand presently, but I can start collecting it. In a way I guess I'm contemplating a modified confit. No marinade, no aging, though.

I know that the breast muscle is more utilized than the wing, so my process will only give me so much tenderness, but I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile.

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The flavor of thighs just doesn't work with my wing recipes. I've tried buffalo thighs, teriyaki thighs and bbq thighs. I love thighs on their own with some salt/pepper, but not with the sauces I put with wings. The flavor is just too strong.

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For me, chicken breast is about as far from wings as it's possible to get. How about deep-fried backs? You should be able to get them for next to nothing, and they crisp up nicely. Pull out the kidneys after they cook, though. A kidney or two is OK, but a bunch of them gets nasty, and they accumulate toxins. For frying, toss in gizzards, hearts and necks, which you can also eat whole after they're crisp.

Try roasting a whole chicken breast-down, without a rack so that the meat cooks in the liquids. Take it out when the dark meat is only half or 2/3 done and the breast will remain juicy and as flavorful as possible for this meat. Scrape up the skin and drape it over where the breast was cut away so that it will crisp up as the dark meat finishes.

Edited by k43 (log)
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In his first book, Paul Prudhomme had a recipe for slow fried chicken, I believe. I don't have it handy but perhaps someone does...?

He also used the "blackened" technique.

Searing in a very very hot pan--delicate things like fish and chicken

came out incredibly juicy!

I guess my pan roasting suggestion is along these lines--though

I end up slow roasting in the oven after searing.

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If you are looking for tender, I would recommend breading with Panko (japanese bread crumbs). Cooking chicken or fish breaded in Panko yields a very tender and juicy result.

Although I haven't tried it, you may wish to first coat with cornstarch marinade for flavouring. I have heard that cornstarch is a tenderizer.

As far as fat is concerned, start out with parts from a good bird. Using the panko technique will keep the fat in.

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Couldn't you cook the breast like a duck confit? That would certainly lead to moist, tender and flavorful (yet a bit greasy) meat. Try 180-190 for a few hours until the meat is sufficiently tender and flavorful. You could use duck fat, or if you want something more neutral, you could use canola oil.

Alan

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One of my favorite ways to do chk breast that are moist and tender is to sear with EVOO in a cast iron skillet until golden brown on both sides and then pop into a hot oven for 5-10 min to cook the insides. Do not over cook. Slice and serve

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Wow, consider yourself lucky scott123 that chicken wings are more expensive than chicken breasts where you live. I went to Safeway online to double check and currently found (Purdue brand) whole chicken wings at $2.69/lb. while whole chicken breasts on the bone were $3.69/lb.

Anyway, are you trying to get the same texture as buffalo wings or are you just going for succelent, juicy chicken breasts?

If it's the latter, I think you should just pan fry them in a cast iron skillet, Southern-style. The main thing that I've found in making the chicken breast as well as the other parts tender and juicy is to do a soak with buttermilk. Only a couple of hours would make a difference, but I think overnight is best. Then remove them from the buttermilk and drain/wipe off the buttermilk with just enough moisture to hold whatever seasoning you use, then dip in flour--just regular all purpose flour, then pan fry. BTW, the chicken breast is normally my least favorite part of the chicken; at least it was before I started using a buttermilk soak as part of the preparation.

Also, I recall a fried chicken cookoff on an episode of Martha Stewart Living. It was just between her and a woman from Kentucky. Their styles were pretty similar with only a couple of exceptions. One thing Martha did was that she preceded her buttermilk soak with an all salt water brine of the chicken. I haven't tried that yet, but I think I will since it would probably make the chicken even tastier.

You can also season the buttermilk before putting in the chicken. I saw this done a few years ago on a public broadcasting cooking show called Chesapeake Bay Cooking with John Shields (he has a corresponding book which can be found on Amazon). He added sliced or crushed garlic, onions, herbs, hot sauce, and other seasonings to the buttermilk for extra flavor before frying.

Good luck.

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Wow, consider yourself lucky scott123 that chicken wings are more expensive than chicken breasts where you live.  I went to Safeway online to double check and currently found (Purdue brand) whole chicken wings at $2.69/lb. while whole chicken breasts on the bone were $3.69/lb.
You have to consider yield. A bone-in wing is only 54% edible, while a bone-in breast is 80% (source: USDA Argricultural Research Service Nutrient Data Laboratory). Using your prices, breast meat (and skin) is $4.61/lb; wing meat (and skin) is $4.98.

But I think divalasvegas is on the right track. You'll never get enough fat into a breast to make up for what's in a wing. They're 9% and 16% fat, respectively; remove the skin and separable fat from a breast (something that's impossible to do with a wing), and the fat content drops below 2%. So you have to make it up with moisture, and a brine can do that for you.

As for cooking technique, I'd deep fry. There's some science that says that the fat in yolks attracts fat from the cooking medium, so if greasy is really what you're after, find a recipe that includes egg yolks. They'll also increase richness, and batter can carry some seasoning -- again, substitutes for the missing fat.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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Wow, consider yourself lucky scott123 that chicken wings are more expensive than chicken breasts where you live.  I went to Safeway online to double check and currently found (Purdue brand) whole chicken wings at $2.69/lb. while whole chicken breasts on the bone were $3.69/lb.
You have to consider yield. A bone-in wing is only 54% edible, while a bone-in breast is 80% (source: USDA Argricultural Research Service Nutrient Data Laboratory). Using your prices, breast meat (and skin) is $4.61/lb; wing meat (and skin) is $4.98.

But I think divalasvegas is on the right track. You'll never get enough fat into a breast to make up for what's in a wing. They're 9% and 16% fat, respectively; remove the skin and separable fat from a breast (something that's impossible to do with a wing), and the fat content drops below 2%. So you have to make it up with moisture, and a brine can do that for you.

As for cooking technique, I'd deep fry. There's some science that says that the fat in yolks attracts fat from the cooking medium, so if greasy is really what you're after, find a recipe that includes egg yolks. They'll also increase richness, and batter can carry some seasoning -- again, substitutes for the missing fat.

Thanks for doing all that math Dave the Cook. I never considered the fat percentages nor the percentage of edible meat. Your deep fried suggestion sounds delicious. I think we should challenge scott123 to a chicken breast cookoff using several of our suggestions and see which one he likes the best. :wink:

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Couldn't you cook the breast like a duck confit?  That would certainly lead to moist, tender and flavorful (yet a bit greasy) meat.  Try 180-190 for a few hours until the meat is sufficiently tender and flavorful.  You could use duck fat, or if you want something more neutral, you could use canola oil.

Alan

Heavens no. You could not. There's no connective tissue, or precious little of it in a breast. I'd venture to guess that confitting a breast would render it inedible.

I like the idea of backs. Whole Food here in NYC is selling them for about a buck a pound.

I like thighs and think the solution must lie there. The only difference between legs and thighs flavor-wise would be the cooking time.

You shouldn't eat grouse and woodcock, venison, a quail and dove pate, abalone and oysters, caviar, calf sweetbreads, kidneys, liver, and ducks all during the same week with several cases of wine. That's a health tip.

Jim Harrison from "Off to the Side"

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I swear by the brining ala Martha Stewart, the chicken comes out so tender and juicy, it's really amazing what a difference it makes.

I put them in salted ice water for an hour.

Depending on what flavor you're looking to achieve, you can add all matter of spices/flavorings to the water, I've done vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar for one!

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