Butterflying chicken breasts

corblimey

I was trying something new at the weekend that called for me to butterfly a chicken breast. It didn't work out too well, as I felt the fillet I was trying it on was too thin to butterfly successfully.

So, am I buying the wrong sort of fillets, these are normally 4 for a fiver in my local craft butchers, so I'm sure they're not top notch, but they are good value. Are there better/larger fillets to look for the next time butterflying is called for?

Also, is butterflying really just for thinning out your fillet anyway, and if it's already thin enough, there's no need?

Seaneh

butterflying is just to make it thinner so it will cook evenly and quickly.

If you find it a pain in the arse try this.

Take two sheets of cling film, put them on board or your counter. put a breast of chicken in the middle, take two more sheets of cling film and place them on top, then take a heavy flat bottomed frying/sauce pan and give it a smack or two.

will flatted the breast out and make it all pretty much level. will cook in about 2 minutes each side in a frying pan then

corblimey

Tks Seaneh, yeah, that's pretty much what I ended up doing, using a rolling pin. So there's nothing magical about butterflied chicken, it's just flat chicken?

Seaneh

Pretty much.

Try the heavy pan instead of the pin next time, it's a lot quicker :P

stevenmu

If you have been storing them in the freezer, you can cut them as they're thawing when they're still pretty firm and it makes it much easier to be precise.

Orla K

I always get the butcher to do it. He was telling me you need a really sharp knife, I think he said one for filleting fish is best.

I use it for when I want to do stuffed chicken fillets, spinach and goats cheese is lovely, maybe add some balsamic vinegar.

Liamalone

Seaneh wrote: »

Pretty much.

Try the heavy pan instead of the pin next time, it's a lot quicker :P

*reports chicken abuse*

GastroBoy

This video explains it pretty clearly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySB2jgO1ljU

rubadub

What can be tricky is the finishing point, i.e. where to stop cutting and have a nice 'hinge' to unfold the chicken. If you have difficulty or the breast is thin or too round to get a straight 'hinge' then just cut all the way through and you have 2 thinned out pieces. This can be easier to handle while cooking anyway, if fitting in like a jigsaw on a frying pan, or easier to divide out evenly if doing mulitple portions.

Thinning it out also creates more surface area for marinate or coatings.