anyone else hate chicken?

daveville30

I really hate it id rather have a roast magpie for dinner on Sundays.its like sawdust.why are ducks not cheaper.

ShatterProof

Don't like breast, a bit bland. The dark meat is ok.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

MissFlitworth

daveville30 wrote: »

its like sawdust

Sawdust as in the breast meat crumbling into dusty lumps when you try to cut it? That's an overcooked chicken. I know this from many, many unfortunate plates of crumbling dry meat swimming in gravy before I got my chicken game together.

Miaireland

daveville30 wrote: »

I really hate it id rather have a roast magpie for dinner on Sundays.its like sawdust.why are ducks not cheaper.

Sounds like you are over cooking it and not basting enough. I also find that putting flavoured butter under the skin stops the meat from becoming like sawdust.

StonyIron

You're definitely cooking it wrong, and probably way too hot, or your oven may also be leaking air too much and behaving more like a dryer. If the door seals are gone, it might be worth looking into getting those replaced.

Cook chicken at 180ºC or so. Anything above that will cause burning.

It definitely shouldn't be coming out bone dry.

fuzzby100

The quality - handling and storage etc of the chicken is very important. Always use fresh chilled chicken not previously frozen. I find some of the large supermarket chicken breasts/whole chickens to be tough at times. Stick to a good local butcher if possible. Battery vs free range is another debate. I have found there is not a significant difference in flavour - the cooking method is more important.

kylith

Roast whole chickens upside down. You lose the crispy skin, but the breast meat is much juicer.

demanufactured

I gave my love a chicken.. It had no bones.... Mmmmm chicken

daveville30

your oven may also be leaking air too much and behaving more like a dryer. If the door seals are gone, it might be worth looking into getting those replaced.

you might be right. the little one handed me the sealing rubber a few months ago.I clipped it back on maybe its not on properly.

Crumpets

Don't like chicken?? Ye mad yokes

StonyIron

Try covering the chicken with aluminium foil for the first hour or so and then only remove the foil at the end but crank the heat up.

To check a chicken is cooked just cut the leg and check for clear rubbing juices and also no pink meat.

You can also get a meat thermometer to check for even temperatures.

Your oven shouldn't be causing meat to dry out though. It would suggest an inadequate seal. Are the door seals ok ?

If your losing a lot of air and moisture it will also cost you a fortune to run as you're basically heating the whole room, not just the oven!

rubadub

Crumpets wrote: »

Don't like chicken?? Ye mad yokes

People don't like chicken which is overcooked so much it resembles sawdust -nothing strange there.

I have had someone say I cook chicken too fast, this was frying it up. They said it since they are presumably so used to seeing their mammy destroying chicken for hours.

logically

I normally do my chicken in the slow cooker after rubbing skin with various spices. Put a layer of aluminium balls in the pot before laying the chicken on - put half a lemon in cavity and (as someone else mentioned) breast down is best when cooking. Shove in oven for 10-15 minutes after removal from slow cooker. Most melt in the mouth and flavoursome chicken ever.

If I don't use the slow cooker, the other method is to use a bag. Again - tender, moist chicken will always be the result if you follow instructions.

My latest favourite chicken method is to get some of the mini breast fillets and brush with a mixture of maple syrup and pomegranate molasses. Drizzle more of the mixture over the breasts,bung in oven, add some chopped walnuts and streaky rasher pieces at the end and let crisp. Tasty tasty chicken.

fussyonion

I agree with previous posters; too many people overcook chicken. My Mam is always overcooking them and they practically crumble all over your plate.

My other half and my family all love when I cook a chicken but it's not rocket science.

I take a large roasting tray, throw in roughly chopped carrots, celery, onions and garlic cloves, sprinkle on some mixed herbs.

Place the chicken on top of the veg and take a chicken Oxo cube (mixed to a paste with some oil) and rub this all over the bird.

Insert a bit of chopped onion, half a lemon and some garlic cloves inside the bird (the steam will create moisture!), and now the bit that I think gives my chicken juiciness....tightly wrap the tray with tin foil so everything is sealed in.

In the last half an hour of cooking, remove the foil, drain off all the oil and reserve (for gravy), and let it cook now to brown the skin.
The skin, by the way, is gorgeously crisp and so tasty.

duploelabs

<Mod snip: No need to be so rude> Get a digital meat thermometer, you'll never eat a sawdust chicken again

Confucius say

The western world is really chickencentric at the moment, at least in the English speaking countries. I think we eat way too much of it and the idea were consuming billions of them in the UK and Ireland a year kind of freaks me out. I do like it but try and keep it to once or twice a week now, others I know would eat it a couple of times a day which just seems so wrong to me, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on!

pwurple

Not a mad fan of chicken here. I'm mildly allergic to penicillin, and I get reactions quite often from chicken (I'm assuming it's been fed antibiotics close to the end of its life maybe?). Nothing like a day of rash and itchy hives to put you off something.

It is a handy family dinner though, so we get one about twice a month from our butcher, those ones don't seem to give me the hives most of the time. We use it all. A roast chicken, make a stock/soup from the carcass, make a curry from the leftovers.

So what's that, about 2/3 meals, twice a month... around 8% of our meals contain chicken.

BailMeOut

Get yourself a good kitchen sheers, cut out the backbone, loosen the skin and get seasoning under and over the skin. Rub skin with a small amount of oil and then spatchcock/butterfly roast on a shallow roasting pan. The whole bird will roast in 45mins to an hour depending on size. Let rest for 15 minutes and you you will have a perfectly cooked, very tasty and moist chicken.

katydid

I usually roast a whole chicken, and then take the flesh off and make stock. Someone on this thread mentioned they boil a chicken, thus having the stock already made when you have your cooked chicken. (And of course having a nice, moist chicken)

I did this today, and ended up with a lovely chicken and great stock. But what I'm wondering is - isn't the downside to this that a lot of the goodness of the chicken ends up in the stock?

Tree

I think the downside is you don't get crispy skin and you dont have roasted bones in your stock. If you're not using gallons to do it, you shouldnt loose too much chickeny goodness

katydid

Tree wrote: »

I think the downside is you don't get crispy skin and you dont have roasted bones in your stock. If you're not using gallons to do it, you shouldnt loose too much chickeny goodness

I don't like crispy skin anyway, so that's no big deal. The stock looks fabulous, tomorrow's lunch is Tom Yum soup, made with the stock, some lemongrass, onions, mushrooms, bits of chicken, and tom yum paste.

Hungry already

The Hill Billy

katydid wrote:

But what I'm wondering is - isn't the downside to this that a lot of the goodness of the chicken ends up in the stock?

No more than boiling/stewing any other meat.

Billy86

daveville30 wrote: »

I really hate [chicken]

You can leave now.









Nah in truth chicken tastes of almost nothing, but it's got a fantastic texture and takes on the taste of whatever you cook it in/with. Just don't have it plainly on it's own, unless you're a gym freak.

katydid

Billy86 wrote: »

Nah in truth chicken tastes of almost nothing, but it's got a fantastic texture and takes on the taste of whatever you cook it in/with. Just don't have it plainly on it's own, unless you're a gym freak.

Roast chicken has a very distinctive (and lovely) taste.

Billy86

rubadub wrote: »

People don't like chicken which is overcooked so much it resembles sawdust -nothing strange there.

I have had someone say I cook chicken too fast, this was frying it up. They said it since they are presumably so used to seeing their mammy destroying chicken for hours.

Aaahhh, the age old Irish culinary tradition of "cook it til it's done. Then cook it for about as long a second time to be safe. Then begin the rest of the meal, while continuing to cook the meat further".

Billy86

katydid wrote: »

Roast chicken has a very distinctive (and lovely) taste.

I find the meat itself a bit bland, but that's why it is so versatile - hence "[whatever] tastes just like chicken!". The skin can take on good flavour though, and the same for if you do anything with the meat (butter, esp. flavoured butter, marinading, stuffing, etc). If I cooked a chicken completely plain on it's own and removed the skin before digging it with a knife and fork, and no sides... I would get very bored of it very quickly.

Don't get me wrong though, I love chicken.

katydid

Billy86 wrote: »

I find the meat itself a bit bland, but that's why it is so versatile - hence "[whatever] tastes just like chicken!". The skin can take on good flavour though, and the same for if you do anything with the meat (butter, esp. flavoured butter, marinading, stuffing, etc). If I cooked a chicken completely plain on it's own and removed the skin before digging it with a knife and fork, and no sides... I would get very bored of it very quickly.

Don't get me wrong though, I love chicken.

My boiled chicken is the basis for lots of nice flavourful dishes. Tom Yum soup tomorrow, chicken risotto Monday night, chicken pasta salad etc. etc.

the beer revolu

Billy86 wrote: »

You can leave now.









Nah in truth chicken tastes of almost nothing, but it's got a fantastic texture and takes on the taste of whatever you cook it in/with. Just don't have it plainly on it's own, unless you're a gym freak.

That may be your truth.
Chicken with just salt and pepper, cooked right is so, so flavoursome. That crispy caramelised skin. That juice. Those bits of golden sediment. That moist juicy meat.
Tastes of nothing????
You're either buying really crap chickens, cooking them wrong, or just have a very crude palate.

fuzzby100

Another quick and easy way to cook chicken breasts is -
1. Cut chicken into goujon size pieces.
2. Dip pieces into a. plain flour then b. beaten egg then c. roll in panko breadcrumbs (much better than homemade) season with salt/pepper/parmesan.
3. Cook at 190 deg c (fan) for approx. 20 - 25mins.

Result - chicken is crispy on the outside and very succulent on the inside and no oil added.

StonyIron

YouTube some videos on cooking and learn how to cook chicken properly.

No matter what bird you cook, it's going to taste like sawdust using your current method. It's not the chicken that's the problem.