How to keep chicken tender when refrigerated?

elJarmen

elJarmen

elJarmen

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2013
Posts
276
Hi,

Noob question obviously. All I know to make is some pasta salad I bring along with me to work. I tried adding chicken once but it became very hard after setting in the fridge for a few days (I usually prepare a portion big enough to consume over weekdays on the weekend). What should I do?
 
Not a lot you can do I don't think, even if you reheated it just before you put it in it's still never quite right.
 
The trick is to keep as much moisture in when you cook it as possible. Are they chicken breasts or a whole chicken?

Just cook them as normal then let the chicken (if whole) rest properly under some foil, till it is cold.

For breasts, once cooked let cool slightly and then wrap tightly in cling film till cold. It keeps all the juice in.

What I do to checken breasts, which works wonders is to marinade them in salt, then lemon juice for an hour before cooking. The salt pulls out the moisture, then by adding the lemon juice the chicken sucks it back in. The lemon juice breaks down the meat inside leading to very moist meat, though of course, there is a little hint of lemon in it.
 
It is diced chicken breasts. I cook them by frying with olive oil. Would it be of help to boil them before? I usually mix them straight with the pasta and put them in the fridge, would waiting a bit help?
 
If be help you mean "make them taste disgusting" then yeah, boil away :p

I'd recommend moving to chicken thigh fillets. They're much nicer and retain moisture easier. Aside from that you could try cooking the chicken somewhat less - most people massively over-cook chicken.

Last of all you could reheat (or ideally just cook some chicken fresh) each day.
 
:D

Problem is it's pasta salad so chicken is meant to be eaten cold with it. I don't fancy thighs too much especially that I need the extra protein in the breasts.
 
Avoid using the breasts, they aren't good when cold and a few days old, much better with thighs and the added fat content will keep kings moist and tasty, as will the bone.

Also most people massively overcook chicken, it should be very moist and juicy.
 
Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll try brining if it doesn't work I'll consider other meats like Shrimps as I don't like thighs that much.
 
Have you tried cooking thigh fillets a little longer and slower than you'd normally cook breasts? If you give it time for most of the fat to render out the end result is a lot nicer than breast (and a hell of a lot nicer than thigh where you don't do this).

Brining will certainly help. I'd experiment with cooking the breasts less too. Just get a meat thermometer and cook them to 62C internal temperature (if you're cooking them in an oven or grill/pan potentially you can lower this by a couple of degrees as the interior will continue to raise in temperature after you take the meat off the heat).
 
elJarmen said:
I don't fancy thighs too much especially that I need the extra protein in the breasts.
Click to expand...

You do realise that if you trim most of the fat off the thighs the difference in protein/gram between thigh and breast is miniscule.
Plus thighs are cheaper, so you're actually getting more protein for your money.

The fact that they're tastier than breast meat as well means I'd always go for them in anything that isn't cooked just to the point of being done.
 
Last edited:
Not sure about tenderness, but I'd echo the recommendation for brining if you're looking to keep it moist.

If you're making it at the weekend for the following week you should anticipate that it's probably not going to be tasting it's best by the Thursday and Friday. Your best bet might be to consider cooking another bit of chicken up midweek to keep it at it's best.
 
I buy the diced chicken breasts from Salisbury's, store in a big plastic bowl and covered with the led. Cooking midweek may be an option given everything works out with the brining :)
 
bake in tin foil, transfer straight to a (well) sealed tupperware and put in the fridge. A fresh breast should take no more than 30 mins, frozen 45 mins. Maybe longer if lots all close together.

A lot of cheap plastic pots are worse than useless, make sure it's got a good seal.
 
Cooked yesterday and had some today. The chicken is tender though not sure because of the brining or because I cooked it less based on everybody's observation that people usually over-cook chicken. Anyway the real test is on Wednesday when the chicken would have been in the fridge for 3 days :)
 
Brining definitely works, I brine all my chicken now, will be doing so tonight for juicy kebabs :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom