Juicy Boneless Chicken Breasts
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The Secret To Cooking Juicy Boneless Chicken Breasts
Table of Contents
It is important to know the safe temperatures for the chicken to be cooked to. Here are some tips and tips to make sure that you are cooking chicken safely.
Temperature For Food Safety
People often associate chicken being safe to eat based on the color that it is. Instead, what you should really focus on is the temperature of the chicken while you cook it. People also often get scared when they see blood in the chicken and view that as a hazard. It is okay to eat a chicken that has blood in it as long as the temperature is appropriate.
With any type of meat that is being cooked, with the temperature being higher, more juices will be drawn out of the meat making it drier. The best way to make sure that the meat is safe is to use a cooking thermometer to measure the internal temperature.
What Is A Good Temperature?
When cooking chicken, an internal temperature of 165℉(73.89℃) is when all of the bad bacteria in the food is completely gone. This is the standard for where you need your chicken temperature to get before it is safe to eat.
When cooking the chicken legs, it is ideal for these to be an internal temperature of 170-175℉(76.67-79.44℃). Because leg meat is not as filled as the rest, it needs to be cooked a bit more. Even if you cook the legs and thighs to a higher temperature, the chicken should still be juicy and delicious.
How Do I Use a Meat Thermometer for Chicken Breasts?
If you are using the CheftsTemp QuadXPro oven safe thermometer probes, simply insert them from the top of the breast to the middle of the thickest part. If you are using one of our instant read thermometers insert the probe into the thickest part of the breast for a quick accurate reading while cooking. Chicken breast is a lean cut of meat and can dry out quickly if overcooked. Always cook your chicken to a final temperature of 165°F (74°C).
Can Cooked Chicken Be Pink?
Young chickens can cause the meat to still be pink even when the internal temperature is where it needs to be. The stain on the meat that looks to be red/pink is nothing to worry about as this is normal and does not reflect on the internal temperature. Another reason that you might be seeing red/pink spots in the chicken is that the more active a chicken is, the more myoglobin.
Cooking boneless, skinless, chicken breast on the grill requires paying close attention to time and temperature and you can’t walk away from the grill. The process to prepare the breast for cooking requires brining, and then possibly marinating, and then strict control of the temperature of the grill.
Mix the brine up, place the chicken in the container, pour the brine over the chicken, put the lid on it, and then place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Once the chicken has brined for 24 hours, remove from the brine and rinse, then pat it dry. At this point you can marinate for two to four hours, or season and go straight to the grill. Marinating adds flavor to your chicken. I marinated this for 4 hours, and then grilled it.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of water
- ¼ cup of salt
- One 2 pound chicken breast, split bones and skin removed.
- Once you have your brine prepared, you need to allow your chicken breast to brine for 24 hours.
Marinade:
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1Tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
- 1 Teaspoon ground ginger
Resealable bag.
Mix the marinade, place the chicken breasts in the bag, and then pour the marinade in. Seal the bag and then place in the refrigerator for four hours.
Once the chicken has marinated for 4 hours, it is time to go to the grill. When you set up your grill, make sure it is hot, place the chicken on the grill, skin side down.
Once you get the chicken on the grill, close the lid for a few minutes and then either turn the chicken over or reposition to double grill mark it. Then turn the chicken over and turn the center burners off and turn the outer burners on low, and then close the lid.
When the chicken reaches at least 158℉(70℃) it is time to remove it from the grill and then rest it for 5 minutes.
Once your chicken has been removed from the grill and rested for 5 minutes you are ready to make a plate.
I made cheese ravioli in Alfredo sauce and sauteed some baby squash to go with the chicken. The alfredo sauce is simple, it is 1-2 Tablespoons of butter, minced garlic, ½ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup shaved parmesan. Get the butter, garlic and cream into a sauté pan, and reduce by half, add the ravioli, then the parmesan, toss to coat and it is ready.
The baby squash was 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter, sliced squash, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil and butter to a sauté pan, heat on med high heat, when the butter melts, add the garlic and the squash, then toss until the squash brown on the edges slightly and then season with salt and pepper and it is ready.
In recap, your biggest enemy and best friend is time, use it wisely, keep your ChefsTemp Final Touch X10 close to hand, and make sure to pull the chicken at about 158℉(70℃), let it rest for 5 minutes, slice and serve.
Once you have your brine prepared, you need to allow your chicken breast to brine for 24 hours. Once the chicken breast has brined for 24 hours, remove it from the brine, rinse the chicken breast, pat it dry, and then proceed with the rest of your preparation. If you want to marinade it this is the time to do it. Place the chicken breast into a plastic container with a lid or into a sealable bag. Add the marinade and return it to the refrigerator for 2-4 hours. If you are going to go straight to the grill with it, make sure that you season it well on both sides and have your grill pre-heated.
Boneless skinless chicken breast cooks rather quickly so you will want to keep your thermometer at the ready. Grilling boneless, skinless chicken breast requires monitoring the cooking and pull temperatures closely so that it is removed from the grill at the right time to prevent the chicken from being too dry when it is finished.
Ideally, you want your grill hot when you place the chicken breast on the grill, skin side down, this is the side that you removed the skin from, then you want to give it a few minutes to produce the grill marks and then turn the grill down and turn the chicken breast over. This is one meat that you really want to close the lid with and keep the temperature down lower. This will also help keep the chicken breast moist and tender. Pull temperature is always 5℉-7℉ (-15 to -13.89℃) lower than finish temperature. Poultry needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165℉(73.89℃) to kill all the bad bacteria and for it to be safe to eat. That makes the pull temperature between 158℉-160℉(70-71.11℃) and once you pull it, let it rest for 5 minutes and carry over cooking will get it to 165℉(73.89℃).
Always take your temperatures in the thickest part of the meat, this will give you an accurate internal temperature and will make sure that you get to the safe cooking temperature it needs to be at.
When grilling any kind of meat, give it enough time when you first place it on the grill to give the grill marks you want but try not to get in a hurry, the meat will stick to the grill until the marks, caramelization, takes place and the meat will naturally release from the grill. Once it releases you can flip it over, or turn it 90⁰ to make cross hatch grill marks, and once the grill marks are finished, turn the meat over and turn down the grill or move the meat to the coldest part of the grill until it finishes cooking and reaches the correct internal temperature.
Finaltouch X10
The Finaltouch X10 thermometer from ChefsTemp gives an accurate reading not only for the inside of food but for surface temperatures as well. The diversity of the thermometer’s usage is second to none compared to other thermometers. By getting a reading within 1 second, the Finaltouch X10 from ChefsTemp is prepared to take on any task it is given.
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