Since chicken breasts are the top-selling cut at the supermarket, you’d think they’re easy to make, but the truth is that cooking them can be surprisingly challenging. Here are a few tricks to cook them faster and more evenly.
Photo by Hungry Dudes
Chicken breasts are naturally asymmetrical in shape — something that’s only become exaggerated over the years as chicken breasts have grown in size — which makes it tough to ensure the thickest part of the cut is cooked without leaving the smaller end of the breast dry.
The Kitchn’s food and cooking editor Christine Gallary offers three no-fail solutions that help speed up the cooking process, also ensuring thinner parts of the chicken breast don’t easily overcook. Her first suggestion is to take the chicken off the bone; and the second is to flatten to achieve an thickness. The third — our favourite and the simplest, most-no-brainer way — requires no additional time or effort whatsoever: cover the pan while the chicken is cooking. She writes:
Even if you’ve browned the outside of the chicken already, you should still cover the pan or grill while it’s cooking. This creates an oven-like environment that surrounds the chicken breast iwth heat so it’s not just cooking from where it’s in contact with the pan or grill…Plus, you wind up saving energy!
If you haven’t already been doing this, give it a try the next time you’re making chicken for dinner and let us know how much you shaved off your cooking time. For more useful tips on cooking chicken faster, including the best way to flatten it to an even thickness, head over to The Kitchn.
3 Faster Ways to Cook a Chicken Breast [The Kitchn]
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