Poultry Fundamentals

I enjoyed this lesson. Any day you learn something is a day not wasted and I didn't realize a chicken breast does not benefit from braising.

I have a chicken in the freezer that would be an excellent candidate for experimentation.

Paul

Can poultry (or red meat) be refrozen?

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) advises, "Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing."

However, for food safety reasons, refreezing is not ideal for two reasons: 1) You don't know how the raw product was handled before it was frozen; and 2) the texture of the product will become somewhat damaged. The moisture in the meat forms ice crystals that expand and damage the cells of the flesh each time the product is frozen. This is especially damaging to delicate fish.

I have also noticed that freezing ham is a disaster. It becomes mushy and really not very nice.

That's good to know. Because I'd just throw them in at the same time as the rest of the chicken.

What advice do you have for using chicken in slow cooking recipes? Thank you, enjoyed the lesson.

Glad you liked the lesson. As far as advice for "using chicken in slow cooking recipes?" I would just say to use chicken parts that are not lean, like chicken breasts. Thighs and legs braise (or slow cook) very nicely.

Also did you see the practice recipes for this lesson. There are a few chicken recipes that would be suitable for this.

You also might find it helpful to watch the cooking school lesson on Combination Cooking, Braising, Stewing etc. Hope this helps!

Why shouldn't poultry be thawed at room temperature?

The reason poultry is not thawed at room temperature is for food safety reasons. Foodborne bacteria grows very quickly in warm temperatures. Temperatures between 40°F (4.4°C) and 140°F (60°C)are considered to be in the "danger zone".

For more information on this here are a few other links related to food safety:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/ill-intox/info/poultry-volaille-preven-eng.php
http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/aspx/public/default2.aspx?id=449
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodborne_illness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_zone_%28food_safety%29

Cheers!

Hi All,

Is there a video lesson on cutting up (portioning) a whole chicken? duck?

Thanks,
Chris

PS - new member, love the site, doing all I can before I start culinary school in Jan.

Indeed there are a few videos on this. Just use the search bar at the top right of every page. If you type in chicken for instance, here is what you will find (click on any of the tabs to see all of the relevant content regarding chicken ie "tips and techniques", "cooking school" or "recipes". Of course same thing for duck. Hope this helps. Cheers and good luck with your studies!

I always get nervous after cooking raw chicken that I'm not cleaning the kitchen thoroughly enough. Is dish soap enough to clean the counters, cutting boards, etc., or is something like bleach more appropriate? Also, I was told that I always need to rinse chicken with cold water after removing it from the store packaging to rinse off some of the germs. Is that truly necessary?

Yes by all means, first I would check that the soap you use is also an atibacterial soap, like most of them are, that will be sufficient, yet to be totally sure and for peace of mind once you are done cleaning with your soap, you can spary some desinfectant like Lysol or bleach, or you can also use a bit of white vinegar on a clean cloth to wet your working surface ( vinegar changes the PH level so the bateria, if any are left cannot multiply).

As for rinsing chicken, yes you can rinse it from the package, make sure you pat it dry after that especially if you are using a dry cooking method. That being said, it is not mandatory to rinse the chicken as you will be cooking it anyways, which would kill any potential bacteria. Hope it helps.

I am confused when i see chickens in the store that say 15% added chicken broth. I have tried to look this up with no avail. How is that done and how does that effect my meat?

Thanks

I'm really not sure I've ever seen this. Wish we could help. Anyone else have an answer out there. The only thing that I can think of is that they inject the chicken with a broth-like liquid. I think you'd obtain a much better product through brining (see Brining Lesson) and you would be paying for the added weight.

I'm not saying it is how they ALL do it, but I have seen how they inject it into the meat (can't remember what it was, probably something like modern marvels on Discovery or unwrapped on FN or something like that). They had this whole marketing spin that it's for flavor, but I think it has more to do with preserving and adding weight so they can charge more for it.

? i just watched the poultry fundamentals is it possible to combine both chicken bones and duck bones to make a stock im just so curious can you combine both types to make it.

Indeed you can use both types of bones to make a stock. See the lesson on How to Make Short Stock for a bit more information on this. Cheers!

I am trying to defrost a whole chicken and it's taking more than two days in the refrigerator. If I put it into a cold water bath do I need to put it into a freezer bag first? Is there anyway to speed it up faster than this?

You can either put it into a bag and then into cold water or you can submerge the chicken as is, it just depends on how you plan to cook it. It is best to air dry it before roasting, especially if you did not put it into a bag before soaking it. Cheers!

Thank you for the lesson. I now know that I've been defrosting my chicken in absolutely the wrong way. (oven at 100 degrees). If I know I want to make chicken on a Sunday night, when should I be putting those breasts in the refrigerator to begin defrosting? Thank you!

There is no exact answer here Andrew. How long it takes to defrost a chicken breast will depend on how big it is and even how cold your fridge was, how many times the doors was opened and to be honest I have never personally timed exactly how long it takes. I usually just take them out in the morning for that evening. If I forget, I place them in water (as per the lesson) to speed up the process.

If you are curious to know exactly/approximately how long it will take to defrost a chicken breast, or a whole chicken for that matter, you could always place one in the refrigerator and time how long it takes to defrost. Cheers!

That all makes sense. My problem is, my son turns to me and says: Daddy, can we make chicken NOW??" I'm often unprepared, etc. That problem is beyond the scope of this forum! :)

Hello all,

My question is basically when do you know chicken is cooked through?

Last night I made 2 skinless chicken drumsticks and 2 skinless chicken wings...it took like an hour to cook them at 350F.

Visually they were no longer pink, the juices were running clear, and when I poked it with my finger it would spring back.

However when I put my thermometer into the meat, it never reached 165F...it was hovering around 140F

The thermometer is brand new and NSF certified...Is this normal?

Also, how long should I take a temp for? what are the standard cooking times? what is the best temp to cook it at?

....i know i have a lot of questions but, Thanks for the help

--Nicholas

Usually, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to cook drumsticks (or other parts of chicken that still contain the bone...but this also depends on their size). You may want to invest in an oven thermometer to test the temperature of your oven. I know when I cook at my mother's house, her oven runs hotter than displayed, by about 50 degrees...some ovens run colder.

I don't know what to say about your thermometer - even though it is new, sometimes they need to be re-calibrated. Also, perhaps you weren't inserting the probe into the thickest part of the meat when testing. The temperature will vary at different points within the meat. Most importantly, the visual cues you looked for are good ways to check for doneness. The main thing is that if the meat easily pulls away from the bone and you do not see any pink juices running out, the meat is done. Providing the meat wasn't overcooked, it sounds like you are on the right track. Hope this helps!

I see that refreezing chicken should only be done if the chicken has been cooked. How do I know if chicken I buy at the market has previously been frozen. I may be naive here, but this is a serious question.

If the label says "fresh" this should mean that it is, in fact "fresh". If it says "previously frozen", then you will know. If you are unsure and have concerns, don't hesitate to ask. The answer you get will vary from market to market. Cheers!

what would cause chicken breasts to become tough?

Overcooking is the primary culprit for tough breast meat. While chicken breasts need to be cooked all the way through until they are no longer pink inside, they shouldn't be cooked much longer than this. The longer they are cooked, the more they dry out, become stringy and tough. Cheers!

should they be cooked on high or low heat?

Chicken breasts can be cooked on either high or low using many different techniques. It just comes down to cooking them until they are just cooked through and no longer. Cheers!

So, I'm bravely tackling my first chicken and came across -- gasp! -- the insides! I checked the videos and couldn't find anything I could do with the neck & other innards other than a note in the video that they were valued by some cultures. : ) I'm assuming I take them out of the cavity before roasting the chicken? And then -- freeze them and use them later to flavor stock?

Thanks!
* lee anne

Remove the innards as you suggested. The only thing I'd save for stock is the neck (but some chefs also choose to use add them to stock). Save the other innards, if desired.

Good luck with your first chicken. After this try, compare with a brined chicken (see brining lesson). Joe

I am new this the school and I absolutely love it! Thank you for offering this online! I want to go to Culinary School, but it is too expensive for me right now.

I watched a few of the chicken videos and I am so excited that I can now butcher a whole chicken! That video is awesome! Earlier in the week I made such a mess of one before watching the video that I literally toss it in a bag and put it back in the freezer, and then used it for a long cooked stock.

My question is that when I am working with boneless chicken breast, I hate it when I bite into the tendon that is tough between the breast and the tenderloin. I noticed that the video on working with chicken breast does not cover this issue. Can you provide some thoughts on how to work with this?

Thank you,
Brad

Glad to hear you are enjoying the school :-) Once you remove the tenderloin from the breast, you can remove the stringy tendon by following this video. If you are referring to the part that is near the top on the inside of the breast, simply trim it off (a tiny bit of meat might have to go with it). Other visible parts on the surface that you don't like, just slide your knife underneath to gently remove them (kind of like removing silverskin). Butchering takes plenty of practice in order to become fast and efficient. Keep at it! Hope this helps!