It’s a problem that effects everyone in the kitchen from time to time: You work hard on preparing chicken breast, make sure not to overcook or undercook it, and after much trial and error, you still end up with a rubbery, dry, rough piece of meat! If you feel like you’ve tried everything and still can’t figure out how to crack the code, let us break down what exactly causes rubbery chicken, how to fix the dish when it does happen, and how to avoid and prevent it every time you prepare it from now on.
Why is my chicken rubbery?
First things first, to tackle remedying and preventing rubbery chicken, we have to figure out what exactly is causing the issue. While the problem isn’t one simple fix, there are many necessary steps you can take to make sure you never have to each tough chicken again.
The nature of this specific cut is really what makes it so vulnerable to dryness. Chicken breast is revered so widely as a healthy cut because of how lean it is compared to most other meats. This leanness in turn leaves it very susceptible to easily over and undercooking, as well as damaging from simply how it’s stored and prepped before it’s even added to heat.
That’s not to say that dry chicken is the fault of the consumer. The chicken industry has been rapidly changing over the last five years, in fact upwards of 10% of chicken breasts sold in America may already show signs of being “woody”. This is most notably discernible by the weight of the cut. It can be a bit of a balancing act; cuts that are too heavy are harder to cook through with traditional methods, while cuts that are too thin will easily be overcooked and dried out Over tenderizing your cut could make it way tougher and harder to cut through, but not tenderizing a rough cut from the start will set you up for failure.
So what CAN be done to fix and avoid rubbery, dry chicken?
Our Favorite Solutions
1. Slow Cooker
My favorite solution is definitely the slow cooker. I personally use the Hamilton Beach model, which I got on sale from Amazon.
All you have to do is fill your crock pot with water (just to above the top of your chicken, depending on how many chicken breasts you’d like to cook at once). After the water, you can season the chicken any way you like. I recommend sea salt, as it helps tenderize the meat while it cooks, you can learn more about that below.
For cook time, generally two options work best: You can cook it on high for 4 hours, or low for 6 hours. What we’ve found is that cooking it on high definitely gets the job done, but can lead to overcooking the meat if your cuts are too thin, or if you aren’t carefully checking in your slow cooker periodically.
Once you’re finished, you’ll want to take the chicken out once piece at a time, as the resulting mix of water and seasoning will likely still be left under the cooked chicken. Once you’ve taken out your chicken, it should fall right off the bone with ease with any knife. The simplicity of this method is really what makes it one of our favorites.
2. Brine
“But what if I don’t want to wait ALL DAY for my chicken breast?”
No need to worry, we realize not everyone has an entire 6 hour block to make their meal, which is why we’ve got another less time-intensive solution and recipe for you!
We’ve found that a salt water brine, inspired by the folks at Southern Living really helps the chicken breast retain all of it’s juices and flavor, any way you cook it. The salt in the water actually tenderizes the meat, so when it cooks the meat won’t tighten up become too tough too quickly. The salt also helps the proteins in the chicken breast absorb more water during the cooking process, and retain it so the meat doesn’t dry out while cooking. We’ll break down exactly what you’ll need and what you’ll need to do to make a savory-saving brine.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
- A few ounces of erythritol for sweetener
- 2 quarts of water
- 1/4 cup of kosher salt
- 4 (4-inch) sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 6 large sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tsp of red pepper flakes or chili powder
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 8 to 12 (6 to 8 oz) skinned and boned chicken breasts
Directions:
- stir together the 1/2 cup of cider vinegar 2 quarts water, the 1/4 cup of honey or coconut sugar (watch those carbs!), the 1/4 cup of kosher salt, the 4 sprigs of rosemary, the 6 sprigs of thyme, and the red pepper flakes in large stockpot
- heat over medium to high heat, while stirring occasionally, until the salene solution dissolves
- let the brine stand for one hour to cool
- Place your chicken in the brine and let it chill from 1 to 3 hours
- Preheat your grill to 350-400 degrees Farenheit
- Drain chicken and discard your brine
- Pat down the chicken to dry off excess brine with paper towels
- Then add your desired amount of black pepper
- Grill your chicken, with garlic under a covered lid for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until done
- Remove from grill and let stand for 5 minutes
3. The Classic Gravy
If you’re truly in a rush and still find yourself after careful preparation plagued by dry, rubbery chicken, our best bet is an old classic – gravy (as long as you keep it keto-friendly!). If it’s good enough for those dry Thanksgiving turkeys every year, it’s definitely good enough for your chicken breast!
What we’ve found works best is dipping your freshly cooked cuts into chicken stock lightly before cutting further to be served. Once additionally dipped and cut, lather on as much gravy as your heart desires, and enjoy!
Did you give these tips a try? Let us know how they worked by shooting us an email at ketolifehacks@gmail.com! Also stay tuned as we’ll have more recipes and meal hacks for all kinds of food very soon.
Thanks for reading, and happy cooking!