One Thing You Should Always Do Before Freezing Chicken Breasts
The combination of a chest freezer and a vacuum sealer is powerful. As someone who needs to eat a lot of protein (due to powerlifting) and who hates repetitive meals (because I’m a picky little kid), being able to buy meat in bulk and freeze it has helped me cut down on takeaways. Chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, I have it all in my freezer, waiting to satisfy my whims and cravings.
I even have chicken breasts. I don’t usually get into white meat too much – I like thighs more – but I do love a thin, bruised piece of breast browned and browned in a pan. As I mentioned earlier (over five years ago!), there are many benefits to taking some of the aggression out of a chicken breast by turning its crooked, teardrop shape into something thin and smooth:
Beating a chicken breast is fairly easy and has many benefits. A piece of meat of the same thickness will cook much more evenly, while a thinner piece of meat will cook much faster. You also mechanically tenderize the meat, which is similar to how a mother bird pre-chews the chick’s food, only much less coarse. This means you’ll get juicier, tastier chicken on the table faster , which is the best possible result. (Also, flatter chicken makes chicken sandwiches more delicious, and chicken sandwiches are very important.)
However, pounding frozen chicken breasts is tricky, so I bring a hammer with me before I freeze them. This eliminates the extra step when I cook it and it freezes and thaws more evenly and quickly.
How to beat a chicken breast
To beat a chicken breast, you need to wrap it in plastic. This will prevent the raw chicken juice from splattering. Some people use plastic wrap, but I prefer an airtight freezer bag because it’s made from a stronger material that’s less likely to tear and can be sealed.
Trim any white stringy pieces and excess fat from the meat and place the skewed chicken breast in a gallon freezer bag. Take a heavy, blunt object – I use a metal soup ladle, but a frying pan or saucepan will work too – and hit it, starting at the thickest part of the breast and working outward, flipping as needed to make it even and even. as thin as possible without tearing the meat. Aim for 3/4″ thickness.
How to freeze chicken breast
If you have a vacuum sealer, use it. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, wrap each breast in a piece of plastic wrap and then place them in a gallon freezer bag. When you’re ready to eat it, transfer it to the refrigerator to thaw on its own or in the marinade.
How to cook frozen chicken breast
These methods can be used on any frozen chicken (beaten or not), but you can sauté flattened breast directly from frozen. It would be foolhardy to do this with an uncooked teardrop breast—the thickest part takes forever to reach a safe temperature and still dry—but the thin, even breast will thaw and cook in the pan. much faster, and a beautiful crust is formed. Just make sure your heat is on medium to low (especially if you’re working with a very hot electric stove), otherwise you could end up with a burnt exterior and overly pink interior.
Add enough fat to coat the bottom of a stainless steel skillet (or use very well seasoned cast iron), then salt both sides of the breast by sprinkling salt on one side and letting it sit for about 30 seconds, then flip and repeat. on the other side. Add the meat to the prepared skillet set over medium-low heat. Let cook on one side until the edges are browned, then flip. Add a little butter to the pan and brush the breast until the other side is browned, then remove it once the digital thermometer registers 155℉ at its thickest part (which shouldn’t be much thicker than the rest thanks to your preparation). knock).