Poaching whole Chicken

Denise~* wrote:

OK, I actually googled "poaching whole chicken" and came up with these:

Submerge it in liquid (stock or water) that is just below the boiling
point, then cook at the barest simmer, but doesn't mention any time.

Another one that gives no real method, but says 35 to 40 minutes for a
whole chicken, and doesn't say to steep afterward.

Another one that says "Place whole chicken in stock pot and cover with
cold water. Add the seasonings and vegetables and bring to a boil. Lower
to a simmer and cook 30 minutes"

My origianl recipe says to boil stock & then add the chicken

Start with warm, hot or cold stock?
Steep, or not to steep?

Help!

I put a whole cleaned & washed chicken in the crock pot, sprinkle
seasoned salt inside & outside, set to low heat, and leave for 10
hours. (water not needed). It is always perfect for grinding into
chicken salad, or chicken enchiladas or anything calling for cooked
chicken. Easy way out!

Quoted message said:

I put a whole cleaned & washed chicken in the crock pot, sprinkle
seasoned salt inside & outside, set to low heat, and leave for 10
hours. (water not needed). It is always perfect for grinding into
chicken salad, or chicken enchiladas or anything calling for cooked
chicken. Easy way out!

I don't have 10 hours. :-)

Yes, I'm making chicken salad.

Party is tomorrow & want the salad completed by today to make into
sammiches by tomorrow morning.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Denise~* said:

Quoted message said:

I put a whole cleaned & washed chicken in the crock pot, sprinkle
seasoned salt inside & outside, set to low heat, and leave for 10
hours. (water not needed). It is always perfect for grinding into
chicken salad, or chicken enchiladas or anything calling for cooked
chicken. Easy way out!

I don't have 10 hours. :-)

Yes, I'm making chicken salad.

Party is tomorrow & want the salad completed by today to make into
sammiches by tomorrow morning.

I'd put a chicken into a pot and since you don't have much time, I'd
skin it and defat it as much as possible first. Normally I'd not do
that. I'd let it cool and skim the fat off the top.

Put just enough water to cover it and add seasonings, onions, celery and
garlic to taste, bring it up to a boil and then turn it down and simmer
it for an hour. I doubt that it'll get overcooked this way. Just make
sure that the liquid level stays above the meat.

Cool, drain, and strip the bird of meat. I'd personally add the now
cooked celery, onions and garlic to the chicken salad as well.

Save the drained liquid for soup.

I've done this with older roosters I've had to process but THOSE have to
be cooked a LOT longer than a chicken from the store! <lol> Older birds
are tougher, but tastier.

Good luck!!!
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell--you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

Denise~* said:

Another one that says "Place whole chicken in stock pot and cover
with cold water. Add the seasonings and vegetables and bring to a
boil. Lower to a simmer and cook 30 minutes"

My original recipe says to boil stock & then add the chicken

Start with warm, hot or cold stock?
Steep, or not to steep?

Boiling liquid first with seasonings and vegetables will extract
maximum flavor from them into the liquid. That flavoring is very
delicate anyway, isn't it? If you skip that step couldn't you just
increase the flavoring elements?

Starting the chicken in cold liquid will maximize the evenness of its
cooking. Avoids the outside overcooking before the inside is done.
This is what I always do.

The steeping works really well. A bare simmer for 15-20 minutes,
followed by an hour covered with no heat, will thoroughly cook, but not
overcook, a 4-4.5 lb. chicken. If instead you simmer it until cooked
it's much harder to stop at exactly the point just before it begins to
overcook.

I've never cut the chicken up before poaching. Not sure what that
would do. -aem

Thank you so much Katra and AEM.

Mucho helpful!!!

Katra said:

I'd put a chicken into a pot and since you don't have much time, I'd
skin it and defat it as much as possible first. Normally I'd not do
that. I'd let it cool and skim the fat off the top.

No, skinning it will remove too much flavor. You're going to skin and
shred or chop it when it's cooked, so let the skin infuse some taste
into the meat. If you're going to use the cooking liquid the next day,
cool it and defat it before then. But note that poaching liquid is not
the same as stock. When you poach you want the flavor to stay in the
bird, whereas when you make stock you want to leave the bird flavorless
because it's all gone into the stock. Among other things, that's why
you don't want to salt the poaching liquid. [snip the rest] -aem

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Katra said:

I'd put a chicken into a pot and since you don't have much time, I'd
skin it and defat it as much as possible first. Normally I'd not do
that. I'd let it cool and skim the fat off the top.

No, skinning it will remove too much flavor. You're going to skin and
shred or chop it when it's cooked, so let the skin infuse some taste
into the meat. If you're going to use the cooking liquid the next day,
cool it and defat it before then. But note that poaching liquid is not
the same as stock. When you poach you want the flavor to stay in the
bird, whereas when you make stock you want to leave the bird flavorless
because it's all gone into the stock. Among other things, that's why
you don't want to salt the poaching liquid. [snip the rest] -aem

I think that roasting gives a much better flavor for chicken salad.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.