1) Thin out or butterfly the breast
- Chicken breasts are bulbous, so if you cook them as is, half of it will dry out before the thick end cooks through.
- The only way to get an even cook (unless you sous-vide) is to thin out the breast into an even thickness. Simply slice it into two thinner pieces, butterfly the breast, or pound it out into an even thickness.
2) Use a thermometer to nail the final temperature.
- Because chicken breast is so lean, overcooking by just a few degrees will dry out the muscle.
- We pull our chicken breast at 155°F/68°C — so long as it rests at that temperature for at least 45 seconds, it has the same bacteria-killing power as (over) cooking the meat to 165°F.
3) Add salt at some point
- Many people claim that is the secret to juicy chicken breast...but that's really not the case. Thinning out the breast so it cooks uniformly and pulling it at the right temperature has a far greater impact on the juiciness.
- But if you have time, dry brining is still helpful: it evenly seasons the meat and dries off the surface of the chicken, leading to extra for a more appealing final product.
Learn more:
Creating Healthy Meals Using Chicken Breast
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