I Need Suggestions on How to Cook Chicken

Get yourself an instant read meat thermometer. Then you'll know when the chicken is done. It also sounds like your cooking your meat at too high of a temperature. Slow even temperature cooking is best. My favorite sites for recipes are allrecipes.com, hungrymonster.com, and foodtv.com

invest in a meat thermometer. they have new ones that are digital and expensive if you have the $$ they are nice. the good old manual ones work just as well and they have the types of meat right on the stick at the temp at which to pull the meat out. no cook should go without one!! also, I get alot of recipes at www.allrecipes.com where you can read reviews of people who have tried them and/or altered them. lots of stuff for chicken in hundreds of ways. happy cooking :)

Hi M.

I work for Southern Living at HOME...on my website, there are often chicken recipes...www.southernlivingathome.com/designwithmichelle
One of our books that we pull recipes from is Cooking light, so I would also google a Cooking Light website too (it's my favorite cookbook with the best reciptes).

Hope this helps!

When you grill the chicken, what heat level are you using? You also mention that when you cook the chicken in the pan it browns quickly and gets tough on the outside. I think I know what the culprit may be - too much heat!

Try doing everything the same, but turn down the heat!

Grilling - preheat the grill on high heat, then turn the burners down to medium or lower. Start with 6-7 minutes per side. Don't use anything that will 'pierce' the meat and let the juices run out while grilling - a spatula should be used to turn the meat. You can also use the corner of the spatula to 'press' into the meat to determine if it is cooked enough or not. When you press into the center of the meat, it shouldn't be soft and squishy nor should it be tough; somewhere in between (yeah, I know that's vague).

Pan Cooking - use a meat tenderizer to ensure that all pieces are of the same thickness. You don't have to pound them to a skinny piece, just enough so that the pieces are consistent. Cook on MEDIUM and be patient. If you want the chicken to have that beautiful golden glow, then take care of that at the end of cooking. Brush or spray on a little butter or olive oil then turn up the heat to high JUST to get the browning.

Try recipes.com or Jewel - they have great recipes. Also, buy a crockpot - you can never burn chicken in there and it turns out very moist. You don't have to worry if it's cooked because you will leave it in there for several hours. Good luck!

If you lightly bread the chicken and bake it, it comes out nice and juicy. You can use breadcrumbs, cornflake crumbs, oats, etc mixed with dried herbs, onion powder and/or parmesan cheese. Use a meat mallet to make sure the chicken pieces are all the same thickness, like others have suggested. Dredge the chicken breasts in flour, then in beaten egg whites with a little milk (use the yolk too, if you're not counting calories), then dip in the breading. Spray a pan with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. It can be like chicken parmesan without the tomato sauce or mozzarella cheese, or add that too for a different meal.

The best luck I have cooking chicken is to put it in the oven. I put it in a covered ceramic pan at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. I usually throw in a bit of olive oil, garlic, and other spices. It comes out really moist and tender. My newest way of cooking chicken, from the advice of a friend, is just to throw the frozen chicken into a crock pot and add some taco seasoning. At the end of the day the chicken is so moist you can shred it with a fork and make delicious tacos :)

A great way to make tender, juicy chicken breasts in a pan is to add water to the pan. Not so much as to cover the chicken, but so there is like a half inch to inch of water, and let the chicken boil in the water. This cooks the chicken evenly and keeps it moist. You still have to flip it over. Season as usual with salt & pepper or whatever you like and loosly cover pan with lid.

Try 1 cup of chicken broth in a pan and cook it in there for 10 min, then do whatever you want with it just to add more flavor. It is very juicy and tender this way. I learned that from the cooking network.

I had the same problem as you. I never knew when the chicken was done. So I started buying the thin cut chicken breasts. They cook much quicker and stay juicy b/c I don't have to guess on how long the thickest part of the meat will take to cook. Have you checked out cooking sites? Cooking Light, Foodnetwork & Allrecipes are great. They also list the basics of cooking so maybe you can find other tips for cooking chicken.

I make chicken steam pockets. I take the chicken and put them all in a plastic baggie, add olive oil (enough to coat all pieces of chicken) and spices, and let them sit while I cut up the veggies (I prefer using yellow and orange peppers, carrots, broccoli and green beans. Then I take a sheet of aluminum foil and put one piece of chicken on it, fill it up with veggies, and then fold the foil in half--enveloping the chicken and veggies--and fold up the edges a couple of times to keep it closed.

In the oven at 425 degrees, bake it for 30 minutes. Take the packets out, let them cool slightly (enough to open them without burning your fingers) and open (watch the steam though...that burns as well). You can either just dump everything (juices and all) onto a plate and serve, or you can just open a small corner and then dump the juices out and put the meat and veggies on a plate. I prefer to leave the juices on the plate...

That's it...full meal!

You can also get a steamer. I love steamed chicken and veggies and it's a low-heat (in the kitchen) way to cook the veggies to keep the flavor and the chicken to keep it moist, but cook well.

Besides from finding a recipe, I love marinating chicken overnight and then cooking it on my George Forman grill. The fat falls to the bottom and the grill cooks it fairly quickly!

If you use this link it will take you to some really great ideas for cooking chicken!

http://lifestyle.msn.com/foodandentertaining/recipes/reci...

Cook it in a bag. You can find it in the spice type aisle at the store...where the powder packet stuff is. McCormick's has a really yummy bagged chicken and it's never overcooked.

I just made the most tender chicken on the grill, and I don't like to cook any meat on the grill because I also overcook it. I made a whole chicken cooked on a large beer can (1/2 full). The easy part was that I got the Perdue chicken, so when it is done its thermometer pops out. You should also refer to a cookbook like Better Homes and Gardens to get accurate cooking times depending on the number of pounds. You can learn how to make grilled chicken on a beer can by searching on the web under "grilled chicken on a beer". Any more ?'s just let me know. It was soooo easy, very little prep involved!!

If cooking in a pan, keep flame medium/low and cover pan. In the oven you need about 20-30 minutes for cut pieces at 375 or for a whole chicken 325 covered for 20 minutes then 40 minutes @375 basting frequently.

I love to use my crock pot to cook a whole chicken. It cooks slowly so it is fall off the bone juicy when it is done. If you have a crock pot and want some recipes, send me a message.

Braising chicken on the stove top is my second favorite way to do it. Again, it is a way to slowly cook the chicken so it gets really juicy and not tough. My favorite recipe for braising is 40 cloves of garlic chicken. You first get your pot really hot and put some grape seed oil (or you can use olive oil, but grapeseed oil has a higher smoke temperature) in the pan. Then you put the chicken in. It is best to use chicken with the skin on, you can peel the skin off later, but the skin keeps the juices inside. Put the chicken in the pan skin side down and let it sit. When it is done browning it will pull away from the pan on its own. I usually leave it a little longer even than this so that it gets really brown. If estimating I would say leave it for at least 5 or 6 minutes. Then flip it over and do the same on the other side. In the meantime measure out or create 2 cups of chicken stock and get 40 cloves of garlic ready. You can peel the garlic if you want, but I don't bother, it cooks well and gives the chicken good flavor either way. Once the chicken is good and brown, add the stock and the garlic until the stock boils. Then turn the stove down to a simmer, cover the pot and let it cook for about 45 minutes. You can add some fresh herbs if you want. When it is done the chicken tastes great and the garlic is basically like roasted garlic that you can just spread on bread. We love this in our house and it is so easy. Plus it works great with some of the less expensive pieces of chicken, such as legs and thighs.

If you are going to use skinless chicken breasts, you can always make chicken and rice by cooking the rice and chicken in the same pot with chicken stock (2 cups chicken stock for every cup of rice). It is pretty bland unless you add a lot of herbs in my opinion, but it is an easy meal and my husband and daughter like it.

D.

Meat thermometer! They work for everything, some can't be used on an outdorr grill (DH has ruined 2 this way). We have a digital one that has a temperature alarm so it sounds when the meat is ready.

One thing that has really helped me when it comes to boneless chicken breasts is a meat mallet and some wax paper. Put the chicken breast on a piece of wax paper and another over the top, and then whack it with the mallet until it is evenly thin all around. Not only does this tenderize the meat but it evens it out and thins it out so it cooks much faster. I also find that recipes calling for cubed chicken (such as curry dishes or stir frys) come out much better if you pound the chicken before cutting it. Good luck!