# Frozen chicken breasts



## gamms (Feb 4, 2009)

I hope someone has an answer to this - every time I brown chicken (I always use  the frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed before browning) a liquid cooks out and turns white.  I know that they inject water into this chicken before freezing.  It just looks terrible in the completed dish - little white pieces all around.  Does anyone else have this problem?


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## machx (Feb 5, 2009)

I have the same problem - it just stays watery for me, I end up burning it, the chicken sticking to the pan, or the chicken never cooking right.

Personally I use frozen chicken very frequently and find them very convenient but I find that they are useless for anything besides baking. The whole process of thawing kills the taste and consistency to me. Baking the chicken seems to take the moisture out in a more efficient way, for me at least.

Just my 2 cents 


Funny that you posted this - I actually came here looking for more ideas about how to creatively prepare frozen chicken breasts without thawing.  Presently, I place them on my cast iron pan with seasoning on top and bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees and they come out pretty nicely. 

Anyone else have good ideas for cooking frozen chicken - without thawing?


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## Glorie (Feb 5, 2009)

I use it all the time only because it's more cost effective in my budget, lol.  What I do is, after it's thawed, of course drain off the liquid, then I wash the chicken and pat dry before I begin to prepare it for cooking and it seems to work out well - I haven't had any problem


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## Scotch (Feb 5, 2009)

I find that freezing chicken affects the texture a bit, so rather than cooking frozen breasts whole, I usually slice them or chop them up, either while frozen or defrosted, and use them in something like soup or put them in a sauce of some sort.


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## JohnL (Feb 5, 2009)

Frozen chicken doesn't bother me at all. I always purchase large quantities when it's on sale, bring it home, package and freeze in small packets for use throughout the month. For cooking breast, I like to bone it out, place between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it out to an even thickness. Pat it dry with paper towels, season and cook in a med hot skillet till evenly browned on both sides. Of course I guess this method wouldn't work if you wanted thicker pieces of breast meat for your recipe.


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## machx (Feb 5, 2009)

JohnL said:


> Frozen chicken doesn't bother me at all. I always purchase large quantities when it's on sale, bring it home, package and freeze in small packets for use throughout the month. For cooking breast, I like to bone it out, place between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it out to an even thickness. Pat it dry with paper towels, season and cook in a med hot skillet till evenly browned on both sides. Of course I guess this method wouldn't work if you wanted thicker pieces of breast meat for your recipe.


 

Thanks... How exactly do you "pound it out"?  With a mallot? When it's thawwed or still defrosting?


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## Scotch (Feb 5, 2009)

You have to defrost the chicken before pounding it or it will split and tear. 

I usually put it between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and pound it with a meat mallet. Some parts are thicker and tougher than others and need a little more pounding, other parts flatten quite easily. Work slowly until you get the hang of it. The meat should be of more or less even thickness when you're done.

Here's a good recipe for this kind of chicken:

_*SAUTEED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS*_

½ Cup Flour
½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
4 Boneless Skinless Breast Halves (6 to 8 Ounces Each)
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 Pound Mushrooms, Sliced
1 Cup Onion, Diced
½ Cup Dry Sherry
1 Cup Chicken Stock
⅔ Cup Half & Half
4 Teaspoons Fresh Thyme, Chopped
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1. Mix together flour and nutmeg. Set aside 2 Tablespoons
of mixture and put remainder on plate.

2. Pound all breast halves to about ½ inch thick,
season with salt & pepper.

3. Dredge two of the breast halves in flour mixture.

4. Melt half the butter in hot 5-quart saute pan over medium
heat; saute two floured breasts halves about 3 to 4
minutes per side; place cooked breasts on clean plate
and cover with foil to keep warm.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 with remaining butter and breasts.

6. Add mushrooms and onion to pan, saute until brown,
about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Add reserved flour mixture to pan and cook about
1 minute, stirring constantly.

8. Add sherry to pan and stir about 30 seconds to loosen
brown bits on bottom of pan; add stock and half & half to
pan and bring to boil, stirring constantly.

9. Reduce heat to medium-low, place chicken on top of
mushrooms; simmer uncovered about 5 minutes to heat
chicken and thicken gravy; add salt & pepper if needed.

10. Garnish with chopped thyme & serve.


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## machx (Feb 5, 2009)

That sounds delicious... Amazon hear I come to order a meat mallet.  Thanks so much for the advice and recipe... will report back with my results!


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## marigeorge (Feb 5, 2009)

I find that if after thawing and drying off the boneless skinless breast I lightly coat it in rice flour it doesn't produce as much liquid as when I don't use the flour.


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## katoosh (Feb 5, 2009)

After taking out of pan wipe them down on a paper towel to get rid of white yukkie stuff


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 6, 2009)

machx said:


> That sounds delicious... Amazon hear I come to order a meat mallet.  Thanks so much for the advice and recipe... will report back with my results!


Unless you are in the boondocks and have to shop via Amazon, don't go through Amazon.  Go to your local Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, or somewhere like that.  Even the grocery stores sell meat tenderizers.  If you've never seen one before, they look like this.  They have two sides, one flat, one spiked for different cuts of meat.  Use the flat side for chicken.


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 6, 2009)

As for pre-frozen chicken breasts I find they work great in the crock pot.  I toss them in semi-defrosted, add a bottle or two (depending how many breasts you are using) of *Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing* covering the breasts and simmer until chicken is tender.  Serve with Orzo pasta and enjoy.  The liquid makes a great sauce for the orzo and it's low in fat if you use the Fat Free version.  The full fat version makes it too oily.


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## Glorie (Feb 6, 2009)

Callisto in NC said:


> Unless you are in the boondocks and have to shop via Amazon, don't go through Amazon. Go to your local Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, or somewhere like that. Even the grocery stores sell meat tenderizers. If you've never seen one before, they look like this. They have two sides, one flat, one spiked for different cuts of meat. Use the flat side for chicken.


 
You can also use a small pan which works just as good


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 6, 2009)

Glorie said:


> You can also use a small pan which works just as good


I guess but a mallot or meat tenderizer is a little more precise.


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## kitchenelf (Feb 6, 2009)

Yes, when in a pinch, and if no mallet is available, a small pan will work. Don't forget to place the chicken in either a baggie or place in a folded in half piece of plastic wrap. This will keep the chicken from scattering all over your kitchen AND it will allow the mallet or the pot to "slide", giving you more control. Whack it from the middle to the edges. You can also just whack the thicker parts to make even with the lower parts. I think chicken that has been flattened, which allows it to cook quicker, is more tender.  Just remember...the chicken is already dead so a lot of force isn't necessary


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## BreezyCooking (Feb 6, 2009)

"White Yukkie Stuff"?  Good grief - that's just proteins & chicken fat coagulating.  If you're planning on cooking, it's best to get used to things like that without calling them "White Yukkie Stuff".

I cook with thawed frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts very frequently, & frankly don't understand what the problems stated here are.  Simply drain any liquid after thawing, & drain or reduce/sauce extraneous liquid during cooking.  What's the problem?


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 6, 2009)

BreezyCooking said:


> I cook with thawed frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts very frequently, & frankly don't understand what the problems stated here are.  Simply drain any liquid after thawing, & drain or reduce/sauce extraneous liquid during cooking.  What's the problem?


I think the difference is using frozen chicken breasts that you yourself freeze and the already frozen chicken breasts.  They do have more stuff that comes out of them when they are the prefrozen ones because of the solution injected into them prior to freezing.  JMO but that's how the post read to me.  I do know I've seen a difference and why I look for sales on the breast meat so I can freeze them myself rather than buying the prefrozen ones.


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## Turkeyman (Feb 6, 2009)

kitchenelf said:


> I think chicken that has been flattened, which allows it to cook quicker, is more tender.  Just remember...the chicken is already dead so a lot of force isn't necessary



Totally agree -- for a long time I hated the chicken breasts I cooked until I started flattening them to 1/2 inch or so. This tenderizes them and "opens" them up a bit for marinade to come in. Your marinade flavors come through a ton more after cooking a flattened breast because you have more surface meat to interior meat ratio than if you cooked a chicken breast of normal thickness. It can taste so bland if not pounded out since the marinade on the surface is "diluted" by the thickness of the meat -- also, you end up cooking until the thick part of the breast is done and then the thin part of the breast ends up dry! Blech. Pound that meat to even thickness!


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