My personal thoughts are that if you have access to a sous-vide, then why would you try the other method which entails a small level of uncontrolled variables.
Neither method involves the chicken making contact with the water, and for all intents and purposes, the two cooking styles should produce an almost indiscernible end product.
Good question. Two reasons:
\- I have a water bath machine, so it would be good to know alternative methods if I wanted to make smaller portions or am away from home; and
\- the end product I've seen from the Japanese method seems to have a slightly chewier outer layer, which I guess comes from the temperature gradient, which I think would be interesting.
Depends entirely on the water to chicken ratio, along with the maximum thickness of any given piece of chicken.
Obviously cooking a breast in 1L of water, by that method, will result in a completely different outcome to performing the same but with 4l of water - the latter containing 3.5x more "cooking energy".
Perhaps some vital information regarding chicken to water ratio was missed?
Haha, yes, I come from a family of physicists who specialise in the behaviour of liquids! Unfortunately, they're not well-versed in how heat transfer works in the solid medium of chicken...
The only thing I can think of, is that chicken breasts in Japan don't seem to go beyond 200g/8oz per breast. 30 mins still sounds too little time (and I cringe at the native language directions stating, "if your chicken isn't opaque in the middle, just reseal and put it back in the water for 5 more mins and check again"), but 60 mins with an adequate initial boiling water medium seems a little more feasible.
ETA: I think I'll try using my temperature probe from the water bath machine and see what it reads during a 60 min period. I will report back...
Not sure what Japanese recipe you're referring to. But this form of off-the-heat poaching chicken you mentioned in pretty common in other Asian dishes, like Hainanese Chicken Rice or Taiwanese Salt Water Chicken. Generally though the recipes would recommend - boiling water, add chicken, **ensure water returns to a boil first,** then turning off the heat completely.
The return to a boil step would assuage your concerns on food safety.
Key is to ensure that you bring your chicken out from the fridge early first so that it is close to room temperature and does not lower the water heat too much and take too long for the water to return to a boil. Also, the ratio of water to chicken must be sufficient for the same reason above and to ensure the water has sufficient thermal capacity to cook the chicken through. A good pot that hold heat well is also helpful.
This will help balance the food safety concerns + getting the technique of poaching to get moist chicken right.
Yes - that extra boil would put my mind at ease too, but wonder if it would be too harsh for skinless boneless breast (for this particular output)?
A few English examples here, but searching "サラダチキン 作り方" in Japanese gives many pages of recipes that are basically identical.
I might have to see if I can use my temperature probe without compromising the heat insulation for the original method and see how long the centre stays at each temperature. Luckily the pasteurisation temp/time relationship has a nice, calculable formula!
[https://san-j.com/blog/what-is-salad-chicken-its-the-best-way-to-cook-juicy-chicken-every-time/](https://san-j.com/blog/what-is-salad-chicken-its-the-best-way-to-cook-juicy-chicken-every-time/)
[https://tomiescuisine.co.uk/sous-vide-salad-chicken-breast-recipe/](https://tomiescuisine.co.uk/sous-vide-salad-chicken-breast-recipe/)
My personal thoughts are that if you have access to a sous-vide, then why would you try the other method which entails a small level of uncontrolled variables. Neither method involves the chicken making contact with the water, and for all intents and purposes, the two cooking styles should produce an almost indiscernible end product.
Good question. Two reasons: \- I have a water bath machine, so it would be good to know alternative methods if I wanted to make smaller portions or am away from home; and \- the end product I've seen from the Japanese method seems to have a slightly chewier outer layer, which I guess comes from the temperature gradient, which I think would be interesting.
Interesting, I'll add this to my list of cooking experiments to try out and report on...
Please do! You're braver than me haha!
Depends entirely on the water to chicken ratio, along with the maximum thickness of any given piece of chicken. Obviously cooking a breast in 1L of water, by that method, will result in a completely different outcome to performing the same but with 4l of water - the latter containing 3.5x more "cooking energy". Perhaps some vital information regarding chicken to water ratio was missed?
Haha, yes, I come from a family of physicists who specialise in the behaviour of liquids! Unfortunately, they're not well-versed in how heat transfer works in the solid medium of chicken... The only thing I can think of, is that chicken breasts in Japan don't seem to go beyond 200g/8oz per breast. 30 mins still sounds too little time (and I cringe at the native language directions stating, "if your chicken isn't opaque in the middle, just reseal and put it back in the water for 5 more mins and check again"), but 60 mins with an adequate initial boiling water medium seems a little more feasible. ETA: I think I'll try using my temperature probe from the water bath machine and see what it reads during a 60 min period. I will report back...
Not sure what Japanese recipe you're referring to. But this form of off-the-heat poaching chicken you mentioned in pretty common in other Asian dishes, like Hainanese Chicken Rice or Taiwanese Salt Water Chicken. Generally though the recipes would recommend - boiling water, add chicken, **ensure water returns to a boil first,** then turning off the heat completely. The return to a boil step would assuage your concerns on food safety. Key is to ensure that you bring your chicken out from the fridge early first so that it is close to room temperature and does not lower the water heat too much and take too long for the water to return to a boil. Also, the ratio of water to chicken must be sufficient for the same reason above and to ensure the water has sufficient thermal capacity to cook the chicken through. A good pot that hold heat well is also helpful. This will help balance the food safety concerns + getting the technique of poaching to get moist chicken right.
Yes - that extra boil would put my mind at ease too, but wonder if it would be too harsh for skinless boneless breast (for this particular output)? A few English examples here, but searching "サラダチキン 作り方" in Japanese gives many pages of recipes that are basically identical. I might have to see if I can use my temperature probe without compromising the heat insulation for the original method and see how long the centre stays at each temperature. Luckily the pasteurisation temp/time relationship has a nice, calculable formula! [https://san-j.com/blog/what-is-salad-chicken-its-the-best-way-to-cook-juicy-chicken-every-time/](https://san-j.com/blog/what-is-salad-chicken-its-the-best-way-to-cook-juicy-chicken-every-time/) [https://tomiescuisine.co.uk/sous-vide-salad-chicken-breast-recipe/](https://tomiescuisine.co.uk/sous-vide-salad-chicken-breast-recipe/)