How long to cook chicken in a pan. How to cook chicken properly. Boiled chicken soufflé

04.02.2024

Not so long ago, poultry was considered a dietary product, as well as a dish that was served on the table during the holidays.

Now chicken meat is available to all segments of the population. It is fried, baked, stewed, grilled. But most often they are used for preparing first courses.

But in order for the soup or regular broth to be tasty, the chicken must be cooked correctly.

How to prepare chicken for cooking

Chickens arrive on store shelves already chilled or frozen. They can be ungutted, semi-gutted or gutted.

Therefore, before you start cooking, you need to prepare the chicken.

First it is defrosted. This is done in the refrigerator at 3-6°C or at room temperature. Some housewives defrost the carcass in water. But this is not recommended, since the meat becomes heavily saturated with liquid, which worsens its taste. And also many useful substances come out of it into the water.
If the chicken is received with feathers, then it is plucked.
Then the carcass is singed. To do this, wipe it dry with paper napkins, stretch it over a gas burner, holding it by the head or neck and legs. Searing must be done very quickly so that the subcutaneous fat does not begin to melt, because it has a low melting point and melts quickly when heated.
The chicken is gutted, removing the intestines, stomach, heart, and lungs. The goiter is pulled out through an opening in the neck.
By-products are processed in this way: blood clots are removed from the heart, the gall bladder and nearby green pieces of tissue are separated from the liver, as they will be bitter. The stomach is cut halfway, unfolded, its contents are shaken out, and then the thick inner lining, which lends itself well, is removed.
The lower parts of the legs of the carcass are cut off, and the wings are shortened to the first joint.
The chicken is washed in cold water and placed on a baking sheet to dry.
If the whole carcass is cooked, it is shaped for compactness. To do this, the legs are tucked “into a pocket” - a cut in the abdomen.
If the chicken is defective or old, it is cut into portions.

How to cook chicken correctly

Many housewives are interested in the question: what kind of water should the carcass be placed in for cooking?

In fact, you need to proceed from the purpose for which the chicken is cooked.

If the chicken is cooked for salad or to serve as an appetizer, then the carcass is immersed in hot water. With this method of cooking, the maximum amount of nutrients will remain in the meat.

And if you need a rich and tasty broth, then the chicken carcass or chicken meat cut into pieces is poured with cold water.

How to Boil a Whole Chicken for Delicious Meat

The carcass, tucked into the pocket, is placed in hot water.
Bring to a boil.
Remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
Add salt, onions, carrots.
Turn the heat to very low and cook until done. Chickens are cooked for 25–30 minutes, chickens for 1 hour, old chickens for about 3 hours.
Check the readiness of the meat with a fork by sticking it into the thick part of the leg.

How to cook chopped chicken (Uzbek style) for delicious meat

The prepared carcass is cut into several parts and salted.
Place finely chopped onions and black pepper into the pan.
Pour 3 liters of water and bring to a boil.
Drop the chicken pieces.
Remove any foam that appears.
Cook at low boil (chickens - 40 minutes, chicken - 1.5 hours).
At the end of cooking, add greens and bay leaves.
Take out the meat, cool it and serve it to the table.

How to cook chicken for broth (soup)

Method 1

The carcass is cut into pieces.
Place in a saucepan and fill with cold water.
Leave for 30 minutes in a cool place so that the meat juice is released into the water.
Place on the fire and bring to a boil without covering with a lid.
Remove the foam.
Close with a lid.
Cook at low boil for 1–2 hours (it all depends on the age of the chicken). In the middle of cooking, chopped roots are added to the broth, and at the end - salt.
The broth is filtered through several layers of gauze.

Method 2

The legs of the prepared chicken are tucked into the pocket.
The liver, stomach, heart are washed.
The carcass and offal are placed in a pan and filled with cold water.
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
Remove the foam.
Reduce heat, add salt and cook until tender.
The meat is transferred to another pan, and the broth is filtered.

Method 3

Place chicken bones in the pan. The whole chicken or chopped into pieces is placed on them.
Fill with cold water.
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over low heat.
Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove all foam with a slotted spoon.
Continue cooking the bones for 2–3 hours, and the meat until soft.
The chicken and bones are removed and the broth is filtered.

It is very simple to distinguish an “aged” carcass from a young one: the breast bone of an old chicken is hard, while that of a young chicken is easily compressed.
A rooster's skin is bluish and thin, while a chicken's is white and much thicker.
A well-fed chicken carcass should not be washed in hot water. This makes its taste worse.
To make boiled chicken tasty, take it out of the broth, salt it, put it in a saucepan and cover with a lid.
When cooking chicken, pour water in full at once. If you add it during the cooking process, the broth will become tasteless. You should also not add salt in parts.
If you cook chicken for broth, then the meat is cut into small pieces and the bones are crushed.
All spices are added to water at the end of cooking.
The broth should not be cooked at a high boil. This makes it cloudy and greasy.
To make it transparent, you must remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
To lighten the broth, pour chicken bones with salted water (take 1 teaspoon of salt per half glass of water) and put in the refrigerator for an hour and a half. Half an hour before the end of cooking, this liquid (draw) is poured into the broth and brought to a boil over high heat. Then the flame is reduced. When the broth is cooked, strain it.
To prevent it from becoming cloudy when reheated, it is heated over low heat and the lid is not tightly closed. Do not bring to a boil.

Chicken is a product that can be used to prepare a huge and impressive variety of dishes. How long should you cook the chicken to ensure it has the perfect taste and aroma? The product can be prepared for serving on its own or for adding to other recipes. Every housewife should know how long to cook this dish, but there are still certain nuances. How long does it take to cook poultry for broth or for salads?

Proper cooking

How long should you cook homemade chicken or store-bought chicken? If you plan to cook a separate part of the chicken: leg, thighs, breast, then this will take about half an hour. How long to cook chicken wings or other parts is very clear, but what to do with the broth?

How long does it take to cook chicken soup? It takes about half an hour until it is ready, but it is better to pour cold water into the pan, which will help the meat release all the useful and necessary substances into the soup. After the liquid begins to boil, carefully remove the foam and cover the container as tightly as possible with a lid.

How long to cook chicken necks? In this case, you will need a small amount of time - about 20 minutes will be enough.

TIP: Before cooking, the whole bird or its parts should be thoroughly rinsed with water so that the meat is clean before cooking. It is necessary to cook the product no longer than the specified time, because the meat will lose all its valuable qualities.

How long does it take to cook chicken? If you need a boiled product to prepare a salad or other tasty dish, it is recommended to place the chicken in already boiled and slightly salted water. In this case, the protein layer quickly coagulates, and the meat itself or the soup set retains the substances within itself. A wing is not suitable for such purposes, since many preferred options are fillet or thighs.

Key figures

How long does it take to prepare the perfect dish? In order for the cooked product to be tasty, you need to know how long to cook chicken meat:

Please note that cooking homemade chicken takes about an hour.
You can poach chicken meat in a quarter of an hour.
The chickens are cooked for about half an hour.
Poaching young chicken meat for 12 minutes is sufficient.
Old poultry is cooked for 3 hours so that the meat is not tough.

The cooking time frame is approximate, so you need to look at the product itself during its preparation, and your culinary sense will tell you when it’s time to remove the finished dish from the stove. If you want to cook meat quickly, you need to give preference to young chickens.

Today, poultry meat is available to almost all segments of the population. What could be easier than boiling chicken? But, unfortunately, not every housewife succeeds in this.

In this article, we’ll look at how to cook chicken, how long it takes, and find out possible cooking methods to make the dish not only tasty, but also healthy.

Product preparation

Chickens are delivered chilled to store shelves or markets. As a rule, unpacked carcasses are placed in boxes, which are placed in warehouses.

Therefore, before cooking chicken, it must be pre-processed. Below is an example algorithm.

At the first stage, the bird is defrosted. This is best done in the refrigerator at a temperature no higher than 6 degrees. If the carcass is poorly cleared of feathers, you can use tweezers or simply scorch the surface.

In the latter case, the carcass must be wiped dry with a paper towel. Then stretch it over the gas burner, holding it by the legs on one side and by the head or neck on the other. You need to singe it very quickly so that the subcutaneous fat does not begin to melt.
At the next stage, the carcass is gutted. To do this, take out the heart, lungs and other offal, which will be useful in further preparation. Pull the goiter through the hole in the neck area. The intestines and crop are thrown away. The gallbladder, which is located near the liver, must be removed very carefully. If it bursts, the taste of the meat will be hopelessly ruined. The heart must be carefully freed from blood clots. To do this, rinse it under running water. Cut the stomach into halves and turn it inside out to remove as much food debris as possible. Wash and remove the thick inner shell, which remains very tough even after processing.
Next, we cut off the lower parts of the legs and shorten the wings to the first joint. Then the carcass is washed well under running water, especially from the inside. To dry it, you need to briefly put it in the oven.
If the whole carcass is cooked, it must be folded compactly. To do this, we tuck the legs into a “pocket” made on the abdomen using a knife.

If you don’t need a whole chicken to make soup, it’s better to cut it up and put some in the freezer.

Mistakes that housewives make when preparing poultry

Before you cook chicken, it must be properly prepared, otherwise it will turn out to be a tasteless dish. Let's figure out why.

Many women, in order not to wait for the carcass to defrost in the refrigerator, try to speed up this process with water or a microwave oven. Neither one nor the other method can be called suitable.

In the case of water, the meat will be saturated with liquid and lose its inherent flavor.
If you defrost chicken in the microwave, the protein may curdle. This will cause the chicken meat to remain tough even after prolonged cooking.

The second mistake many make during gutting is by carelessly removing the liver. Thus, the gall bladder can burst right in the carcass, causing the meat to be very bitter.

When using old poultry, do not cook it whole. This will take a lot of time, and besides, it is not always possible to get rid of its inherent rigidity. It is better to cut the carcass of an old bird into pieces.

Cutting methods

In order to boil the chicken until cooked, especially if we are talking about an old carcass, it is more advisable to properly cut it.

We’ll look at how to do this most quickly below.

First you need to separate the legs. Turn the prepared carcass onto its back and stretch its legs in different directions. Carefully score the skin, continuing to cut until the knife touches the bone. Set it aside and use your hands to turn the paw in the other direction. Scroll until the limb is disconnected from the body.

Next, use a knife to separate the thigh from the drumstick.
In the same way, separate the wings at the shoulder joint.
Now you need to disconnect the back from the chest. This can be done using an ordinary knife or culinary scissors. In the second case, the manipulation will be especially successful.
Along the ridge, cut the carcass into four parts, rinse each of them under running water.
Immediately wrap any pieces of poultry that are not used in cooking paper and place them in the freezer.

How to cook chicken correctly

Housewives often argue about what kind of water the chicken should be immersed in during the cooking process. Some say it's cold, others prefer boiling water. Oddly enough, both sides are right.

The fact is that you can cook in two of the listed ways, the main thing is to understand for what purpose this is done.

If you decide to prepare a rich, aromatic chicken broth, then, of course, it is better to immerse the meat in cold water.
When preparing a salad with boiled chicken or a savory appetizer with poultry, the meat is immersed in hot water. In this case, it will retain the maximum amount of nutrients.

Cook the whole bird

To boil a delicious whole chicken, tuck the legs into the “pocket” and fill the bird with cold water.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat. You don't want the water to boil, otherwise all the dirt will fall down. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon until the water is completely clear.

Peel the carrots and onions. Cut in half and place in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. For flavor, add a few dried bay leaves and 5 black peppercorns.

How long to cook the chicken depends on what kind of carcass you use.

If it's chicken, 20 minutes is enough. The carcass of a young bird requires 60 minutes of cooking, and in the case of an old chicken it will take at least 3 hours.

To check if the meat is cooked, pierce the thick part of the skin with a fork.

Chicken “Uzbek style”

To do this, use chopped chicken. The algorithm is as follows:

Salt and pepper the meat.
Peel the onion, finely chop and place on the bottom of the container. Follow with black peppercorns.
Pour in 3 liters of water and bring to a boil.
When the water boils, add the chicken pieces. Bring to a boil again, skim off the foam and reduce the heat.
At the end of cooking, add finely chopped fresh herbs and bay leaf.

How long to cook the chicken depends on the size of the pieces you use. For a chicken, half an hour is enough, for an adult chicken - about one and a half.

Check the readiness of the product using a fork. Then you can take it out and serve it to the table.

How to cook chicken for broth

We cut the prepared carcass into pieces and place it in a saucepan. It is necessary to fill the bird with cold water.

Important! The pan should not be put on the fire immediately - it is better to send it to a cool place for at least half an hour. This is necessary so that the meat releases juice.

Then put it on the fire and bring to a boil. There is no need to close the lid.
When the water boils, skim off the foam, reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and cook the meat for an hour to two.
In this case, the answer to the question of how long to cook the chicken until done depends on the age of the bird. Therefore, you should check this point during the cooking process.
Peel the onion, carrots and parsley root, cut into several pieces and add to the pan after half an hour.
Salt and ground black pepper are added at the end.
When the broth is ready, strain it through cheesecloth.
Before serving, sprinkle with fresh finely chopped herbs.

Poultry cooking time

Still, how long does it take to cook chicken? This depends not only on the age of the carcass, but also on the purpose of cooking.

An hour and a half is enough to cook chicken soup. A whole carcass can be boiled in a slow cooker using the “Stew” mode in one hour. Cut into pieces, it will be ready in half an hour.

If you are cooking chicken meat for jellied meat, the minimum cooking time is 4 hours.

As mentioned above, this will take the same amount of time as it takes to prepare poultry broth.

If you don't know how to tell the age of a bird, look at the breast. In an old individual it will be hard, in a young one it will look like cartilage.
It will not be difficult to distinguish a rooster from a chicken. The male individual has a thin, bluish skin. Chicken skin is light and much thicker.
When preparing a well-fed carcass, it should never be washed, as water will significantly worsen the taste of the bird. Use a paper towel to clean the surface, but it's best to preheat the oven and let the carcass sit for a few minutes.
To make the chicken as tasty as possible, during cooking it is removed from the broth, salted and returned back to the pan.
To prepare the broth, water must initially be poured in the required volume. You cannot add water during the process - this will spoil the taste of the broth. It is also not recommended to salt the broth in several stages.
Experts advise adding all spices at the end of cooking.
To keep the broth light, cook it over low heat, periodically skimming off the foam. If this is not done, the liquid will turn out cloudy.

But with the right approach, many hearty and tasty dishes are obtained from rural natural products: broth with noodles, jellied meat, chakhokhbili, and so on. Very tasty homemade chicken stew. If you pre-marinate it, the meat turns out amazing, very tender, and compares favorably in its taste with store-bought broiler. Today we will talk about how to cook homemade chicken soft and juicy.

Total cooking time: 3 hours + 2 hours marinating / Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

domestic chicken - 1.5 kg
salt - 1.5-2 tsp.
a mixture of ground peppers - 2-3 chips.
lemon - 0.5 pcs.
large onion - 1 pc.
parsley - 0.5 bunch.
bay leaf - 1 pc.
hot water - 2-2.5 l

Preparation

To begin with, I held the chicken over the fire, removed the remaining feathers, washed and dried. Then she cut the carcass into portions, cutting along the joints. This time I decided to leave the legs intact. If the bird is “at a serious age,” then you can lightly beat off the pieces or make deep punctures in them with a knife.

Transfer the meat to a deep bowl, sprinkling the pieces with salt and ground pepper. I squeezed half a lemon in there. Peeled the onion and cut it into thin half rings, squeezed it forcefully into a bowl with the chicken to release as much juice as possible. I left the bird in this form to marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator (can be overnight). The acids contained in lemon and onion will slightly soften the meat fibers, and the chicken will become more tender.

After the specified time, I fried the chicken to seal the meat juices inside each piece. The meat was fried in portions, in a very hot, always dry frying pan for about 3-4 minutes on each side, without a lid, on maximum heat.

Then, in the same frying pan, the onions, which were used for pickling, were sautéed in the melted fat.

Place the browned chicken and onions (without fat, you can drain it) into a saucepan with a thick bottom. I added bay leaves and parsley, tied with a thread to make them easier to remove from the finished broth. Pour boiling water in such a way that the liquid covers the contents of the pan by 2-3 centimeters.

Bring to a boil, skim off the foam and simmer for 2 hours. The heat must be medium throughout the cooking time, otherwise the meat simply will not cook properly. If after the specified time the meat is still tough, then you have got a very old chicken; you will have to simmer it for an additional 1 hour - usually this time is more than enough for it to become soft and tender. If necessary, you can add hot water. In the last hour of cooking, you can add peeled and coarsely chopped potatoes to the pan, then you will immediately have a side dish. It is most convenient to check readiness with a fork; if the meat easily comes away from the bone and is divided into fibers, then you can remove the pan from the heat.

Chicken stewed in its own juices in a pan turns out aromatic, soft and juicy. During the cooking process, a lot of fat will melt and float to the surface of the broth; it can be carefully removed with a spoon, scooping out only the top layer. Using the remaining broth, you can cook a very tasty noodle soup or simply serve it with a boiled egg, herbs and croutons. Bon appetit!

For many, this method of preparing poultry is unacceptable, but there are life situations when it can brighten up your table, especially if it is a forced diet prescribed by a doctor. Therefore, it is better to cook the chicken deliciously, and with the help of these recipes you can make sure that this is possible.

How to deliciously cook a whole chicken in a pan - recipe

Ingredients:

chicken – 1 pc.;
carrot – 1 pc.;
onion – 1 onion;
– 1 piece;
dill – ¼ bunch;
pepper;
laurel;
salt.

Preparation

In order to cook chicken, and not chicken, you need a young bird, preferably not one that has been frozen, but a fresh, simply chilled bird. It is better that it is a meat breed of broiler, and not ordinary domestic chicken, since it is still more suitable for broth. Heat the water to a boil, the amount should be more than just cover the bird, since the water will boil away, and it should cover the chicken until the very end of cooking.

Wash the chicken itself, inspect for remaining feathers and after boiling, place in water. In order to cook meat, it must be immersed only in boiling water, this closes all the pores and less flavor leaves the bird into the water. And if you put meat in cold water and then boil it, you will end up with a tasty broth, but less tasty meat.

Wait for the second boil, collect the foam, add the vegetables, preparing them as follows: cut the onion in half, the carrot into three parts, you need a piece of celery no more than 3 by 3 centimeters. Add dill directly tied into a bunch, do not forget about salt and spices. And then reduce the temperature to a minimum so that the water barely boils. The bird should be cooked for 40 to 60 minutes, if it is a broiler from a poultry farm; if it is poultry and it is old, then the time can increase to 3 hours. And of course, it still depends on the weight of the bird itself, but if you see that the meat is coming away from the bones, then it is probably already cooked. You can also make a puncture with a fork; if the fork easily penetrates the thigh meat, then the chicken is cooked, this is also an indicator of readiness.

As a result, you will still end up with some kind of broth, especially since it will also be vegetable. So strain it and use it for sauce or creamy soup.

How to deliciously cook chicken fillet or other meat?

Ingredients:

Preparation

If we talk about boiled fillet, it is better to purchase a whole breast, and only then cut the fillet after cooking. Firstly, this way the fillet turns out more juicy and less astringent, and secondly, you will still get a broth that can be used for cooking, of course not borscht, but perfect for some kind of sauce.

Place the meat with coarsely chopped vegetables and spices in water after boiling and after 20-25 minutes you can remove it. But if these are large legs, it is better to boil everything for half an hour, it will be more reliable.