bonappettit wrote:
>
> Depending on which package has the least juice on the bottom, I buy
> skinless, boneless, chicken breasts or chicken breasts that have skin
> on and/or bone in. All I want to do is cook this stuff to eat with rice
> or for sandwiches.

Skin-on and bone-in are cheaper and fresher than
boneless/skinless, even if they are the same age.
Freshness is lost faster after the meat is separated.

> Do I have to rinse the raw chicken first? How much water do I put in
> the pot with it? Do I put salt in the water? Do I bring the water to a
> boil? If so, I imagine I reduce it to a simmer, right? How long do I
> simmer? How do I save the leftovers? How long can I keep them before
> they get hairy?

If you're really concerned about germs, a pressure
cooker is the way to go. You can put a whole chicken
in there, pressure cook for a little while, and it
will be fully cooked in hardly any time. The meat
is easily pulled off from all the body parts, and
you can keep it for a few days in the fridge.
Whole chickens are much cheaper than any other
form of chicken. Note that there's a plastic bag
of giblets (heart, liver, gizzard) in the body cavity.