Boiling, poaching, simmering, and killing germs
George wrote:
> bonappettit wrote:
>> I am essentially a not too bright male who regards persons like Alton
>> Brown with profound suspicion. Unable to find a self-sacrificing woman
>> to cook for me, I have to do this dreary stuff myself. I read a book
>> with 487 chicken recipes, and I still don't know how to cook a chicken
>> breast in water for sandwiches. Persons with my degree of inaptitude
>> don't want to know from moist, savory, tasteful, sauces, and
>> thermometers — I just want to know enough to avoid E. coli and
>> salmonella.
>> 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.
>> 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?
>> After I get this down pat, I'll go for the Alton Brown treatment.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Alton Brown is actually someone good to learn from because you are
> actually learning the science behind the process not just watching
> someone assembling something.
>
> The simplest approach is to poach them like this:
>
> Bring water* (4 cups) to boil, rinse the chicken and drop into the pot
> and reduce the heat so it simmers. Let it simmer for ~ 70 minutes, cover
> the pot (don't peek), turn off the heat and let it sit until cool to
> the touch.
Above time should be *7* minutes.
>
> *You can poach in anything you like such as plain water, or add some
> white wine, or lemon, or use stock. You can also quarter an onion and
> add that or a couple cloves of smashed garlic or whatever seasoning you
> like.
>
> Wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
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