How to Poach Chicken

Guide Note

Sometimes it's how well you execute a basic technique that determines the success of a recipe. For example, no matter how marvelous a dressing you have, a chicken salad that has dry, stringy chicken just can't match one with moist, tender meat. What's the difference? Proper poaching! This guide to How to Poach Chicken shares the secrets you need to get your chicken ready for use in any recipe that requires perfectly poached poultry!

Table of Contents

Poaching Chicken Tips

  1. Match seasonings to ultimate recipe.
  2. Don't use salt.
  3. Watch the time so you don't overcook.
  4. Save the poaching liquid for use in soups and gravies.

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Introduction

  • The key to successfully poached chicken is to cook the chicken just as long as it needs to be cooked, but no longer.1 It may seem odd, as you're cooking it in liquid, but chicken that's been boiling too long will be dry and stringy. The second secret is to make sure the chicken remains submerged at all times.2 Chicken that's above the water line will also dry out, becoming tough and chewy.

What You'll Need

(Creative Commons photo by Belinda Hankins Miller)
(Creative Commons photo by Belinda Hankins Miller)

Ingredients

Equipment

  • Pot large enough to hold the chicken
  • Plate with smaller diameter than pot
  • Cheesecloth
  • Kitchen String

Step 1: Prepare the Liquid

(Photo by Angel Fragallo)
(Photo by Angel Fragallo)
  1. Fill a pot with enough water to totally immerse the chicken.
    • You can substitute other liquids for all or part of the water.
  2. Add seasonings that dissolve, such as garlic powder, directly to the water.
  3. Whole herbs and spices should be placed in a bouquet garni (bundle) before being added to the pot.4

Making the Bouquet Garni

  • You want the flavor from the seasonings in the chicken, but you don't want your chicken covered with little flecks of herbs that you'll need to scrape off. What to do? French chefs have long used a bouquet garni to solve this problem!4
  • The technique is much simpler than the fancy French name implies. A bouquet garni is simply a bundle of herbs loosely tied together with a string. It is boiled with the food it is seasoning and then discarded when cooking is complete.
  1. Cut a square of cheesecloth large enough to contain the herbs your using.
  2. Place the herbs in the center of the cheesecloth.
    • If you don't have cheesecloth, you can improvise a bouquet garni by placing the herbs and spices inside a tea ball. The larger ones, designed to brew a pot of tea, work nicely.
  3. Whole spices, such as peppercorns, cloves, juniper berries or cardamom can be placed in the center of the bundle.
  4. Gather up the edges to form a pouch.
  5. Tie the bundle with kitchen string to secure.
  6. Voila! You have a bouquet garni.

Step 2: Poach the Chicken

(Creative Commons photo by foeopoooey)
(Creative Commons photo by foeopoooey)
  1. Place the chicken in the prepared liquid.
    • Double check to make sure it's completely submerged.
  2. Bring the liquid to a boil.5
  3. Turn the heat down to a simmer.6
    • Turn the heat down as soon as it comes to a boil, as continued boiling can toughen the chicken.7
  4. You can weight the chicken with a plate to keep it submerged.2
  5. Cook until done.
    • Authorities disagree on how long this will take. Sara Moulton of the Food Network maintains that breasts can cook in 5 minutes, while Jamie Oliver states that a whole chicken may take 1 over an hour.8 9 Most sources recommend about 15-20 minutes for pieces with an additional 10-15 minutes required for a whole chicken.
    • The most reliable way to be sure the chicken is ready is to use a meat thermometer and cook until the temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees.10
  6. Turn the heat off, and allow the chicken to cool in the liquid.7

Recipes Using Poached Chicken

(Creative Commons photo by yomi yomi)
(Creative Commons photo by yomi yomi)

Conclusion

  • That's it! A simple technique that will enable you to have perfectly poached chicken ready whenever you need it.
  • Poaching is particularly useful in the summer months, to ready chicken for the barbecue. By poaching ahead of time, you'll cut the time you need to stand at the grill in half and guarantee that the chicken will be fully-cooked, moist and delicious.

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References for How To Poach Chicken

  1. ↑ OChef: How to Poach a Chicken
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 eHow.com: How to Poach Chicken
  3. ↑ MarthaStewart.com: Poaching, Steaming, and Braising Chicken
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wikipedia: Bouquet Garni
  5. ↑ HowStuffWorks: How to Cook Chicken
  6. ↑ Cooking.com: Steps for Poaching Chicken
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Food Network: Culinary Q&A: Poached chicken breast
  8. ↑ Food Network: Sara's Method for Poaching Chicken
  9. ↑ JamieOliver.com: Using the Whole Chicken
  10. ↑ Chowhound: Poaching Chicken or Fish
  11. ↑ The Minimalist (NYT): Poached Chicken Takes Flight (June 14, 2000)
  12. ↑ Martha Stewart: Poached Chicken with Grainy Mustard Sauce
  13. ↑ Epicurious.com: Cold Poached Chicken with Chinese Garlic Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com  WARNING: Pop-ups
  14. ↑ Real Simple: Balsamic Poached Chicken  WARNING: Ad-heavy
  15. ↑ Yankee: Poached Chicken Breasts with Lemon-Dill Cream Sauce  WARNING: Pop-ups


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