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The Kitchen Table

Can a chicken be 'over' cooked?

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I've been doing some experimenting with chicken curry which I love. Sometimes I briefly cook chicken breasts and then add them to the curry sauce. This time I bought a Tyson 'natural' young chicken, but it is just over 7 lbs. Most of the chickens I buy are a good bit smaller.

I read on the internet where 'stewing' chickens are older birds that need a lot of cooking to get tender. Most of the descriptions talk about laying hens that are past their egg laying days and are destined for the stewpot. There are some descriptions that say that the flavor from older chickens is worth the additional cooking time involved.

I don't know how old this chicken is (notwithstanding the Tyson description of 'young' on the label) so I thought I might cook it for a few hours along with the curry spice and see how different that turns out from the quick chicken breast method.

From what I have read, stewing hens get more tender after longer cooking, but can one 'over' cook a chicken that way?

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Comments (4)

plllog
10 years ago
Yes. No matter the size or age of a chicken, you can overcook it. And it can become stringy and gummy. That said, there are plenty of chicken stews that accept that. Think traditional chicken and dumplings, or even coq au vin.

'Course, your chicken sounds neither natural nor young. :) Why don't you cut it up? Even if it's a bit tough, it should cook fairly quickly in curry sized chunks. I'd start them in a pan with some spices, and get them seared plus on all sides, which would get the pieces at least half cooked through, then put them in the sauce at bubbling heat for 20-30 minutes. Maybe more if they're not tender at that point.
lucillle thanked plllog
Alisande
10 years ago
What does the Tyson label say? I'm guessing it has some sort of cooking directions. I wouldn't assume your chicken isn't young. I'm no expert, and it's been awhile since I've cooked a whole chicken, but I seem to remember that some of the roasters I used to get were in the 6- or 7-lb. range.

Cooking your chicken for a few hours in curry sauce will probably result in the kind of texture you'd get from making chicken soup. Nothing wrong with that, as long as that's what you want.
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Elmer J Fudd
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
So-called broilers or standard size whole chickens (usually no more than a few months old) are about 4 pounds or a bit more. Something in the 6-7 pound range or more is likely rather older and as mentioned would be called a roaster or stewing chicken.

Anything can be overcooked.

It's true that dishes like coq au vin (coq is French for cock) originated to cook older and tougher birds long enough to be palatable. The problem with chicken (in my view) is that after spending a stewable amount of time in liquid, not only might the meat be stringy but also rather flavorless, as the flavor from the meat and bones are given up to the liquid. Nothing wrong with that, it makes the liquid tastier but it leaves the meat not so desirable. That's why with many dishes that cook for a longish period of time, like soup, some portion of the meat is taken out once cooked (or cooked separately) and returned to the dish just before serving. Or, the dish is cooked with broth and the meat is cooked and added separately.
sjerin
10 years ago
We make curry chicken quite often, and start out by sprinkling salt and lemon on top of the pieces and letting them sit awhile--the longer, withing reason, the better and more tender. Then brown, remove, make sauce, return chicken to pan and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

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