How to cook chicken

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

Now chicken is available to any segments of the population. It is fried, baked, stewed, cooked on the grill. But most often used for cooking first courses.

But for the soup or the usual broth to be tasty, the chicken needs to be cooked properly.

How to prepare chicken for cooking

Chickens on store shelves come already chilled or frozen. They may be unshelled, half-gutted or gutted.

Therefore, before you start cooking, the chicken must be prepared.

• First, it is defrosted. This is done in a refrigerator at 3-6 ° C or at room temperature. Some housewives defrost the carcass in the water. But this is not recommended, because the meat is very saturated with liquid, which impairs its taste. And also many useful substances go out of it.
• If the chicken got with feathers, then it plucked.
• Then the carcass is scorched. To do this, wipe it dry with paper towels, stretch over a gas burner, taking the head or neck and legs. Scorching needs to be done very quickly, so as not to melt the subcutaneous fat, because it has a low melting point and quickly melts when heated.
• The hen is gutted, removing intestines, stomach, heart, lungs. Goiter pull through a hole in the neck.
• By-products are treated in this way: blood clots are removed from the heart, the gallbladder and the nearby green tissue pieces are separated from the liver, as they will taste bitter. The stomach is incised to half, unfold, shake out its contents, and then remove the inner thick shell, which lends itself well.
• In the carcass, the lower parts of the legs are trimmed, and the wings are shortened to the first joint.
• The chicken is rinsed in cold water and spread on a baking tray to dry.
• If the whole carcass is cooked, it is molded for compactness. To do this, legs tucked “in the pocket” - a cut on the abdomen.
• If a chicken is defective or old, then it is chopped into portions.

How to cook chicken correctly

Many housewives are interested in the question: what kind of water do you need to lay the carcass for cooking.

In different sources, you can read the opposite recommendations. Some advise the chicken to dip in hot water, others - in the cold.

In fact, it is necessary to proceed from the purpose for which chicken is cooked.

If the chicken is boiled for salad or to serve as a snack, the carcass is dipped in hot water. With this method of cooking in the meat will remain the maximum amount of nutrients.

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

How to cook whole chicken for tasty meat

• The carcass tucked “in the pocket” is put in hot water.
• Bring to a boil.
• Remove the skimmer.
• Put salt, onion, carrot.
• Make a very weak fire and cook until tender. Chickens cook for 25-30 minutes, chickens - 1 hour, old chickens - about 3 hours.
• The readiness of the meat is checked with a fork, sticking it into the thick part of the leg.

How to cook chopped chicken (in Uzbek) for tasty meat

• The prepared carcass is cut into several pieces and salted.
• Finely chopped onions and black pepper are put in a saucepan.
• Pour 3 liters of water and bring to a boil.
• Drop the chicken pieces.
• Remove the foam that appears.
• Cook at low boiling (chicken - 40 minutes, chicken - 1, 5 hours).
• At the end of cooking, put 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 chopped into pieces.
• Put in a saucepan and pour cold water.
• Leave for 30 minutes in a cool place so that meat juice is released into the water.
• Put on the fire and bring to a boil, without covering with a lid.
• Remove the foam.
• Close the lid.
• Cook at low boil for 1-2 hours (it all depends on the age of the chicken). In the middle of cooking, cut roots are put into the broth, and in the end - salt.
• Broth is filtered through several layers of gauze.

Method 2

• In the prepared chicken, legs are tucked “in the pocket”.
• The liver, stomach, heart is washed.
• The carcass and offal are placed in a pan and poured with cold water.
• Cover and bring to a boil.
• Remove the foam.
• They reduce fire, put salt and boil until cooked.
• The meat is transferred to another pan, and the broth is filtered.

Method 3

• Chicken bones are put in the pan. They spread the whole chicken or chopped into pieces.
• Fill with cold water.
• Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over low heat.
• Cook for 30 minutes.
• Remove all the foam skimmer.
• Continue boiling bones for 2-3 hours, and meat - until soft.
• Chicken and bones are taken out, and the broth is filtered.

Helpful Tips

• It is very simple to distinguish a “aged” carcass from a young one: the breast bone of an old chicken is firm, and in a young one it is easily compressible.
• The rooster's skin is bluish and thin, and the hen is white and much thicker.
• A well-fed chicken carcass must not be washed in hot water. From this its taste deteriorates.
• To make boiled chicken tasty, it is taken out of broth, salted, put in a saucepan and covered with a lid.
• Water during cooking chicken is poured immediately in full. If you add it in the cooking process, the broth will not taste good. Also, you can not add in parts and salt.
• If the chicken is cooked for broth, the meat is cut into small pieces, and the bones are crushed.
• All spices are put in water at the end of cooking.
• Broth cannot be cooked with a strong boil. From this, it becomes muddy and greasy.
• To make it transparent, you must remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
• To lighten the broth, the bones of the chicken are poured with salt water (take 1 tsp. Of salt for an incomplete glass of water) and put in the refrigerator for an hour and a half. Half an hour before the end of the cooking, this liquid (the fatty) is poured into broth and brought to a boil over high heat. Then the flame is reduced. When the broth is cooked, it is filtered.
• So that it does not become dimmed when it is reheated, it is heated on low heat and the lid is not tightly closed. Do not bring to a boil.

These simple recommendations will allow you to always cook a delicious chicken, as well as make rich and transparent broths.