Boneless skinless chicken breast

[bspooky]

So these boneless, skinless, tasteless....(er, skip that last one ) are a staple in my family. How do I do them on a new Mak 2? Tried tonight and while my wife liked them ok I was very disappointed. What I did:

1) brine for 1.5 hours with a 1 gallon water/1 cup kosher salt/ .75 cup brown sugar brine. Rinsed off and patted dry.
2) smoke setting for 1 hour
3) cranked up to 275 and it took another 40 minutes to reach IT of 165.

Results were tough skin like outer layer in in-appealing color and texture. Ok moisture but a bit dry. Not a ton of smoke flavor.

I know I should have used a rub or salt/pepper and used my upper rack, but any other suggestions?

 

[wneill20]

Wrap in bacon smoke at 250*

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Skinless chicken breast

Try bone in breast. Remove the skin until it is only attached on one side. Season the meat under the skin. Pull the skin back over and hold in place witha toothpick or two . If you plan on saucing the chicken remove the skin for the last few minutes and brush sauce on. No sauce just remove the skin and serve. If the family are against bones filet those off before cooking. Still wrap the breast to keep moist. Sometimes brining breast will toughen the outside as you witnessed . Cook it hot 375-425

 

[ratul]

Boneless chicken breast that is called saturn according to biology. however I dont like that meat.

 

[scooter]

Just consider chicken as a blank canvas and you are the artist. There is very little there flavor-wise unless you put it there. I like a base coat of olive oil, then light coating of BPS Jalapeño season salt then another coat of either BPS Desert Gold or Money. Sometimes I just use Blue Star Seasoning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk while driving one handed!

 

[TrickyDick]

Other than brining a breast, what makes them become tough?
My wife loves cooking these for dinner on the stovetop with a variety of recipes and it seems to be that there is hardly a pattern in a tender chicken and a tough bird.

What say the experts?
I would think freezing might help to tenderize, but could toughen if thawed in the microwave or if frozen for too long and there is freezer burn.
I wouldn't think that cooking type lends a huge difference,nor necessarily the heat used. I have had fried chicken that is tough, and boiled chicken that is tough, and sautéed that is tough, plus everything in between. It's the worst when trying a new recipe my wife is happy about, and then the chicken is tough, but otherwise good flavor.

TD

 

[Big_Jake]

I think the trick is to cook them at a semi-high heat.(350-400) with a little rub on them.But the most important thing is to not overcook them.Take them off @ 160 and let them rest for 10 minutes or so.Basically once it's not pink in the middle anymore you should be fine as far cooking anything off that's nasty and you should get a nice flavorful and moist chicken breast.

 

[bspooky]

Sounds like I have some experimenting to do.

 

[BamaSmoker]

Try chicken Cordon Blu. Stuff the chicken breast with ham, turkey, cheese, then wrap in bacon and smoke till done. You may need to cook the bacon a little before you put it on chicken, depends on how crispy you like.

 

[Quigley82072]

I cook boneless skinless chicken breasts for my wife because she likes the lean protein. I put them on my Traegar on smoke for about 3 hours with no seasoning other than the flavored pellets I am using. I then turn the temp up for about the last hour to 250, to finish them off. They do have a kind of tough skin on the outside but they are moist and juicy inside with great smoke flavor.

 

[TrickyDick]

I'm going to try some pounded thin but still thick enough to stuff with a few slices pepperoni, slice provolone, basil leaf and basalmic drizzle, then wrap in prosciutto and see how they turn out after some time on the MAK

 

[SmokeAndSpice]

I like the idea of wrapping in bacon!

One thing I haven't yet tried is marinating them overnight in Italian salad dressing, then cooking at relatively high heat (grilling temperature rather than smoking). I tried some cooked that way at a friend's house and they were tasty. She said the marinade gives them both flavor and a little buffer against overcooking, and I couldn't argue with the end result.

 

[Saxguy]

I don't have my 4 star set up yet, but use my Wolf Charbroiler for grilling boneless, skinless breasts in the kitchen. I used to get dry chicken too, until I started using the Grill Grates. I don't know why it works, but it does - no more dry chicken. No brining, just a little seasoning and then right on the grill over high heat.

 

[Hawk Lax]

Wrapping in bacon will definitely do it. Healthier alternative is smear them with mustard then rub of choice cook at 350 until it 165. Mustard seems to form a light bark that seals in juice.

 

[Ducaticraig]

Other than brining a breast, what makes them become tough?

What say the experts?
I would think freezing might help to tenderize, but could toughen if thawed in the microwave or if frozen for too long and there is freezer burn.

TD

No freezer burn if you vacuum seal the breasts.

 

[tbone]

I do a lot of these on the Traeger. Personally, I think the key is high heat and grill grates. Maybe if I had a MAK, I wouldn't need em.

Sometimes I smoke em first. Sometimes with a rub (Money and Happy Endings). Sometimes a BBQ sauce (homemade - none of that fancy schtuff). All in all though, I do believe it's the grill grates that cause them to cook so well.

tbone

 

[Ffvillager]

I'll bet the recipes your wife uses on the stovetop do not have them cooking "naked". Try something like seasoning them, then searing them for a couple of minutes per side, then smothering them with something like marinara sauce, back on the smoker at low temp till done. Serve over rice or noodles.

 

[chaz345]

As I grill more chicken I'm becoming less and less a fan of boneless skinless(BS) breasts. They just dry out too easily when I'm dealing with enough for a crowd(catering business). My current favorite chicken is bone in skin on thighs. Many people are determined that they want BS breasts but once they have a taste of my thighs, most change their mind.

 

[Mutt]

All my chicken I do at high heat boneless/skinless or bone in skin on. season then put on the grill after it is up to temp around 425 skin side down for 15 minutes flip over sauce up about another 15 and they are nice and tender juicy and crispy skin. If you want them smoky smoke for a while remove heat the grill up and do what I did works good for me.

 

[MattBPS]

I like to use a little happy ending paired with jalleluja rub on chicken breasts. Cook at 300 until internal reaches 155, flipping once, then let rest for 20 mins. Always works great for me!