Marinades for chicken?

[AnnieK]

Hello-

Wondering if anyone has had any luck with different marinades for whole chicken breasts that have kept them from drying out as much once topped on a 'Za.

We just switched to an all natural chicken breast that we are cooking in-house. It’s nice and juicy on our salads, but of course tends to dry out on cooking round number two once it’s on a pizza. I’m leery of undercooking them for pizza use for obvious reasons…

I’ve heard of tricks like buttermilk, but wondered if anyone has had any success with other techniques to keep it moist.

Thanks!

 

[NicksPizza]

Brine . . . brine . . . brine. Soaking the raw breasts in a salt/sugar water solution will make them a moister product when done . . . meaning they will be moister going on the pizza. Dissolve 1/4 c table salt and 2 TBL sugar in one quart of water. You can add whatever other seasonings to the brine, just be assertive as there is a lot of water. The osmotic pressure of the salt pushes the salt & sugar into the chicken cells, which in turn makes it taste better as retain more moisture in cooking. Let soak for about 1 to 3 hours at about 38F (colder makes it take longer). Remove from brine, pat dry and cook as normal to 157F. Remove from oven, cover very loosely with foil and let rest 15+ minutes. Temp will rise about 3F, really. Waiting will let the moisture redistribute and stay in the meat when cut. Chill quickly and store for use on pizzas.

Hope this helps.

 

[AnnieK]

Thank you very much Nick!

I’ll try this out.

 

[26.2MilesforPizza]

NicksPizza:

Brine . . . brine . . . brine. Soaking the raw breasts in a salt/sugar water solution will make them a moister product when done . . . meaning they will be moister going on the pizza. Dissolve 1/4 c table salt and 2 TBL sugar in one quart of water. You can add whatever other seasonings to the brine, just be assertive as there is a lot of water. The osmotic pressure of the salt pushes the salt & sugar into the chicken cells, which in turn makes it taste better as retain more moisture in cooking. Let soak for about 1 to 3 hours at about 38F (colder makes it take longer). Remove from brine, pat dry and cook as normal to 157F. Remove from oven, cover very loosely with foil and let rest 15+ minutes. Temp will rise about 3F, really. Waiting will let the moisture redistribute and stay in the meat when cut. Chill quickly and store for use on pizzas.

Hope this helps.

Wow Nick, Are you sure you aren’t Alton Brown in disguise? I’ll second the motion for brining though. Its been known to create the best Thanksgiving turkeys ever cooked. IMHO. But the turkey needs to be brined over night.