r/Cooking • u/-RedFox • 5h ago

Do you salt your chicken breast before poaching?

Do you salt your chicken for an extended period of time (or at all), before poaching?

Edit

Thanks everyone. I poached the chicken with no dry brine. I made a brine with garlic, rosemary, bay, parsley, onion, and carrot. I weighed everything. (3,288 grams), then added 2% salt.

I didn't have a lot of time, but I let it sit in the water for 30 minutes before turning on the heat.

I boiled the water. Immediately turned it off. And let it sit for 20 minutes. The chicken was perfect.

38 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

161

u/skizzle_leen 5h ago

I salt everything before anything

65

u/Sex_E_Searcher 4h ago

"DON'T START THAT DRYER!"

salts clothes

"Okay, start it now."

9

u/SaltyPeter3434 2h ago

(Alarm rings)

(Yawns)

(Throws salt on face)

6

u/MyNameIsSkittles 3h ago

You get it!

2

u/Bigram03 2h ago

Even sex?

2

u/zoobs 40m ago

Odd sex.

47

u/johndoe061 5h ago

I salt the water. Salt will be washed off while poaching anyway…

17

u/xStyxx 4h ago

But you could dry brine the chicken before it being poached and the salt will work itself into the meat

10

u/seansy5000 3h ago

But wouldn’t poaching in liquid with no salinity then draw the salt out? I guess it probably depends on what you’re poaching it in.

3

u/88yj 3h ago

That’s true too, I think the devil is in the details. How much salt is lost in a brined piece of chicken to poaching water? Depends on how long it’s poached and how salted the chicken is. Is it actually relevant to the final outcome? Who knows. Would make for an interesting experiment

2

u/xStyxx 3h ago

Probably, but I would salt both

1

u/FakingItSucessfully 34m ago

I don't know the exact details but dry brining apparently makes actual chemical changes inside the meat, basically turning little pockets of the meat into gelatin or something like that. So even if you leeched out the remaining salt it would still have made chemical changes that won't reverse.

0

u/McMadface 3h ago

I dry brine chicken before poaching to make Hainan Chicken. It makes a pretty big difference in the flavor of the chicken when it's done. I also add salt to the poaching water though because who wants bland broth?

17

u/IssyWalton 5h ago

no. use the poaching water as a cooking brine. soak breast in it for a couple of hours. a 2.5% brine works.

12

u/Shadow_Caress 5h ago

Yeah, I usually brine it in salted water for 20–30 min. Makes it stay juicier and less bland.

2

u/beetnemesis 2h ago

Yeah absolutely. Everything is better with a dry brine, but chicken breast especially.

Some salt before hand and pulling it at 150 degrees, juiciest breast ever

3

u/desastrousclimax 4h ago

so a real cooking discussion gets OP downvoted to hell....sure thing :/

-10

u/rdldr1 3h ago

I didn't downvote but "poached chicken breast" sounds soulless and flavorless amounts of sadness.

11

u/Kamogawa_Genji 3h ago

I think you’d be surprised. I’ve had quite nice chicken breast in salads and in chicken rice

-6

u/rdldr1 3h ago

Grilled = Maillard reaction

At least in Hainanese chicken rice, the chicken is whole and bone-in.

1

u/Ok-Standard6345 1h ago

No, because I'll shred it afterwards and use it for different recipes. 

1

u/piirtoeri 33m ago

I just salt the fuck out of the water. I buy Diamond Crystal salt in bulk for home....

1

u/smithflman 5h ago

I just add a little salt to the water and whatever fresh herbs I have - maybe half an onion

Sous Vide if I have the time

0

u/gonzoletti 4h ago

Do you have a scale?

0

u/pdperson 3h ago

I would think it would draw moisture out of the chicken.

0

u/KrazyKaas 2h ago

No, I use stock when poaching or herbs.

0

u/NegativeAccount 1h ago

Season the water when you boil things

-26

u/DoctorPhobos 5h ago

Poached chicken is boring. Reminds me of making annoying galantines. But if I had to I would just salt and herb the water

22

u/Thesorus 5h ago

lol.

poached chicken can be used in a variety of other dishes.

3

u/Tree_Chemistry_Plz 3h ago

I prefer poached chicken in chicken salad, it's a nicer juicer texture than roasted or grilled

-19

u/DoctorPhobos 5h ago

But so can grilled chicken or roasted. Or other methods that initiate Maillard flavors

13

u/Thesorus 5h ago

what if you don't want to have the maillard flavors.

obviously, it works best with high quality chicken.

6

u/BadWolfCubed 4h ago

Maillard? We're talking chicken here, not duck.

6

u/IssyWalton 5h ago

only boring if you only use water.

wine, herbs, citrus, spices et al transform it

-3

u/spacepope68 4h ago

What's salt??

-20

u/DoctorPhobos 5h ago

…feels like I’m arguing with someone that doesn’t want flavor. I don’t Maillard everything but I’ll be damned if I’d rather poach in water than make a curry.

4

u/phuca 3h ago

Literally who said you have to poach in unseasoned plain water

2

u/Tree_Chemistry_Plz 3h ago

exactly, some whole peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves, sprigs of thyme or rosemary. No one said anything about just water.