Undercooked poultry may be contaminated with salmonella and other pathogens, leading to food poisoning if you eat it. Immersing chicken in liquid destroys those pathogens at high-enough temperatures. Liquid-based chicken cooking methods include boiling, simmering, poaching, stewing, steaming, blanching and braising. Immersing the chicken in liquid heats the entire surface of the chicken, but other methods also provide even heat. Ensuring that your chicken cooks all the way through with water-based cooking methods requires a little extra work.
Poaching, Simmering and Boiling
These three methods require total immersion in the water to cook the chicken all the way through, according to pasta maker Bertolli, whose online cooking school discusses the various water-based cooking methods. Poaching uses the lowest temperature of the three methods, simmering takes the longest time and boiling uses the highest temperature.
Poaching takes advantage of a principle called "carryover cooking." Carryover cooking means heating something to an particular temperature for a given amount of time, then removing that food from the heat source and allowing it to finish cooking using its own leftover heat. Chef Rachelle Boucher of "Drawn to the Kitchen" advises poaching chicken for three minutes before putting a lid on the pan, removing it from the burner and allowing it to cook for an additional 20 minutes using its own heat.
Stewing
When you cut chicken into small pieces and brown them in oil or butter before adding the other ingredients and enough liquid to cover the food, it makes stewed chicken. Browning cooks the meat halfway through. As long as the pan stays covered, the chicken cooks all the way through even if some of the stewing liquid boils away and exposes the meat.
Braising
Braising works well with whole chickens. As with stewing, you brown the meat before adding the liquid, but you only need enough water to partially cover the bird, advises chef Kathy Davault, author of "Gourmet It Up: How to Cook Gourmet" and "How to Cook Gourmet: 25 Favorite Pork Tenderloin Recipes." Check the internal temperature of the chicken in at least four places: both breasts and both legs, without touching any bone. If the temperature is 165 degrees F or more, the chicken is safe to eat.
Steaming
If you place a whole or cut-up chicken in a bamboo or metal steamer, the water does not touch the chicken at all. Steaming prevents vitamin and mineral loss, since none of the chicken or other ingredients come in direct contact with the water used to cook them.
References
- Bertolli; Moist Heat Makes the Most of Your Meat; 2011
- The Delicious Truth; The Principle of Carryover Cooking; Rob Endelman, chef; February 2010
- "Drawn to the Kitchen"; How to Poach a Chicken; Chef Rachelle Boucher; June 2011
- How to Cook Gourmet; Combination Cooking Methods; Kathy Davault; 2006
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: Chicken From Farm to Table
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