How to prevent chicken from having a chalky texture?
Even after brining, filleting and cooking to perfect temperature (68 to 71 c) my chicken texture (whole and breast) sometimes comes chalky. Mind you, the chicken can still be juicy while being chalky. Here is a picture:
I have tried different combinations of brining solutions and cooking oils - nothing seems to give a consistent result of juicy, smooth textured chicken:
Mind you, this is not a duplicate of "why my chicken is dry" because many times I can get a moist but chalky chicken.
Best Answer
Your temperature of 68 to 71 Celsius is very high for white meat. This is what makes the mini clumps in the breast you perceive as "chalky". If you cook it to a lower temperature, you will not have this effect, 60 to 65 Celsius makes "medium" doneness chicken meat.
Note that food safety is a separate consideration, chicken is considered safe starting at 73 Celsius (https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html). So you are lowering the temperature at your own risk.
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Why does my chicken have a powdery texture?
If you cook chicken in a skillet, oven, or grill for an excessive amount of time, the moisture will be sucked out of the meat, leaving you with a dry, rubbery bird. The protein fibers in chicken become elastic when they are not exposed to moisture.How can I improve my chicken texture?
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The other way is to have more liquid than it's needed, that way the foam will form on the surface while all the veggies and chicken will fall to the bottom. Then you just filter it with a slotted spoon. I learned that you can only do this once (and it's beest to do when foam is kinda grayish from protein.6 mistakes to avoid when cooking chicken!
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Answer 2
I've experienced the same and have found that a shorter brine time yields a better texture. I prefer to dry brine boneless chicken to avoid that chalky texture. No more than 30 minutes for small boneless chicken to and hour for large bone-in chicken breasts. A large whole chicken can brine for about 3 or 4 hours.
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Images: Klaus Nielsen, Julia Filirovska, Monstera, Brett Sayles