I made chicken breasts with just seasoning and butter. Cooked at 140 degrees for 2 hrs. They were rubbery although very tasty. Just didn’t care for the texture. What did I do wrong?
The better the quality of chicken you use, the better the outcome.
Hi @DebbieO,
As mentioned, the quality of the meat will always make a difference, but another thing to keep in mind is personal preference. It may just be that you would be happier with chicken cooked at a slightly higher temperature. You’ll be the best judged.
Try cooking at different temperatures to see what you like best. One of the best things about sous vide food preparation is that once you’ve identified your temperature of choice you will be able to consistently cook your chicken just the way you like it.
1 Like
Debbie, you might have done nothing wrong although the temperature you selected is lower than many people use.
Often that rubbery texture you experienced is due to using what i call pumped chicken, frequently labelled as “seasoned”. That’s chicken that’s been heavily injected with a brine solution and frozen. The solution causes the cells in the chicken to swell with water giving it that unpleasant texture.
Cafeterias and mediocre restaurants frequently use the product so they can cook a batch and hold hot for an extended period of time without it becoming too dry and stringy. You don’t likely have that requirement at home.
To what internal temperature do you cook chicken breasts conventionally? Probably not 140F.
You might want to try either 150F, - or even 160F to get the usual restaurant-like texture. Two hours is long enough to SV cook at any temperature.
1 Like
Do not use butter… I did that and the texture was not the best… more like a chicken that is boiled. So dry seasoning. And then reverse sear with butter. Temp I think I did 146 degrees… 2 hours.
I do not have NOVA… I have a different brand but that shouldn’t matter everything is the same.