Chicken – Dry chicken breast in slow cooker

chicken-breastcrockpotslow-cooking

I like to use the slow cooker during the week. I usually leave at about 6am, and don't sit down and eat until around 6pm. I have a crock pot with a timer mechanism that automatically turns to warm after the specified cooking time elapses. The last recipe I made with chicken breast (i think it was some type of pineapple chicken) had a recommended cook time of 6 to 8 hours on low. I think I chose to cook it for 7 hours. Honestly, this is the first time I dried out chicken. It was so bad I ended up throwing it out.

The dish had plenty of liquid (actually probably a little to much), and I added some butter. Do you think my dry chicken problem was linked to the length of time I cooked the chicken, or the amount of time the dish sat in the crockpot at the warm setting? Ever since then, I've been avoiding recipes with chicken breast, which are a favorite.

So do I need to avoid recipes crockpot recipes with chicken?

Best Answer

A very common technique for maintaining moisture in meat is to dry brine it. That is, shake salt on both sides of the raw breast to the same degree you would to serve it. Wrap and let it rest for at least an hour. I like to add the salt the day before. Before cooking you can add other rubs or seasoning but be careful with store bought seasoning that is normally high in salt. Search on dry brining and you will find a lot of info.