Set it and forget it. Wouldn't it be nice if you could do that with your poached chicken dinner and then sit in front of the TV while you wait for it to cook? Well according to celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern you can. In an interview with "Good Morning America" Zimmern demonstrated his simple yet ingenious technique for poaching a whole chicken. Luckily for TV-loving home gourmets his cooking technique requires almost no energy or effort.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew Zimmern | 2018-05-30 15:31:54 |  1,090 Views |
Andrew Zimmern cooks: How do you poach an egg?
He starts with enough chicken stock to cover an entire bird and once it comes to a boil he gently slides the chicken into the liquid. It cooks in the stock for up to 10 minutes. This number is a bit flexible though. According to Zimmern the cooking time depends on the size of the bird. He then puts a lid on the pot and lets the chicken sit for a full minute noting that this initial high heat renders the bird’s fat and fuels the entire cooking process.
Then comes the set-it-and-forget-it part of the equation: Zimmern lets his chicken cook in the covered pot for the next 90 minutes with the heat off. His technique called carryover cooking takes advantage of this principle by keeping the bird submerged in the hot water and letting it cook through. The lid helps keep the heat in the pot until the bird is juicy and perfect.
Carryover cooking is usually done in a slightly different way although the principle still applies. For example when roasting a chicken in the oven many chefs will remove the chicken from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. During the cooking process the muscle fibers of the bird become tougher and tighter. Once the chicken is removed from the oven heat continues to work its way through the meat raising its internal temperature. Letting your chicken rest loosens the muscle fibers and allows the juices to return to the bird.
