What is a chicken breast?

[HighSierra]

(I am just beginning this cooking thing and have a few fundamental questions! The title lists the first question.)

I bought a package of skinned and boned chicken breasts. The package contained four pieces and weighed 1.75 pounds. These were for a recipe that calls for "4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves." Now, do I use the pieces I bought as "halves" (which average about 7 ounces each) or should each piece be cut in half to produce the "halves" (each being a little over 3 1/2 oz)?

The question, then (seriously): is the package contents chicken breasts or chicken breast halves?

[makedah]

The pieces you bought are breast halves. The whole, uncut breast (2 halves) is rarely sold separate from the bird. Some companies produce breasts that are very large because this is a popular cut of meat, so it isn't unusual to find breast halves that are much larger than 4 oz. You can cut it down to size if you feel you need to.

[HighSierra]

Thanks "makedah." My confusion was caused by seeing most packages containing four pieces and weighting 1.5 pound or more, and many recipe calling for "4 (4-ounce)" pieces for four serving (I am used to somewhat larger servings!).

[wyopatti]

I'll pass this along as a helpful hint to a beginner cook. Don't be afraid to use meat tenderizer on chicken breasts. I can't tell you how many tough chicken breasts we had, whether cooked on the grill or in the oven, until I started using meat tenderizer. Now however I'm cooking the chicken breasts, I always put meat tenderizer on them.

[ewatkins]

Good question -- the packages of breasts at my supermarket vary wildly in size. Usually I don't look at the weight when I am just griling them but in a particular dish if it's cut up for example, it can make a huge difference. I got some from a fancy butcher once and I swear one breast was 10 oz!

[makedah]

Originally posted by ewatkins:
I got some from a fancy butcher once and I swear one breast was 10 oz!

EGAD!!! Imagine the size of that chicken...

[kwormann]

OR, imagine the size of the hormones being injected into it......

Kim

[makedah]

Originally posted by kwormann:
OR, imagine the size of the hormones being injected into it......

Kim

Double EGAD!