Cooking Chicken....Question

[Capucine]

I have a recipe for cooking chicken breasts in the crockpot. I've never cooked chicken in the crockpot. I really don't use mine much. Anyway, the recipe doesn't say to brown the chicken or boil it before putting it in the crockpot. What do ya'll think? I'm not sure where I got this recipe. Doesn't look like it came from a professional website or anything. So I'm sure I got it off some cooking BB. Do ya'll normally cook the chicken somehow before putting it in a crockpot?

[sneezles]

No, I don't precook chicken. Mostly because I don't eat the skin so there's no need to worry about cooking it (in some cases I even take the skin off...not usually on a whole bird but on breasts) and then there's the fact tht it has a liquid for braising that you usually turn into a sauce or gravy after cooking the chicken...JMHO!

[MikerG]

If the recipe doesn't call for pre-cooking or browing the meat, you should be ok. Most crock pot recipes call for you to cook things for 3-8 hours depending on the recipe. I've never had a problem.

[Capucine]

Thanks. I didn't cook it. Doesn't have skin on. I figured it would be okay since it cooks as long as it does. But I know when I bake chicken alot of time recipes say to brown it before putting it in the baking dish.

[chef labaray]

I hear claims that browning is supposed to seal in juices and create a diferent layer of flavor. Seems it may be a wasted step to brown before using a crock pot because its braising, which infuses liquid AND layers of flavor already.

What did you make, anyway?

[schuh]

I'm pretty sure that browning before the crock pot is used for fatty cuts of meat, like a chuck roast, as well as ground beef (drain first). I don't remember the rationale, though.

I don't brown chicken breasts before I put them in the crock pot -- although I usually don't care for BL/SL chicken breasts in the crock pot as they get too dry. The thigh meat works better IMHO.

[blazedog]

The Maillard Effect occurs when food is browned -- in simple terms the proteins and sugars in the food caramelize and create another layer of flavor.

Most braised recipes call for initial browning and then the braise to increase the flavor and create more complex layers of flavor.

Cooks ILlustrated recommends a type of slow cooker in which the "crock" portion can be used stove top and then transferred to the slow cooker element so that one can sear in the same pot.

[sneezles]

The Maillard Effect

I've heard it called the Maillard Reaction but not the effect and it's very important to braising as it has a lot to do with the color, flavor, texture and een the aroma of cooked proteins.

[Capucine]

Chicken breast were on sale last week. :) So I bought some. Then I remembered this recipe I've seen many times on various cooking boards. It using Italian Dressing. There numerous variations. In fact, when I went looking through my untried recipes I actually had two versions. It's in the crockpot at this moment. If I like it I'll post the recipe later.

BTW, I usually buy thighs or legs for chicken recipes because I too think the breasts can be too dry. I was hoping that since I'd be cooking these slowly immersed in liquid it might help. We'll see.