Poaching chicken from frozen?

zippychick

Hi All, couldnt think where this would fit in another thread? Hmmm. Anyway, I buy my cat cook from frozen chicken - she has been sick lately so it's her luxury.:D

I was going to poach it as she is quite dehydrated due to medical conditions and i figure it will be more moist this way, compared to the oven cooking.:o

I buy the cook from frozen, and wondered - do you think it would be ok to poach it in hot water? How long would I cook it for? I am poaching 1.1 kilo as it makes sense to do it in one go.:money:

Sorry, i did search but couldn't find an answer and I am literally poised with pot waiting.

Can i put it straight in boiling water, or best to put in cold and then bring to the boil?

Sorry so many questions. Thanks in advance. Pink/Pen - merge if there is a relevant thread cheers beers :beer:

Pink.

Hi zippy,

I've never bought cook from frozen chicken but does it have any cooking instructions on it? If not I would put the chicken into the pan, cover with boiling water and simmer gently, stirring it around occasionally. When you think it might be ready take out a piece of the chicken and cut it through the middle to check it's thoroughly cooked...if it isn't return it to the pan and give it a little longer.

Pink

zippychick

Hi Pink, no I don't buy it for myself, but she has eaten enough of my free range chicken, so i figured I would get her her own batch! The only instructions are oven cook. !

Pink.

I think it would be fine poached gently, just check that it's well cooked.

Pink

gingin_2

I poach whole chickens from frozen. I would say 2 hours would be right with the water being from cold. If the thigh falls away from the bone easily it should be cooked. If it's smaller pieces I would say a little less.

Hope kitty gets better soon.

Edited to add - sorry didn't see you say about hot water. To be on the safe side I would say from cold but that's just my instincts, not sure whether it would be a real problem or not.

zippychick

thanks for all the help people! Poaching away

redkids1972

Hi All
looking for some advice my chicken breasts are frozen is it safe to cook them for dinner tonight. I am going to cube them for a curry so will be small pieces so cooked well
Thanks

kittycat204

i would defrost in luke warm water.

DundeeDoll

Yes me too. I put them in a plastic bag do up then put that into fairly warm water. By the time the onion is chopped (most of my meals start with an onion lol) the chicken breast is thawed with no worries about edges cooking as happens in the microwave.

SailorSam

I think you should have jam butties instead.

valk_scot

If I'm cubing or thinly slicing chicken (or other meat) I chuck it into the pot still half frozen. It will defrost and cook through very quickly, in minutes usually. You can cook commercially frozen cubed meat straight from the freezer after all. And you have to at least partially defrost frozen chicken breasts to get the knife through them.

If yyou're worried though cube the meat and leave it in a metal dish balanced across something like a wire cake airing rack for ten minutes. This will defrost things even faster than warm water, I find.