Am I only one who dislikes leftover chicken ?

Skint_yet_Again

No matter what I do to the left overs from a whole roast chicken I hate the taste and texture

I love whole chicken when it is freshly roasted, but I dislike cold left over chicken. Have tried cutting it up and re-heating in gravy, stew, sauces of all descriptions, stirfrys, fajhitas and I still think it tastes weird and seems to go all stringy or break up in the sauce.

Anyone else have this problem ? Any other suggestions what I can do with left overs ?

Sunnyday

A pie or a curry perhaps?

If you jointed the chicken and then cooked the bits that you needed each day then that could solve the problem for you.

HTH

SD

melanzana

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

No matter what I do to the left overs from a whole roast chicken I hate the taste and texture

I love whole chicken when it is freshly roasted, but I dislike cold left over chicken. Have tried cutting it up and re-heating in gravy, stew, sauces of all descriptions, stirfrys, fajhitas and I still think it tastes weird and seems to go all stringy or break up in the sauce.

Anyone else have this problem ? Any other suggestions what I can do with left overs ?

Oh I so agree with you Skint! There are so many threads here about using up leftovers, but honestly, second or third day roast chicken remade into something else, just does not do it for me.

As you say, no matter what dish I cook it in, (and I have tried many!!) the stringy texture that often results is awful. Cooking it again is the problem there I reckon.

I only eat leftover roast chicken sliced thinly in sandwiches or salad, i.e. no further cooking. It's great then but God help the blood pressure, it really DOES need salt!

I'ts not that leftover roast chicken cannot successfully be used up in other dishes, it's just, like Skint, I cannot bear the texture of recooked stringy chicken,

Now if anyone has a cure for that, we may be on a winner!!

freyasmum

No, it's VILE! It takes on a completely different taste to what it had before

And, as I've found no way of disguising this change I get around it by either eating the leftovers cold (which I know you've said you don't like) or by jointing it up myself and only roasting what I'm gonna need for that meal.

I do use the carcass for stock, but I struggle eating the actual chicken. No one else here (as in my parents, sister, etc) seems bothered by it though!

Skint_yet_Again

melanzana wrote: »

Oh I so agree with you Skint! There are so many threads here about using up leftovers, but honestly, second or third day roast chicken remade into something else, just does not do it for me.

freyasmum wrote: »

I get around it by either eating the leftovers cold (which I know you've said you don't like) or by jointing it up myself and only roasting what I'm gonna need for that meal.

Phew ..... its not just me then was beginning to think there must be something wrong with my taste buds !!

freyasmum.... I get round it by eating the entire chicken in one sitting (not all to myself of course:D ) I just mainly buy chicken breasts & chop up for stew, curry, pasta sauces, fajhitas etc... a whole roast chicken is a "luxury" for us as we do not normally eat so much meat in one meal.

tessie_bear

i agree to an extent...i like cooked chicken in a chicken and mushroom pie with white sauce....also in a tomato sauce with peppers and pasta.....also like a chicken sarnie...perhaps u could roast half a chicken and not have leftovers

freyasmum

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

freyasmum.... I get round it by eating the entire chicken in one sitting (not all to myself of course:D ) I just mainly buy chicken breasts & chop up for stew, curry, pasta sauces, fajhitas etc... a whole roast chicken is a "luxury" for us as we do not normally eat so much meat in one meal.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

There aren't enough of us for that, but it's the best idea

lostinrates

Forgive me for suggesting it, but i find the left over meat unpalateable if the meat is slightly over cooked on the first outing. By that i don't mean taken to dry, I mean its just gone beyond just cooked and still very juicy. Similarly those supermarket style spit roast ones i remember are inedibly dr lften on the same day of purchase, while succlent on first eating.

In uk i find lots of people like very well cooked meat, which does indeed make left overs dry and stringy.

Fwiw we very rarely have roast chicken when there are not enough people to demolish one so that it is only good for stock or soup afterwards, but when we do its fine the next day either in sandwiches or in something 'wet'...risotto, with a sauce, as a curry....

Obviously, we must cook it to our tastes and with safety in mind, but for some it might be worth considering if it might be in there slightly too lopng. I know osers are excellent cooks generally, so i suggest this with all timerity and respect!

HappyMJ

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

Phew ..... its not just me then was beginning to think there must be something wrong with my taste buds !!

freyasmum.... I get round it by eating the entire chicken in one sitting (not all to myself of course:D ) I just mainly buy chicken breasts & chop up for stew, curry, pasta sauces, fajhitas etc... a whole roast chicken is a "luxury" for us as we do not normally eat so much meat in one meal.

To me chicken breasts are a luxury. They are the most expensive part of the chicken when bought seperately. I have never figured out why. It's not even my favourite part of the chicken. There is no need to cook an entire chicken all at once. I always cut it up into much smaller portions and cook a bit each time.

hotcookie101

I cooked a roast chicken on Sunday, using a meat thermometer for the 1st time. It was set to go off when it reached 70 degrees. Chicken roasted in the oven at 180. It was cooked in an hour! Had to rest for 40 minutes (but was still warm) Took me totally by surprise, as by my normal timings a 2kg chicken would take 1.5 hours. It was cooked through, but a lot more moist than usual, and the leftover meat was yummy (used in enchiladas and laksa-yum)

LondonDreamer

As others have suggested, joint it. I actually don't mind leftover chicken, but sometimes I want the breast or legs for something where raw meat is needed or just don't want to wait for a whole chicken to cook.

What I do is cut out the backbone, break the breastbone and flatten out the bird. You can watch videos on how to do this on YouTube (search for spatchc*ck chicken) if that doesn't make sense. Sometimes I'll roast it just like this if I do want the whole bird, just faster. But you can then cut through between the breast and thigh to separate the legs, then cut the breasts apart. Result is quarter chicken portions to do whatever you want with.