Safely poaching chicken in residual heat

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to follow this Washington Post recipe for poaching chicken in residual heat (not letting the chicken boil or even simmer at all) but I don't understand how the chicken will be safe to eat if the water never boils. It feels a bit gross, I've been so trained to cook chicken in high heat. Does anyone else use this method and can you say something that will make me feel better about eating this chicken? I'm really sick and tired of dry and stringy chicken breast. Thanks


https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/06/14/how-to-poach-chicken-breasts/

[Anonymous]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous_vide

Food safety is a function of both time and temperature; a temperature usually considered insufficient to render food safe may be perfectly safe if maintained for long enough.

[Anonymous]

I mean if you think about it a simmer is 212 and not even the USDA is trying to get you to cook it past 180 or whatever the instantaneous safe temp is (and that’s not addressing the point that 160 for 5 minutes or whatever is just as safe).

[Anonymous]

I’m confused about why you’d think chicken ever needs to be boiled? Sounds like a recipe for rubber. Research cooking sous vide or any kind of cooking with a probe thermometer, which ensures chicken breasts reach a max of 160 so they remain tender.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean if you think about it a simmer is 212 and not even the USDA is trying to get you to cook it past 180 or whatever the instantaneous safe temp is (and that’s not addressing the point that 160 for 5 minutes or whatever is just as safe).

Logically, 160 is good. 180 is better. Then boiling must be the best.

However, I cook salmon and steak to 135F so it's edible.

[Anonymous]

Use a thermometer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean if you think about it a simmer is 212 and not even the USDA is trying to get you to cook it past 180 or whatever the instantaneous safe temp is (and that’s not addressing the point that 160 for 5 minutes or whatever is just as safe).

Logically, 160 is good. 180 is better. Then boiling must be the best.

However, I cook salmon and steak to 135F so it's edible.

Oh I always assumed the temp of of the protein is different from the desired temp of the water. I thought water always has to boil (or the sauce has to simmer or whatever.) Didn't realize you could cook proteins in WARM liquids.

[Anonymous]

200 isn't warm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:200 isn't warm.

200 will scald you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean if you think about it a simmer is 212 and not even the USDA is trying to get you to cook it past 180 or whatever the instantaneous safe temp is (and that’s not addressing the point that 160 for 5 minutes or whatever is just as safe).

Logically, 160 is good. 180 is better. Then boiling must be the best.

However, I cook salmon and steak to 135F so it's edible.

Oh I always assumed the temp of of the protein is different from the desired temp of the water. I thought water always has to boil (or the sauce has to simmer or whatever.) Didn't realize you could cook proteins in WARM liquids.

It is, depending on how long you leave it in there.

You roast chicken in way higher temps than you cook it to, because you don’t leave it in long enough for the center to reach the oven temp. But theoretically, if you held chicken in an oven at 165 long enough, the center would reach that temperature.

That’s how a sous vide bath works, but more efficiently because the water is more efficient than air. That’s why you set the water bath to whatever your desired temperature is, then hold it long enough for the food to come to that temperature throughout.

Then you can hold food at a given temp, even on the lower end, for a longer period of time to kill pathogens and change the consistency of meat.

[Anonymous]

Another look at time and temperature:

"According to the USDA's own data, as long as your turkey spends at least 3.7 minutes at or above 150°F (66°C), it is safe to eat."

If it's at a lower temperature, it needs to stay there for longer to become safe. But even 136 degrees will get you there. It will take about an hour, and I can't imagine that 136 degree poultry is all that appealing, but it would be safe.

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-take-the-temperature-of-your-turkey-video

[Anonymous]

Slow cooker is pretty good too.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to report back that I've been eating the chicken poached at low temp this whole week, including now on a delicious kale and broccoli salad, and I'm still alive!

[Anonymous]

I think it’s safe but I also have a mental block here …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to report back that I've been eating the chicken poached at low temp this whole week, including now on a delicious kale and broccoli salad, and I'm still alive!

thanks for that report from the trenches