Ingredients:
- 8 c. of your favorite vegetable or chicken stock
- 6 tbsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 3 tbsp. Morton kosher salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp. thyme (optional)
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and halved
Directions:
- Add room temperature broth to a large pot. The temperature is important. One of the keys to this process is that the chicken begins to cook very gently as the water heats from room temperature.
- Stir in salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme until salt is mostly dissolved. I know this sounds like a crazy amount of salt. Please trust me. The chicken does not absorb all of this.
- Add chicken to pot (Rinse it first if you want to. Some folks do. I don’t.) Make sure the chicken is fully submerged by at least an inch.
- Add the onion to the pot.
- Place pot on the burner and turn heat to medium. Bring the stock to a gentle boil.
- Important: the minute the water starts to boil, flip the breasts over, remove the pot from the burner, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. The chicken will continue to gently poach in the hot liquid.
- After ten minutes, use an instant-read thermometer to check the chicken’s temperature.
- Once it registers 160°, remove the chicken from the water to a cutting board.
- Let chicken rest at least five minutes. This is important so the the juices redistribute.
- Slice or shred for your favorite recipes calling for cooked chicken. I use this in my chicken and dumplings among other things.
Note: I did not know this, so maybe someone else didn’t as well. Different brands of kosher salt measure differently. And if you substitute sea salt or something else, the measure is way different. Check out this article from Epicurious on the conversions for different types of salt: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/prevent-measurement-mishaps-with-this-simple-salt-conversion-chart-article.
Enjoy!