Boneless Chicken Breast to Grill and Freeze - Need ideas

[HotSun]

I am 'putting food by' right now, getting ready to start a long term work engagement. Being the primary cook in the house, I have to be able to create meals out of the air and on the fly. I want to chop and freeze what I make, so I can pull them from the freezer for quick meals.

My family likes grilled chicken breast, but that is absolutely the weakest part of my cooking game. I will wet brine the family pack of chicken breasts I bought yesterday, but I need some ideas for seasonings beyond the brine. Tex-Mex or Cali-Mex chicken is always welcome, but we are pretty much open to anything.

I am also trying to figure out technique. I have a Vortex in a Kamado-style device, so I can do indirect, direct, just roasting, or all direct. Other than rotisserie, I can probably do it.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Huskee]

Sous vide chicken breast makes some darn tasty and moist products, suitable for freezing and reheating w/o dryign them out. Do you have the ability to SV them? You can even chill & grill afterward for grilled/smoked flavor.

Also, is there a reason you cannot simply season them when you thaw them? If I were you and doing this I would lean toward brining them (and marking the package that they're already salted, of course) and nothing else. Then whatever seasoning mood you're in your options are open on thaw day. Seasoning takes 5 seconds.

[rickgregory]

This. Brine, vacuum seal and then SV them if you can. Finish in a hot skillet with whatever you want - southwest spices, chutney, mustard/garlic/lemon, etc. Toss with some pasta or rice, boom done.

[Richard Chrz]

Plus one on SV chicken breast being incredibly moist and if pulled upon reheating can turn into anything,

[LA Pork Butt]

Since you are wet brining them you should be okay with moisture. I am assuming they are boneless skinless. If you haven’t brined them yet I would consider cutting them in half horizontally which will make the thickness more uniform, and they will cook faster. Mosca had this recipe which you might consider instead of brining. It does a good job of adding some flavor.
1 part zesty Italian dressing
2 parts BBQ sauce
Mix and marinate boneless skinless chicken thighs for at least 2 hours.
Smoke at 375 for 45 minute to hour on the BGE

Personally in the future for more flavor I would consider boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

[Mosca]

I’ll add that you can smoke them, grill them, pan fry them, or bake them in the oven. It’s a pretty adaptable recipe. If you use the oven, give them a couple minutes under the broiler, for color and flavor.

[HotSun]

Thank you Mosca !

[Jim White]

I've had really good luck with this approach in my air fryer, but it should do perfectly with your vortex, too. I like to cut BSCB into bite sizes and then dry brine a couple of hours with salt. I then hit with a very generous dusting of sumac. That's it. Very quick and easy. They cook fast in small bites and if you catch them at the right temp, stay juicy. No reason why these wouldn't freeze well, too. Fantastic on their own, on a salad, on pasta, whatever.

[HotSun]

Thanks Jim White . Air fryer is going to be a good option when it gets too cold to grill or outdoor cook.

[Attjack]

For lunches, I cube chicken breasts and season them with Maggi and Montreal Chicken then freeze them in 2 serving containers. Then I make a salad and add 5 ounces of chicken to it.

[Washblue]

I’ll eat wood chips if adequately splashed with Maggi! So chicken is a natural for it! 👍🏻 To Attjack …

[MBMorgan]

I'm 100% with Huskee on this. In fact, I just SV'd 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts yesterday and will put them in the freezer today. Basically, the process produces the equivalent of "poached" chicken breast ... which is almost infinitely flexible.

It's really quite simple:

1. Purchase and trim decent breasts. They don't have to be the most expensive brand because, just as it does for cheap cuts of red meat, the SV process will ensure juicy, tender results.
2. Dry thoroughly and season with Kosher salt and ground black pepper. Any other seasoning (to suit the way you plan to use them) can be done once they are thawed.
3. Vacuum seal (moist setting). I usually double seal (not double bag) just for a little extra insurance against leakage.
4. Into the SV water (preheated to 143F). I start my timer when the water returns to 143F.
5. Cook at 143F for 2.5 hours (up to 3 hours if you like).
6. Shock and quick-chill in an ice water bath for 15-20 minutes, then into the fridge unless I'm using them immediately. They'll stay in their bags in the fridge overnight.
7. The next day, label and move into the freezer.
8. At a later date, thaw in a water bath (or in the fridge); remove from the bag; and pat dry.
9. Treat them just like freshly poached chicken breasts ... and enjoy.

This works so well and is so easy that I try to keep at least several SV "poached" breasts in the freezer at all times.

[HotSun]

Since you are wet brining them you should be okay with moisture. I am assuming they are boneless skinless. If you haven’t brined them yet I would consider cutting them in half horizontally which will make the thickness more uniform, and they will cook faster. Mosca had this recipe which you might consider instead of brining. It does a good job of adding some flavor.
1 part zesty Italian dressing
2 parts BBQ sauce
Mix and marinate boneless skinless chicken thighs for at least 2 hours.
Smoke at 375 for 45 minute to hour on the BGE

Personally in the future for more flavor I would consider boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Thanks LA Pork Butt ! Yeah, I am working with boneless chicken breast. I am wondering if my family will notice the BBQ sauce taste in the marinade. I may do one this way and see if I can get them to bite.

We usually do boneless chicken thighs marinated in Italian dressing, but I wanted to mix it up a little. I actually haven't thought of freezing grilled chicken thighs (*duh*). My ability to grill is going to be hampered by winter, so I'll have to try some of this.

Should I smoke direct or indirect? I'm guessing indirect, but you know what happens when you assume.

[LA Pork Butt]

If you want smoke flavor I would go indirect. If you are wet brining, oiling them with some seasoning I would go direct or maybe vortex mode.

[HotSun]

LA Pork Butt , I think I will use my Vortex to do SnS with this: indirect roast/smoke, then direct sear at the very end.

[HotSun]

MBMorgan , thank you for the thorough reply. I don't have an SV device, though I could do SV the old fashioned way. This is a brilliant solution to having poached chicken ready on-the-fly. My girls love my chicken salad, so that is a regular rotational item. I usually do poached chicken in the pressure cooker, but I see your way would ultimately save a ton of time.

Maybe Santa will bring me an SV device for Christmas....

[HotSun]

For lunches, I cube chicken breasts and season them with Maggi and Montreal Chicken then freeze them in 2 serving containers. Then I make a salad and add 5 ounces of chicken to it.

Great ideas, Attjack , and thank you. This is the general idea here: ready-made chicken for salads, quick meals, soups, etc. Coincidentally, I just finished roasting a chicken with Montreal Chicken seasoning (will show on SUWYC later). Now I have to finally open the bottle of Maggi that's been sitting in the back of the pantry.

[CHNeal]

I cheat and brine / season at the same time with a vast number of products both mine and pre-made. For quick, easy with no creativity needed I go to the Weber branded spice mixtures. 1.5 tbs season and 1/2 cup olive oil for a couple days hot grill and done.
When I am doing extended work projects I’ll cook a weeks work for meals for me and the fam. The microwave very nice. I have in the past done a few weeks worth at a time and frozen 2 weeks single packaged for my girls to thaw and cook. I always kind “ Heavy blanch” those I freeze so they don’t dry out for the thaw. I pull them at about 125.

[HotSun]

I cheat and brine / season at the same time with a vast number of products both mine and pre-made. For quick, easy with no creativity needed I go to the Weber branded spice mixtures. 1.5 tbs season and 1/2 cup olive oil for a couple days hot grill and done.
When I am doing extended work projects I’ll cook a weeks work for meals for me and the fam. The microwave very nice. I have in the past done a few weeks worth at a time and frozen 2 weeks single packaged for my girls to thaw and cook. I always kind “ Heavy blanch” those I freeze so they don’t dry out for the thaw. I pull them at about 125.

Thanks CHNeal , this is helpful. I 'cheat', too, in similar ways. I will freeze cooked proteins, with just a little liquid (drippings, broth, or just water), vacuum sealed 'gentle and moist' settings. When ready to cook, I throw either the thawed or frozen bag into a pot of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, and it is ready to eat. It is almost like a reverse SV (see what I did there? ). It has been working well with pork and beef. I just froze some roasted chicken, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out.

[shify]

I find that if I wet brine chicken breast overnight, they can withstand the original cook (I take chicken breast to 155), cool down and then reheat without drying out. I do this often for salads during the week in that I brine, cook (gasser/SV/skillet) and refrigerate chicken breasts often on Sundays and then use them in salads throughout the week. I typically go with a fairly standard rub pre-cook (garlic/onion/paprika) to keep my plans for them flexible.

I also have used the pre-cooked chicken breast in burritos and tacos by cubing them and then sautéing them until warmed up which doesn't take more than a minute or two. I'll usually dust the cubes with some spices pre-saute but you have to be careful with the salt if using a store bought rub. Similarly a reheat and a quick swipe of sauce can make them bbq or korean or you can reheat in a teriyaki sauce, etc. If they are properly brined and cooked, you can pretty much do anything you want with them which is why I keep the original brine and seasoning fairly straightforward

[HotSun]

I find that if I wet brine chicken breast overnight, they can withstand the original cook (I take chicken breast to 155), cool down and then reheat without drying out. I do this often for salads during the week in that I brine, cook (gasser/SV/skillet) and refrigerate chicken breasts often on Sundays and then use them in salads throughout the week. I typically go with a fairly standard rub pre-cook (garlic/onion/paprika) to keep my plans for them flexible.

I also have used the pre-cooked chicken breast in burritos and tacos by cubing them and then sautéing them until warmed up which doesn't take more than a minute or two. I'll usually dust the cubes with some spices pre-saute but you have to be careful with the salt if using a store bought rub. Similarly a reheat and a quick swipe of sauce can make them bbq or korean or you can reheat in a teriyaki sauce, etc. If they are properly brined and cooked, you can pretty much do anything you want with them which is why I keep the original brine and seasoning fairly straightforward

Thanks shify , this is useful. I make my own rubs and have some of my seasonings that are salt-free. This is what I'm aiming for, with convenience.

[Panhead John]

HotSun You should try blackened chicken breasts on a hot CI skillet. Leftovers are great for salads too. Louisiana Brands Blackened seasoning is my go to. 👍

[HotSun]

HotSun You should try blackened chicken breasts on a hot CI skillet. Leftovers are great for salads too. Louisiana Brands Blackened seasoning is my go to. 👍

Excellent, thanks PJ! I have been looking for a decent blacken seasoning for fish, and this should do it.