Boneless Chicken Breast to Grill and Freeze - Need ideas

[Bob K]

My favorite for BSCB is to butterfly or slice in half horizontally like LA Pork Butt describes, maybe pound a little flatter inside a ziploc if you feel like it. Then one of Kenji’s tricks: marinate in mayo+whatever. For example, I mixed 1/2 cup of salsa with 1C mayo and dumped it in a ziploc with about 8 of the (lightly seasoned - mayo has salt) half-breasts. Squish it all around and marinate overnight. Then grill, pan, broil, whatever. They come out so tender and juicy and something about the mayo really transfers the mix-in’s flavor. Kept them in the fridge and ate all week in salads, tacos, etc. They would freeze perfectly as well. Next up is garlic chili crisp + mayo.

[HotSun]

My favorite for BSCB is to butterfly or slice in half horizontally like LA Pork Butt describes, maybe pound a little flatter inside a ziploc if you feel like it. Then one of Kenji’s tricks: marinate in mayo+whatever. For example, I mixed 1/2 cup of salsa with 1C mayo and dumped it in a ziploc with about 8 of the (lightly seasoned - mayo has salt) half-breasts. Squish it all around and marinate overnight. Then grill, pan, broil, whatever. They come out so tender and juicy and something about the mayo really transfers the mix-in’s flavor. Kept them in the fridge and ate all week in salads, tacos, etc. They would freeze perfectly as well. Next up is garlic chili crisp + mayo.

Thank you for sharing Bob K ! I think I will do one of the breasts I have using Kenji's method. My son is, to put it kindly, a fussy eater, but he loves a lot of things that I make that he would not eat if he knew how I prepared it or the ingredients.

[HotSun]

I have prepped 4 breasts using the methods recommended by LA Pork Butt , Panhead John , and Bob K , and one of my own (hot pickled cauliflower brine). They are marinating and/or brining overnight, and I will probably grill tomorrow late afternoon. I'll post the results here.

Once I have an SV device, maybe later this year (Christmas?), I will try some of the other methods.

[bbqLuv]

The shape of a chicken breast is thick on one end and thin on the other end. So now I cut them into medallions.
I got this idea from watching a video on YouTube. This really works out fine for me and mine.
(15) Chicken Breast On The Traeger - Ace Hardware - YouTube

[HotSun]

Thanks bbqLuv ! I think I really need to start doing medallions. It would solve lots of problems, mainly in serving, portioning, and storing.

[Alan Brice]

For quick n easy, I put one tablespoon salsa. Your pref hot/ mild into a ziplock or food saver. Generous splash soy/teriyaki/worshyerseester
again your pref. Into fridge or freeze depending how soon you will cook. Pan of hot water will get them close then take out of plastic n sear. We used to use the electric George Forman,5-10 min. Mindless n tasty

[wrgilb]

I'm with everyone else that SVs and ice bath, then freeze. I found that the ideal SV time and temp for me is 150 degrees for 90 minutes. Super moist and great texture. Thaw, choose your seasoning and sear for some color.

[HotSun]

I couldn't grill yesterday, as I was called away to an important last minute meeting, so the breasts had two days to marinate/brine/ferment.... you know, whatever they do. Here are the four candidates:

1. Control: pickled hot cauliflower juice, basically just brine
2. Mayo and salsa, from Bob K / Kenji
3. Blackened, from Panhead John
4. BBQ and Italian dressing, from LA Pork Butt / Mosca

It was a beautiful Indian summer day, in the low 70's. I got the Kamander up and running, briquettes, direct heat. I grilled early because the daylight goes quickly. Here are the breasts just after laying on the grill (each was fileted prior to marinating):


Here we are about 2/3 the way through our cook. I forgot to throw some smoke in there, so it was just charcoal and chicken.



This was a very decent grilling, despite some unevenness in heating. I had almost no flareups. After these reached temp, I pulled them in put them in the warmer until everything else was ready.

Here are the family's ratings:

1. Control: the wife and I loved, the kids were not as impressed.
2. Mayo and Salsa: wife, son, and daughter loved this one, surprisingly, but I was not impressed (I had high hopes)
3. Blackened: wife and I loved this one, kids thought it was too spicy (no surprise). Side note: PJ....I found a pound of blackening spice unopened in my cellar the other day...score!
4. BBQ and Italian: I really liked this one (would have been even better if I remembered smoke), the rest of the family, very predictably, did not care for.

In the end, they ate all four with no complaints. This would have been better with smoke, but I'll do that next time. The control, which was really the only true brine, was the juiciest. I will probably do wet brines and then season the brine.

Anyhow, I sliced and froze some of the chicken for quick meals on the fly:


I will have to try the SV methods suggested once I can get a hold of a machine.

Thanks to all who helped me find great ways to grill chicken breast. I learned a lot!