Washing chicken is one of the basics in the kitchen, yet it can be the most difficult, time consuming & disliked part of cooking. According to professionals & chefs there is no need to wash chicken as the bacteria is killed in the cooking process & many argue that when you wash your chicken you are washing away all the flavour. Oops. Well since we cannot resist, here is our method of washing boneless chicken.
We like to buy our boneless chicken in bulk of 3kg whole breasts every two weeks or depending on how long it lasts us (You may want to start off with 1kg if you are new to this). We wash & weigh them out in packets of 250g & freeze. Most recipes require 250g / 500g / 1kg chicken, therefore working with 250g packets is easier.
We also like to buy our boneless chicken as whole breasts rather the cubed or minced as it much more easier to wash. Chicken can be easily cubed according to preference at home. For minced chicken we use the food processor & occasionally the mincer attachment to the Kenwood chef. This way you know you have got rid of all the slimy bits before it is minced.
Certain butchers also have smaller & easier to clean chicken. We like to buy our HMC chicken from Kismat (Elgin St, Bolton) & Nisa Local (Derby St, Bolton).
At the beginning, the process of washing 3kg chicken would take nearly 2 hours! It’s gotten easier with practice & now we are down to 1 hour including clean up! Alhamdulilah!
To make it easier we like to alternate between boneless & whole chicken. So one week / day we wash boneless chicken & the other whole chicken (bone chicken). In this way its easier & a lot less tiring.
Click to see how to wash boned chicken!
Words of advice: Put the ‘eeewww’ aside & get stuck in!
You will need:
- Boneless chicken breasts
- bowl
- colander
- sharp knife
- scissors
- chopping board
- sieve
- vinegar / salt
- sink & running water
- plastic freezer bags
- scale (optional)
- A tray
Method
- Recite Bismillah.
- Clear the area around the sink from pots, pans, plants, dish rack etc.
- In a bowl, soak your chicken in cold water & a splash of vinegar or a dash of salt for 3-5 mins. You can miss this step & simply soak in water. We like to do this to get rid of any funny smells & it also helps loosen any fat & slimy bits.
- Start off by getting rid of all the slimy & sticky white bits off the chicken using your hand & the water in the bowl. Work your way through the top of the chicken, the sides & the back. Pull out any red veins that you can see. Any that you cannot see can be tackled when you cut your chicken before cooking. Using the water in the bowl to do this means you are wasting less water. Use a knife to scrape off any stubborn fat or you may even find it easier using a pair of scissors to cut of any dangling bits .
- Work your way through each breast, placing them in a colander. If you wish to separate the fillets from the breast at this point you may do so.
- Once you have finished doing this with all the breast, drain the water out from the bowl over a sieve as this will prevent your sink from getting blocked.
- Give the bowl a rinse & transfer all the chicken breasts back into the washed bowl.
- Now give the colander a rinse.
- One by one, rinse each breast under a running tap of cold water quickly to get rid off anything you may have missed & place in the colander.
- Allow to drain for a few mins & then pack into freezer bags according to preference.
- Place the packets of chicken on a tray & allow them to freeze. This will prevent the packets from sticking to one another. Once they have frozen remove them off the tray, fill in a bag or store as you wish in the freezer.
- We like to finish off with a good scrub, disinfect & wipe of the sink & all areas around the sink, followed by a cap of zo flora & hot water down the drain.
- Check out the video below to have a better understanding of our method. Hope it helps & remember us in your duas!
Tiers 