Rubber chicken


 
Jerry N.

Jerry N.

TVWBB Emerald Member
I grill boneless skinless chicken breasts often. I seems like more often than before, they turn out rubbery. I don't do anything special and haven't done anything different in the cook/prep of the breasts. I put on some EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic powder and some oregano then cook on high heat.

I'm I doing something wrong that I'm not noticing or is the chicken just getting rubbery. If it's the chicken, is there a type or brand that is better?

This is a staple for me and wife and neither of us can stand the rubbery chicken. Some we will eat, but some is so bad that the leftovers (I always cook extra) just get tossed.
 
Jerry, you don't say if you're using a thermometer or not. Of not, get an instant read probe and pull the chicken when it gets to 160. Even the $10 Weber does a good job. Not instant, but pretty quick.

We've been cooking the ones GFS puts on sale and have had good luck.
 
Last edited:
I hit mine with my Jaccard tenderizer. Besides tenderizing, it will flatten the breasts out a bit, so they cook more evenly. Then, I brine them for an hour or so. I grill direct over medium heat, flipping once, to an internal temp of 160-165. They don't turn out rubbery.
 
Have you thought about grilling a couple of breasts on the bone to see if it makes a difference? I have never had it turn out rubbery on the bone. Medium heat should work.
Then next you could try cutting the breasts from the bone before grilling. Also see if you can isolate the chicken thats rubbery to a brand, or a store, or fresh or frozen, there may be some
common denominator to the rubbery stuff.
 
T Waite said:
Jerry, you don't say if you're using a thermometer or not. Of not, get an instant read probe and pull the chicken when it gets to 160. Even the $10 Weber does a good job. Not instant, but pretty quick.

We've been cooking the ones GFS puts on sale and have had good luck.

Cheers from Milan!
Click to expand...

Have a Thermopen and have been pulling at or a little shy of 160°.

A couple of posts mention medium heat. I will try turning the heat down and see if that helps. I've been cooking them at very high heat. I might try the tenderizer. I'm not too concerned about flattening them out because of the way I cut them. If you think of a breast as a triangle, I cut the thin corner off and then cut the fat end in half like a cutlet. So each half breast gives me three pieces.

I have thought about buying some on the bone. The market has Amish breasts on the bone and was thinking that may be what I try next. It's just that boneless/skinless is so easy.

Not sure about brining. My chicken comes out moist, just sometimes rubbery. I thought brining was something that could cause a rubbery texture. Either way, I'd prefer not to brine since it's one more step and I'm after easy.
 
Jerry, we have boneless/skinless at least once a week. I prep the same as you, EVOO and a rub. Great, quick meal for after work.

For me, what works is starting direct for a minute or two each side to get a quick sear and finishing indirect.

We also usually prefer some type of finishing sauce at the end. Though when we don't, the consistency of the chicken seems to be fine. I had a chicken roll up for lunch with last night's leftovers. Prepped the breasts with EVOO and Penzeys Fajita to start, Lemon/Butter and Fajita seasoning for the finishing sauce.

Lots of good suggestions, you'll nail it....
 
Start with higher heat then let them cook slowly. My George Foreman grill was the only successful chef for them. It cooked at a constant temp but it had a timer.
 
Jeff F said:
I am guessing that if you check, your "rubber" chickens have been "enhanced with a solution".
Click to expand...

Seems unlikely as they are usually bought at a meat market where they seem to be fresh or at least only frozen. I have bough some that were packaged (Costco) but they seem to be hit and miss with regards to the texture being rubbery however bought/packaged. Though I agree, the texture is what I think of when brining goes a little too long.
 
I used to hate grilling skinless/boneless breasts for the same reason, bland and chewy.
But Sunday, I decided to give it a try on my new Summit. Instead of brine, I squeezed two lemons and one orange into a zip-lock bag, added a tablespoon of ginger paste, a tablespoon of cilantro paste (the paste tubes save a bunch of clean up), zest of two lemons, 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of dill. Closed the zip-lock, removed all the air and marinated for about three hours (you need to plan ahead with this). after marinating, I removed the breasts, tossed the marinade and salted and peppered the breasts. Placed them on clean grates in a 350-400* (medium) grill and closed the lid, I watched them for about 5 minutes on the first side, flipped and watched them for about another 5 minutes. Stuck them with my insti-read until they reached 165* when you shoved the thermometer all the way in at the fat part.
I gotta tell you, as someone who only would eat chicken begrudgingly, these came out AWESOME! Tender, cooked perfectly all the way through, with a nice hint of citrus, ginger, cilantro, salt & pepper. No where near the old dull, tasteless chicken I used to cook. This will be my "go-to" chicken breast recipe from now on
 
Last edited:
I cooked a few breasts this spring and one of them had a texture like it was made of rubbery tubes. The flavor was fine but the texture of that one completely ruined my appetite.
 
I do my boneless/skinless breasts with the reverse sear method ... indirect for most of the cook, then searing at the end. Never had any issues with rubberyness.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top