The pic is 140. And yeah, we’re more or less saying the same thing - I like mine about 5 degrees hotter than that pic.
I’ve done sous-vide skinless boneless breasts at 145, and they’re divine. Honestly, I was completely surprised by it, as I’m not a big chicken breast fan. I had a sick dog and the vet told me to feed her chicken and rice. Sous-viding a big bag of breasts was the easiest way for me to cook it for her. When I took 'em out and was shredding them to feed to the dog, I tasted a couple bites and was like “Holy crap, this stuff is GREAT!”
Since then, I’ve cooked 'em that way a few times and we do chicken burger kinda things with them, they’re great.
I have perfected the art of cooking chicken. Even chicken breasts. I usually cook mine skinless and boneless for easy carving. Mine is always crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I know this because when I slice it, the juices run out on the cutting board.
Secret is: med-high heat in a stainless pan (not non-stick) with a 3 tbls of oil and a tsp of butter. Sear the chicken uncovered, then reduce heat to med-low, cover and finish cooking to 170 degrees internal.
But we seem to be moving the other way at home. Mrs. FtG now brines turkeys because the kids like them that way. Ugh city. You know what you taste when you take a bite of brined turkey with cranberry jelly? Salty juice. Not the turkey, not the cranberry.
I’m with you OP! I really enjoy a firmly textured chicken where I can feel my teeth going through the fibers; slightly chewy, though not translucently hard/tough. I don’t like chicken ‘juice’ squirting into my mouth and I don’t like dark meat much either, and I want skin always crispy and fat rendered down and invisible. Mainly it’s all in the taste/seasoning/sear.
I really hate when people try to tell me I’m wrong about my preferences and there’s only one ‘right’ way to eat/cook chicken. Super limiting. People should be able to live in harmony when they’re not fighting over the same cuts of meat!
Depends on what I’m eating it with how moist it should be. Since I generally eat them by themselves moist is usually fine.
But this comes up all the time with turkey around Thanksgiving where most people seem to be on a mission to put at much liquid inside a served bird as possible. Moist turkey is fine on a sandwich.
But when it is going to be on a place with a bunch of other stuff over which I pour gravy, I want it dry. Same with chicken, if it is going to end up tossed in a dish with sauce, I want it on the dry side.
