you either hate them, or you deal with them. I don't know that there is anyone out there that loves them. OK, well maybe there is, but this woman hates bones. I am what other websites call a "skinless, boneless, chicken breast snob." And, I am proud to admit that, I guess. =) I have always wanted to be able to buy the $0.99 per pound split chicken breasts when they went on sale, but I just can't deal with the bone, or so I thought. I was reading one of the many recipe blogs I look at and she mentioned the chicken she was using was some she had cooked in the crock pot and frozen for future recipes. I thought, I wonder if I could do that with the bone in chicken and shred it and use it for other recipes later on. So, with BiLo having their split chicken breasts on sale for $0.99 a pound, I bought two packages (10 split chicken breasts) and tried it. I filled my crock pot up with about 2-3 inches of water, added salt and pepper and put 3 split chicken breasts in to cook on HI for most of the day. I would say approx 6 hours or so. The package I bought had 5 breasts in it, but my crock pot only held 3, so I boiled the other two. I put all the chicken in the fridge to cool overnight. The next morning I started to pull the chicken off the bone and shred it. I did the boiled chicken first, it wasn't as ideal as I had hoped, but i was getting a lot of chicken off of just one breast, so I was happy. Then I started on the ones I cooked in the crock pot, the bones literally fell off. IT WAS SO EASY!!! I was able to shred the chicken with my fingers instead of using a fork. I was so pleased!! I even got more meat off of these three breasts than the ones I had boiled on the stove. I froze the chicken and will be using it for other recipes like casseroles, enchiladas, pot pies, etc. in the future. So if you're like I was, and still am ( I will still only cook with boneless chicken breasts when it doesn't need to be shredded) I challenge you to try this. It was so cheap and it really was easy. Good luck!
Chicken shredded from one split chicken breast (This was actually from one I boiled, I actually got a little more from the ones I cooked in the crock pot.)
Chicken shredded from one split chicken breast (This was actually from one I boiled, I actually got a little more from the ones I cooked in the crock pot.)
7 comments:
I love this! Ever since I noticed Kroger and Schnuck's putting split breasts on sale for 0.97/lb once a month or so, I buy 4-5 packages at a time. I do the boiling thing with spices, carrots, celery, and onions, and I have my shredded chicken and chicken stock. My freezer is always full! I pull mine off as soon as it's cool enough - usually all just falls right off the bone.
Wow, Amber! This post was just for me. I don't do bones....I'll have to try this and let you know how it goes. I'm sure it would be a BIG money saver!
I am a fellow boneless skinless snob!! But I had a turning point when I decided to make shredding BBQ chicken sandwiches for my daughter's birthday party. Schnucks happened to have split breast on sale for .89/lb. So I bought 3 packs and cooked them all in the crockpot, it took me two days! But the result was great. Besides shredding I also boiled a pack and then diced it for other dishes besides shredded chicken. I heard you can fillet it off the bone but I haven't attempted that one yet!
I'm going to try the crock pot route, but question on boiling - how long do you boil them for? Thank you!
It usually depends on how much chicken you are boiling. I would say about 20-30 minutes. Just keep an eye on it. I probably cook it closer to 30 because I'm scared of undercooking chicken. You'll know it's done when the chicken starts comes off the bone easily, or the bones break easily. I usually cover the chicken as well. Hope this helps!
I just found your blog and added it to my favorites. I am always looking for recipe ideas!!!
Thanks for posting this :) I'm going to put some split chicken breasts in my crock pot now! I hate dealing with the bones and skin but I love pulled chicken. And they are sooo much cheaper than chicken breasts.
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