It says “put the steamer basket in the dutch oven, set burner to medium, until you reach a sub simmer of about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes, then, turn it off, remove the dutch oven from the stove, cover, snd let it sit for another 17-22 minutes.”.
It probably sounds like nit-picking, but I need clarification
Until you reach a sub simmer of about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes: Does that imply bringing it up to 175, and then cook for another 15 minutes (I suspect that is the case),or bring it up to 175. That should take abut 15 minutes**. But if I continue cooking on medium, the temp will increase, correct?
Then, remove from the oven, cover, and let it sit for another 17-22 minutes.. Does this sound like a lot of cooking time to you?
And this may be the dumbest question of all. How do you measure the water temperature? I ask because, I had difficulty trying to find the best way to do it. I have a regular meat thermometer and an instant read. Even tho (in the video) you couldn’t see where the thermometer was being placed (I assume it was not in the meat, right?), the indicator was jumping all over the place depending where I moved the sensor in the water.
I would presume that you poach the chicken in the pot (dutch oven) for 15 minutes, then take the pot off the heat and let it sit, covered, for another 17-22 minutes, but they’re using a steamer basket?
That seems like a bizarre / wrong recipe since when you use a steamer basket you don’t care what temperature the water is, just that it’s boiling (which means the water is 212 degrees) and thus producing steam. Poaching is in the liquid, steaming is in the steam.
In the video they explain that the steamer basket is to keep the chicken off the bottom for more even heat but it’s still submerged in the water.
Until you reach a sub simmer of about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes: Is that bring it up to 175, and then cook for another 15 minutes (I suspect that is the case),or bring it up to 175. That should take abut 15 minutes. But if I continue cooking on medium, the temp will increase, correct?
Then, remove from the oven, cover, and let it sit for another 17-22 minutes.. Does this sound like a lot of cooking time to you?
After watching the video and reading the instructions on the ATK website it looks like the instructions say to bring the water up to 175F which should take about 15 minutes, then take if off the burner and let the meat come up to 160, which should take another 17-22 minutes
And this may be the dumbest question of all. How do you measure the water temperature? I ask because, I had difficulty trying to find the best way to do it. I have a regular meat thermometer and an instant read. Even tho you couldn’t see where the thermometer was being placed (I assume it was not in the meat, right?), the indicator was jumping all over the place depending where I moved the sensor in the water.
It’s not a dumb question but this recipe does seem needlessly precise. The video shows them using a ThermoWorks instant read thermometer so that’s probably their recommendation even though it would be hard to get the exact water temperatures they mention in every spot. For the 160F they definitely mean to use a thermometer in the meat.
I was almost embarrassed to post, like I was overthinking the whole thing.
Thanks for the confirmations.
I think I’m gonna try bringing the cool water up to temperature, on medium, for 15 minutes, and then remove it from the burner. If it’s not fully cooked after the 17-22 minutes, I’ll have to cook it further, but that gentle cooking time, which is what that recipe is all about, seems to make sense.
You want to poach the chicken at 175 degrees for 15 minutes, then take the dutch oven off the heat and let it sit, covered, for another 17-22 minutes until the chicken reaches 160 degrees.
But how you’d keep the temperature at 175 degrees without a thermal recirculator I don’t know. Seems like an insanely fussy recipe. Here are some simpler recipes: