A foodie has shared a cooking tip that you might not know about that shows how to cut chicken a certain way to get strips that are more tender and easier to chew when they are cooked
There isn’t only one way to cut chicken, but the way you slice it can impact the flavor once cooked. Chicken is divided into several sections, including the breast, thighs, legs, and wings.
Boneless chicken breasts are a favorite for many cooks because they cook quickly, can be diced or sliced into strips, and are seen as healthy and lean, especially when skinless. This part of the chicken is also versatile, suitable for frying, baking, or grilling, and can be used in a variety of dishes. Most of us don’t put much thought into how we cut chicken as we just want to get it prepped quickly for our meal.
Kerry Whelpdale, a travel, food, and fashion content creator with over 70,000 Instagram followers, shares tips related to these topics, along with recipes.
The foodie shared an Instagram reel on how to cut chicken breast to get more tender strips. Viewers were impressed by this cooking hack.
In the brief video, she demonstrated two ways to cut chicken breast. Kerry explained: “If you cut chicken against the ‘grain’ (width ways) it shortens the muscle fibers, resulting in more tender and easier to chew strips.
“If you cut chicken with the ‘grain’ (lengthways) you will have a chewier, firmer texture.” Josie and Nina, a duo who share casual, modern Italian recipes, have compiled a guide on how to cut chicken breast on their website.
They claim that the “best way” to cut chicken breast is against the ‘grain’. They explained: “If you look closely, you’ll see that every cut of meat has little muscle fibers that run through it almost like stripes. Just like a piece of wood cut from a tree, those fibers are the ‘grain.’
“In the image above, the grain is parallel with the knife. For cutting chicken, you can cut ‘with the grain’ or ‘against’ it. Another way to think of this is ‘across’ the grain.”
To spot the ‘grain’, Josie and Nina recommend lining your knife blade with the “little white lines” in the chicken breast, as these represent the muscle fibers or ‘grain’.
The duo emphasizes that slicing chicken against the ‘grain’ (as well as most meats) is the “key to more tender meat, especially when it’s grilled.”
The chefs note that this technique breaks down the muscle fibers into smaller pieces, making the meat easier to chew. In her Instagram post’s caption, Kerry asked: “Did you know?”.
One follower responded: “No but I’m going to do this now!” Another confessed: “I’ve [been] doing this the wrong way round then.”
A third chimed in: “Yes, all meat you should cut against the grain, great tip.” A fourth user shared: “I remember learning this and being gobsmacked.”
