Curry simmering and overcooking the chicken

[rohirette]

4 hours on even a low flame = rubber chicken.

4 hours in crockpot = tender. Totally different kind of heat, and the results are different.

Low and slow really applies to tough cuts of meat, or very large ones, or those full of connective tissue. Pot roast, pork shoulder and the like. The whole point is to break down what is tough. Chicken starts off tender, and doesn't need nearly the amount of time. Now you may be able to continue cooking past the point of toughness and come back around to tenderness - or just plain shred it - or use a crockpot (which again, is not the same as stovetop over a low flame.)

[momtothree]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Are you all talking about crockpot cooking? I thought this was a discussion about regular cooking in regular cookware, either on the stovetop or in the oven. At least, I think that's what the OP meant.

Just to make sure I hadn't lost my mind, I consulted two experts, Jean Anderson in Falling off the Bone and Richard Olney in Simple French Food. Olney's daube (French for this kind of cooking) section states unequivocally that chicken daubes are cooked from 30-40 minutes after they are covered in liquid (in addition to being browned previous to immersion). Anderson, a true American doyenne of "low and slow," doesn't even include poultry in Falling off the Bone.

So I don't know where all this "cook your chicken for four hours or more" business comes from, unless you meant crockpot, which is not what the OP asked about.

BTW, if anyone wants my copy of Falling off the Bone, you're welcome to it, for just the cost of shipping it to you. PM me if interested.

Wow, offended much?

I make a lot of chicken dishes both on stove and in crockpot.

A dish I make on the stove since this seems to such an important distinction to you, The longer you cook it, the more tender it gets. I don't take if off the flame till after an hour and half at minimum. I just have to stir and add liquid if it starts to evaporate too much.

So as the poster I was agreeing with, as long as it's moist, you can most definitely cook chicken tender. I don't go by books, I go by experience.

Edited to add: Did you even read her post? The 4 hours was for a soup like recipe. Of course 4 hours would be fine, it's in total liquid.