Preparing Chicken for Cooking

In general, chicken (or any meat) tastes best when it hasn’t been frozen. The ice crystals that form during freezing rupture the cell walls of the meat, permitting the release of juices during cooking. If you’re going to freeze chicken, wrap it well in plastic and then place the meat in a zipper-lock bag and squeeze out excess air. Use the chicken within a few months. Thaw all frozen meats on a plate or rimmed baking sheet in the refrigerator—not on the counter.

According to the USDA, frozen food that is properly thawed is safe to refreeze in its raw state. However, a second freeze-thaw cycle aggravates the moisture loss problem and is not recommended.

Avoid rinsing raw meat and poultry. Contrary to what some cookbooks (or your grandmother) advise, rinsing is more likely to spread contaminants around the sink (and perhaps onto nearby foods like lettuce sitting on the counter) than to send them down the drain. And our kitchen tests failed to demonstrate any flavor benefit to rinsing meat or poultry before cooking.

Items that come in contact with both raw and cooked food, like scales and platters, should be covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil to create a protective barrier. Once the item has been used, the wrap—and any bacteria—can be discarded. Similarly, wrapping your cutting board with plastic wrap before pounding chicken will limit the spread of bacteria.

Though bacteria can’t live for more than a few minutes in direct contact with salt (which quickly dehydrates bacteria, leading to cell death), it can live on the edges of a box or shaker. To avoid contamination, we grind pepper into a small bowl and then mix it with salt. This way, we can reach into the bowl for seasoning without having to wash our hands every time we touch raw poultry. Afterward, the bowl goes right into the dishwasher.

No matter how well cooked the chicken is, if it’s not properly seasoned it won’t taste very good. Chicken, or any meat, should be seasoned with salt and pepper before cooking. You will also want to taste meat before serving to adjust the seasonings. Heat tames the punch of pepper, so use it sparingly after cooking.

As for salt, you can season the chicken right before cooking for flavor, but you can also use salt (and time) in advance of cooking to improve the texture of many cuts. See Salting Chicken and Brining Chicken for more information.