Chicken Breast Sous-Vide

So who doesn't like chicken breasts? For several years I have been buying the pre-cooked grilled chicken breast at Costco for convenience. I like to snack on them for the extra protein. When I got my Sous-Vide machine I was very excited to cook them using the Sous-Vide method. I researched appropriate temperatures for poultry and I came across several recommendations. (SEE UPDATE)

There were a lot of variances and personal preferences that ranged from 135-155 degrees F. I know you are saying to yourselves "I thought you had to cook the chicken to 165F degrees to kill or pathogens" this is untrue. 

A combination of temperature and time can pasteurize a piece of meat. Take a look at this graph. If for example, we cooked chicken until it hit an internal temp of 165F degrees it would become instantaneously pasteurized and safe to eat. If we then cooked a piece of chicken to an internal temp of 140 degrees and held it there for 35 minutes it would be safe to eat also. I use an APP by Polyscience to figure all that out for me. 

Anyhow, I have experimented twice now with chicken temps. I have tried 150.9 degrees F and 147F degrees F temp. I used the 150.9 temps because the APP used this temp to describe a Med cooked chicken. The 147F-degree temp came from a Chef I talked with about poultry and he like 147 degrees. Both temps produced perfectly cooked juicy chicken. After cooking it twice now I am just a little close to dialing in what I think would be good. I think 149 will be my preferable temp for chicken. Although both temps above worked well it's about the texture of the meat and what it felt like when I chewed it. I thought the 147F-degree temp was a little too fleshy for me and the 150F temps were just about right but not perfect. I am also going to try organic chicken breast to see if this makes a difference too.

Note: after cooking breasts, I submerged them in an ICE BATH for about an hour to stop the cooking process and get them ready for storage. I left them in their bags. 

Chicken seasoned with Poultry spices

Just submerged in a water bath.

Side profile.
Will cook for 1:38 min to pasteurize.

Beautiful!!!

Update: I used organic 

Chicken breasts and 

cooked them 

at 145F degrees.  

They were beyond perfect.

Update: 12/11/18

UPDATE - DARK AND WHITE MEAT

UPDATE- BULK BREASTS ONLY

(SEE UPDATE)

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