What in the world would we do without chicken breasts?! They're bland, dry, and featured at almost every event.
It would help if we used skin-on breast, but alas, the skin must go. I hope everyone learns that the low fat diet has been debunked...
If we fully cook the breasts at the central catering kitchen and transport them warm/hot, they're guaranteed to be dry, and/or tepid. If we transport them raw and cook onsite, there are significant challenges involving food safety and proper cooking.
The least we can do is to avoid overcooking this lean protein. Great if you can do it, but it's not as simple as just watching the internal temperature of random pieces. On every sheet pan of raw chicken breast, there lurks a few extra thick pieces, just daring you to under cook them and serve them to the bride's Mom.
So, we cook the whole batch until the few thick breasts are fully done, and therefore by definition we overcook all of the others...
I do my best to compensate for the variation in thickness by arranging the breasts on the pan strategically. The hottest spots on the pan are the four corners, followed by the edges. The four thickest breasts go in the corners and I line the middle sized breasts along the edges with the thinnest pieces in the center.
In addition to placing the breasts on certain parts of the pan, I also orient them strategically. If they haven't been pounded, we have the thick end and also the tapered point which will dry out more quickly. Obviously it's best to place the thicker parts towards the highest heat, but I rarely see other chefs take this step. Maybe it doesn't make enough difference to be worth the effort, but I have to try..
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