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Pressed Chicken

A method of cooking chicken by pressing it to separate meat from bones, then chopping for salad.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Pressed Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the chicken

  1. Place the cut-up fowls in a kettle with a tight cover to retain steam.

  2. Add 2 cups of water, salt, and pepper over the chicken.

  3. Cook until the meat easily separates from the bones.

Prepare and press

  1. Remove skin, bone, and gristle, then chop the meat for chicken salad.

  2. Season the meat well and place it in a dish.

  3. Pour the remaining cooking juice over the meat.

  4. Let it cool; it will jelly and can be sliced or served in shape.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Fowls
Provide the meat that is cooked until tender and then pressed into a set loaf.
Water
Creates steam and cooking liquid that is later reserved to set the meat as it cools.

The step that matters

Let it cool. The cooking juice has to cool so its natural gelatin sets and holds the meat together. Slicing too early gives a loose, unset texture.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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