Have you ever roasted a chicken and found that there is a weird white jelly-like substance that comes out? Do not panic, your dinner is not spoiled and your chicken is not vomiting. This goo is a totally natural by-product of cooking chicken, particularly lean cuts such as boneless, skinless breasts, and it is as unappetizing as it appears. The white substance is merely a combination of water and protein, which is released when the meat is cooked in high temperatures. It may be repellent, but it is completely normal and safe to consume.
You take your perfectly seasoned chicken breast out of the oven and you are expecting golden-brown, juicy perfection, but instead you are greeted with blobs of slimy white goo pooling on the surface. It is not what you want to see, but it is not unusual. This cooking quirk may appear whenever you roast, bake, or pan-sear chicken, regardless of whether you are a novice or an experienced home cook, and it is more likely to occur when you are using lean meat. According to personal chef and cooking instructor Drew Curlett, as he told Reader Digest, the white stuff is not pretty, but it is completely normal.
What then is this mysterious substance? It is a mixture of protein and water which is formed during cooking, particularly when high temperatures are used. Chicken breasts especially are high in protein and low in fat. Those proteins denature, or change shape, when heated, just as egg whites do when cooked. The proteins expel moisture as they stiffen. When these expelled proteins and water are exposed to high heat, they coagulate and become the white, slightly sticky goo that may resemble jelly or foam.
This is more likely to occur in some cooking habits. The most frequent offenders are boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which are very high in protein and low in fat. High, dry cooking techniques, such as baking, roasting, or pan-searing also have this effect. When chicken is cooked fast and at high temperatures, the proteins shrink very fast, expelling more liquid and making the white goo to appear.
The chance is also increased by cooking partially frozen chicken or meat that has not thawed completely. This is due to the fact that the ice crystals that are formed during the freezing process destroy the muscle fibers and when the chicken is cooked, more moisture and protein is lost due to this.
The goo may not be very pretty, but it is not bad to eat. It does not imply that your chicken is undercooked or spoiled and it definitely does not have any impact on the taste. It is simply cooked protein and water- absolutely safe. With that said, however, when your chicken smells weird, is slimy before cooking, or has any discoloration, then it is actually spoiled, and the white goo is the least of your problems. Then it is better to discard it.
In case you would rather not have too much goo, either because you want to present it or because you want the texture to be different, there are some things you can do. It is beneficial to cook chicken at a reduced temperature. By baking at 350 o F (175 o C) rather than 400 o F (205 o C), the proteins are denatured more gradually, and the extent of leakage is less.
A 30-minute to an hour of brining your chicken in a simple saltwater solution can help keep moisture and limit protein loss. The other way is to brown the chicken in a hot pan and then complete it in the oven, which will seal the juices. You should also allow your chicken to rest at room temperature 15-20 minutes before cooking. Chicken that is cold or partly frozen is more prone to leakage. Finally, the quality of your chicken counts- factory-farmed or water-injected chicken is more likely to release this goo. It can be minimized by selecting air-chilled or organic chicken.
Finally, you can minimize the manifestation of the goo, but it is normal to some extent. It is simply the normal response of protein and water to heat. It is not the most beautiful thing you will ever see on a plate, but it is completely safe and completely natural. Your chicken is still good-goo and all.
