How to pan fry with herbs?

[WaterPixie]

I don't marinate a lot. Pretty much only when I grill kebabs.
I use dry herbs, fresh garlic, maybe a seasoning like berbere depending, EVOO and maybe lemon juice or sherry vinegar... some type of tenderizer.

And I can't remember a time that much herbs or garlic even stuck to the meat. It pretty much dripped off with the juices.
Isn't the whole point of marinating to help tenderize and infuse the flavor?

If you want your marinade stuck to the meat, reserve a little to the side and brush it on after you're done cooking it.

At least that's what I would do.

So I didn't marinate per say. I put oil in cold pan, added herbs etc, rolled the chicken breast straight from the fridge, meaning it was cold, as I was saying, rolled it around in it, then heated the pan up.

I've done it before where I put the oil on the chicken and the herbs etc in a steel mixing bowl. That day I just couldn't be bothered, and it seems a waste, having to wash something else when I'm not marinating it for any length of time at all.

 

[Morning Glory]

I put oil in cold pan, added herbs etc, rolled the chicken breast straight from the fridge, meaning it was cold, as I was saying, rolled it around in it, then heated the pan up.

It could be that the fact you put the oil and cold chicken into a cold pan is part of the problem. Not sure, but this wouldn't be a normal method.

I've done it before where I put the oil on the chicken and the herbs etc in a steel mixing bowl

What happened on those previous occasions?

 

[Barriehie]

I would've let the meat come to room temp prior to putting it in the pan.

 

[JAS_OH1]

if I use too much oil, it splatters.

Don't use too much oil, then. I find that about 2 TBSP is sufficient.

I don't want my herbs burning and sticking to the pan. I don't want burnt herbs on my food either.

Add the herbs at the end when the chicken is nearly finished cooking. At a lower heat.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I'm not getting splattering. I didn't say I am. I said that's what would happen IF too much oil is used.

Actually, you did.

I used a crap ton of oil. And when you put too much oil, you get splattering.

Use only oil, herbs, garlic granules and salt.
Full thick 8cm+ thick chicken breast. No thinning of the breast with knife or pounding etc.
Prove me wrong.

 

[PAcanis]

Actually, you did.

Well, no. Not *technically*.

They said that they used a "crap ton" of oil.
Maybe a crap ton is just shy of being "too much". Maybe too much is two crap tons.
I'm not that familiar with the metric equivalent of crap ton.

 

[Barriehie]

If it had been described as a buttload...

 

[JAS_OH1]

Well, no. Not *technically*.

They said that they used a "crap ton" of oil.
Maybe a crap ton is just shy of being "too much". Maybe too much is two crap tons.
I'm not that familiar with the metric equivalent of crap ton.

4,000 pounds of crap is a lot.

 

[WaterPixie]

It could be that the fact you put the oil and cold chicken into a cold pan is part of the problem. Not sure, but this wouldn't be a normal method.



What happened on those previous occasions?

Exactly the same thing happened. Method makes no difference. Spices or herbs in pan of oil, which is what it is, even if it's 'on the meat', burns very very rapidly.

In fact doing so for spices is called blooming, and it's well known not to exceed 20-30 seconds of heating time for spices in a pan with oil without liquid added to it. Especially red chilli powder which is notorious for burning very fast.

 

[WaterPixie]

Actually, you did.

I meant I have in the past experimented with using a ton of oil and it lead to splattering.

 

[Morning Glory]

Exactly the same thing happened. Method makes no difference. Spices or herbs in pan of oil, which is what it is, even if it's 'on the meat', burns very very rapidly.

In fact doing so for spices is called blooming, and it's well known not to exceed 20-30 seconds of heating time for spices in a pan with oil without liquid added to it. Especially red chilli powder which is notorious for burning very fast.

Well I think you have answered your own question. You are convinced it can't work and therefore in future it would be best to cook that chicken breast in the oven or in some other way.

The only thing I would add is that in some cases a little bit of charring of spices can be quite a good thing. You might not like this dish or agree about the charring (and its not chicken!) but its something I happened to have made recently with fried spices, including ground chilli.

Recipe - Saag aloo chaat masala (spicy potatoes and spinach)

 

[JAS_OH1]

Do you have any videos of what you are doing? It would be helpful if we could watch your technique to see where you are going wrong.

Most of us here don't take videos of our cooking but I got the impression you might. But I'm not even sure you can post videos here unless they are YouTube or something like that.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I also think that the reason cooks don't pan fry whole chicken breast is because it's not uniform in thickness, which leads to uneven cooking. It will also cook faster and it's less likely to burn your herbs if you slice the breast horizontally into uniform pieces.

 

[WaterPixie]

Do you have any videos of what you are doing? It would be helpful if we could watch your technique to see where you are going wrong.

Most of us here don't take videos of our cooking but I got the impression you might. But I'm not even sure you can post videos here unless they are YouTube or something like that.

More than happy to make a video. However. Food randomly causes me fatigue with brain fog. I wasn't born with a list of what ingredient cause this, and from discovery, it seems to also depend on factors such as how long whatever was cooked for, if it was added directly to oil and cooked or not etc.

My condition is very complicated with no answers. Been to my GP for over 8 years about this, and he's exhausted every possible test he can do, and I've seen many specialists.

Now I tell you this, because, you guessed it. When these herbs burnt, and I ate that chicken breast, it caused me the fatigue.

Once it happens I'm bedridden for minimum 6 hours, with symptoms not going away till the next day, which gradually clear. Day 3, as long as it doesn't happen again in usually OK.
But it can last several DAYS.

 

[WaterPixie]

I also think that the reason cooks don't pan fry whole chicken breast is because it's not uniform in thickness, which leads to uneven cooking. It will also cook faster and it's less likely to burn your herbs if you slice the breast horizontally into uniform pieces.

Herbs burn in 30 seconds or so. Chicken breast or even small diced chicken takes much longer than 30 seconds to cook.