How much raw chicken breast per person for shredded/pulled?

[Thomas Martinez]

Found this while searching for shredded chicken info for meal planning. Started with 400g raw chicken breast, cooked it down to 360g shredded. Roughly 10% loss of weight during the cooking process, which is what I’ve always been told is the loss for lean chicken. So to get to 120g of shredded chicken per serving you’d have to start with 135g raw. 400g raw / 360g shredded will provide you three decent portions. Of course depending on the method used to cook the chicken the loss in weight will vary. Brining or cooking in liquid will result in more less loss in weight than dry heat cooking methods. 10% is probably a decent figure to use as a rule of thumb for planning recipes. What do you all use for shredded chicken prep quantities though? Is it close to 10% or are you losing more weight during cooking depending on the method you use?

 

[Nervous Newt]

10% is wildly low. Oven roasted chicken breast lose closer to 25% weight, sometimes 30% with me if I heat it too long. Instant pot works best to get close to the 10% number.

 

[My Little Racc]

why does brining reduce the loss of weight of chicken? Is it just because of the salt content that water remain within the muscle fibers? Or is there another reason for this effect? I’ve noticed the same effect using turkey products as well.

 

[Amused Albatross]

sous vide cooks shredded chicken perfectly. 5% loss at 150f for a few hours will shred to perfection. Yall are doing it wrongly.

 

[A Boy and His Jackham]

I just use 6oz of raw chicken per person for meal prep. I don’t care what the cooked weight end up being once its shredded and sauced.

 

[Nervous Newt]

sous vide cooks shredded chicken perfectly. 5% loss at 150f for a few hours will shred to perfection. Yall are doing it wrongly.

The sous vide method is true. However, most people aren’t going to take the time to setup a bath for 3 hours to prepare tacos for the family. 15 minutes in an Instant Pot will get you close to the same result with much more ease and the weight loss will still remain under 15%.

 

[Exci]

True the sous vide method works the best but for most people who aren’t sous vide cooking, an Instant Pot will work best. I typically use 150g of raw chicken breast per person if its the main protein of the meal. If its part of a wrap with rice and beans then its 100g of raw chicken breast. If braised in chicken stock the 10% loss is accurate but if its dry rubbed and smoked on the pellet grill the loss is around 20-25%. Brining the chicken the day before roasting will help retain the moisture which will reduce the loss of weight to around 15ish percent. Most people is unaware of this. Anyone else find that thighs of the chicken behave differently from breast? They lose less weight when roasted and shreds better.

 

[My Little Racc]

True the sous vide method works the best but for most people who aren’t sous vide cooking, an Instant Pot will work best. I typically use 150g of raw chicken breast per person if its the main protein of the meal. If its part of a wrap with rice and beans then its 100g of raw chic…

Can someone please clarify how thighs of the chicken lose less weight when roasted than the breast? I ask because the thigh meat contains more fats that would make it lose more weight during the roasting process. Is it because of the connective tissues in the thighs that break down into gelatin and hold the moisture?

 

[3D Karate Jr]

breast for pulled chicken is a crime against poultry. Thighs only. Fight me

 

[Ingenious Dog Dre]

400g to 360g is suspiciously close. Either they trimmed the chicken before cooking or they cooked the chicken really gently. In the real world I find chicken breast loses 400g to 310g to 330g of cooked chicken. Your milage may vary.

 

[Amused Albatross]

The sous vide method is true. However, most people aren’t going to take the time to setup a bath for 3 hours to prepare tacos for the family. 15 minutes in an Instant Pot will get you close to the same result with much more ease and the weight loss will still remain under 15%.

I see your point about time but I usually cook 4-5 lbs at a time and save them in the freezer. Its the same amount of time to cook 1 lb of chicken as 10 lbs. Economies of scale my dude