How long to cook chicken breast
How long to cook chicken breast
Oven and pan times for chicken breast by weight, with the internal temperature and why it dries out so easily.
Oven at 200 °C / 400 °F unless the row says otherwise, then rested 5 minutes.
More chicken times
Common questions
Why does chicken breast go stringy?
It is almost pure lean muscle: very little fat to keep it moist and almost no collagen to turn into gelatin. Between 74 °C and 80 °C the muscle fibres contract and squeeze out most of their water, so a few extra minutes is the whole difference. Thighs are the opposite and improve with more heat.
Does brining actually help?
Yes, more than any cooking technique. Thirty minutes in a solution of about 60 g salt per litre lets the meat hold onto noticeably more water while it cooks, so it survives being slightly overcooked. Rinse and pat dry afterwards or the outside will be too salty.
Should I cover it in the oven?
Covering traps steam and keeps it moist but gives you no colour. If you want both, cook it uncovered and rely on pulling it at 74 °C rather than on foil. Poaching is the better choice when moisture matters more than browning.
Egg times come from the thermal-diffusion equation for a spherical egg published by Charles D. H. Williams (University of Exeter), calibrated so a large fridge-cold egg at sea level matches the times cooks actually use. Size, starting temperature and altitude then follow from the physics. Treat the result as a very good starting point, not a guarantee, because pans, hobs and eggs all vary.