When I cook chicken or pork, it often turns out dry. How can I avoid this?

Question

Recently I made a pork tenderloin (roasted) and a chicken stew. Both were tasty, except that the meat turned out dry. Am I overcooking? Could low-quality meat be to blame (unlikely with the pork, but the chicken was from a Costco bag that had been in the freezer for two months)? Thank you!

Answer 1

Definitely sounds like you were the victim of overcooking. A marinade will help somewhat, but to really add moisture, you need to brine. Not really recommended for pork, but works well with poultry.

The easiest thing you can do is get yourself a good probe thermometer that allows you to monitor the bird/pig from outside the oven, and ignore the government supplied safety temperatures. Shoot for 140 F with the pork loin (135ish for tenderloin), about 163 to 165 F in the breast for the chicken. Take them out of the oven and let them sit 15-20 minutes, minimum, while covered with foil.

Voila, moist, tender dinner!

Answer 2

W/ the pork tenderloin (not pork loin) marinate it for a day or 2 in your favorite marinade and cook (covered) in the oven w/ a little of the marinade in the pan. Use a lower oven temp (300) It kind of steams it instead of baking it. 10 mins before it's done, take off the cover and kick up the temp a little. That will brown the outside and crisp it up. As for the chicken, I don't know how chicken in stew turns out dry. Could be the freezer. Try marinating it also in a marinade that will complement what it will be used for. A marinade is something as simple as lemon juice or white wine, olive oil, herbs, spices. Add a little mustard and blend it in a blender. The mustard will keep the acid (wine/lemon juice) from separating from the oil as it sits. Keeping the flavors mixed instead of separated. Hope it helps

Answer 3

Hi good evening; I've have been cooking a lot of years. Chicken and pork are a dry type of meat/foul and does dry out quickly if over cooked. (The breast of the chicken especially) And over cooking in the oven or pan will drain out the moisture as it will if you leave it out in the air (keep it covered). While cooking in the oven keep covered with a lid or foil to help hold in the moisture and check on the texture every few minutes, so it's not overdone. Now when placed in a sauce to make a stew does help to keep it moist, but if over boiled it will also dry out, so again check offen. Try to cut up the vegtables small enough so it takes just as long as the chicken or pork to cook. Chicken and Pork does cook pretty fast. It's really just trail and error to get it to your liking practice makes perfect.......good luck!

Answer 4

They make a meat thermometer. Use that when cooking and don't cook over the recommended temperature. Also make sure your oven has a digital thermometer so you know exactly what temperature your oven is at. They don't cost a lot and save a lot of bad tasting food. Pork is easy to overcook, but when cooked right it may look slightly (I really mean very very slightly) pink but it will be juicy as long as you use the correct temperatures.

Answer 5

For your roast pork you should cook it for about 1/4th of the recommended time to lock in the juice then cover it to still get some crispiness on the outside or you can try cooking it longer on a lower temp. The chicken you should sear just to brown the outside then add it to your stew to keep it moist.

Answer 6

Try browning the meats on high for 2 mins on each side then lower the heat and cover with a bit of chicken broth.

Answer 7

Soak the meat in either a marinade or brine before cooking; more moisture will be kept inside the meat.

Answer 8

Yup to the other answers. I have, by experience, found that if meat is in the freezer too long it does get dry.

Answer 9

normally dry meat is a sign that you are over cooking
get a meat thermometer and cook just until the correct temp is reached

Answer 10

i always put another container of water in oven so the steam keeps the meat moist