# Gummy Chicken - What Happened?



## beetee (Jul 25, 2012)

An entree served at a recent neighbor's cookout was skewers of marinated grilled chicken breast. They looked delicious, but the chicken pieces were gummy. Not chewy, not rubbery, but gummy - as if there was a soft coating of what FELT like disintegrated chicken on the outside. The chicken had not been previously frozen. It hadn't been marinated more than 4 hours, and the marinade was soy-based. The skewers were cooked on a gas grill at medium heat. None of us could figure out what could have caused the gumminess, and I've had no luck finding anything online to explain it. Any thoughts?


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Did the marinade have tropical fruit juice in it like pineapple or any pappaya or anything like that?


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

over marination

something... dissolved the meat from the outside before you cooked it

This enzyme reaction can be used to great results but you have to know how long and what type....


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

How old was this chicken?? ( were tropical juices used? Mango, papaya,pineapple, kiwi ?)


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## chefdave11 (Oct 27, 2011)

The salt in the soy sauce can be the culprit.

4 hours is a long time for small pieces of chicken in a strong marinade.

Was it refrigerated the entire time?

What other ingredients were in the marinade?  Cornstarch, modified food starch, gums, thickeners, etc?  They could react with the heat on the grill.


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

It seems that the chicken just was marinated way toooooooooo long/img/vbsmilies/smilies/surprised.gif


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## beetee (Jul 25, 2012)

Thank you all so much! There was pineapple juice in the marinade, so I'm sure that plus a too-long marination time was what happened to the chicken. Lesson learned!


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

BeeTee said:


> There was pineapple juice in the marinade


Don't look any further: both the pineapple and the long marinade time will turn any meat into mush: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromelain#Meat_tenderizing


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

With stuff like a soy/pineapple marinade, you might be better off using it as a glaze. Cook/grill the skewers like normal, then brush on a reduction of the pineapple and soy sauce. A lot like brushing on BBQ sauce near the end of grilling chicken legs or something similar.

You'll get the flavor from the sauce but should avoid the gummy texture. Or make a dipping sauce with a similar flavor profile.


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## zoebisch (Apr 9, 2012)

Bromelain, weird stuff man.


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## indygal (Dec 7, 2010)

Yea, I would have thought nothing of marinating meat in high enzyme marinade. *THIS *is the kind of thing I'm looking to learn on this forum.

Thanks all you pros for enlightening us.

Indy


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Yeah, yeah, marinade is one thing,

BUT..............

What about the chicken itself???????????????

What did the label on the package say?

Boneless skinless chcken?

Bonesess skinless with added protein?

Boneless skinless  "flavour enhanced?

See, most supermarkets will "enhance" chicken.  That is, chicken or meat goes into a s/s drum, "marinade" (usually salt water with soy protein) is added, vacuum is applied, the drum is tumbled, and Voila!  the meat has soaked up all the liquid!!!.  And meat is sold by weight, right?

Meh, If I'm going to make skewers, I'd use boneless skinless thighs, the fat will keep the meat mosit.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I use thigh meat for most everything. Even chicken cutlets (pounded and breaded)


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I try to avoid boneless, skinless chicken.  It is much easier to keep bone in, skin on chicken moist during the cooking process, especially on a grill.  When grilling chicken thighs, though, I do start them skin on, then about 2/3 of the way through I pull them off, remove the skin and put them back on.  I am trying to cut back on my fat consumption a bit.  Well. except for the other night, but that is another post.

mjb.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I agree, go for the thighs, legs and wings for grilling.


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