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You are here: Home / Recipes / Sous Vide / Sous Vide Chicken / Why Sous Vide Chicken Looks Strange (+ How To Fix It)

Why Sous Vide Chicken Looks Strange (+ How To Fix It)

May 5, 2020 · Leave a Comment

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Did you pull your chicken out of the sous vide machine and think: this sous vide chicken looks strange! You aren’t the only one.  Before you think your sous vide chicken is ruined – hear this!

sous vide chicken looks strange coming out of sous vide bath

Today I am going into the nitty-gritty details about something all beginner sous vide enthusiasts will ask when they cook chicken…

What is this mushy mess?

Why does sous vide chicken look strange?

What if sous vide chicken is pink?

Can you eat it if it looks raw?

Although my first sous vide chicken was cooked years and years ago – I still remember the level of uncertainty when I pulled it out of the bag.

So what if sous vide chicken looks weird??

Here’s the bottom line: it’s okay, it just needs a finish! This is the “ugly” side of sous vide cooking!

The dirty little secret is that meat can look a little funky (this is chicken – – can you tell??) when it comes out of the sous vide bath. And that makes complete sense.

Remember your sous vide water bath cooked the meat low and slow — at only 140 degrees.

New to cooking food under water? Check out the sous vide for beginners guide and learn why is sous vide so popular.

adding sous vide chicken to the water

That’s crazy when you consider cooking chicken in an oven is usually done around 375-400 degrees.

This super low, super long cook means your meat and chicken come out very, very juicy, and flavorful. All the chicken juices stayed in that vacuum-sealed bag and the chicken was basically marinated in its own juices for an hour.

Here’s a fancy trick… learn how to cook sous vide chicken from frozen.

searing sous vide chicken after cooking

It’s fully cooked throughout, and if you eat it now you won’t get sick. What you need to make it look pretty for the plate– is to finish it on the outside and allow it to crisp a little.

Technically, this is not a requirement; it’s just a little aesthetic extra. 

If you are using your chicken in another dish and don’t need that golden-brown crust you can use it straight out of the bag. For instance, I like to either pull apart the chicken for soup or chop it up to make sous vide chicken breast salad as it is *without finishing the outside of the chicken.

You can sous vide may different chicken dishes. See my guide on sous vide recipes with chicken to find something tasty.

In my house, we eat a lot of sous vide chicken tacos

When we entertain with sous vide cooking, I’ll often slather on some BBQ sauce and grill them or serve them in tacos. 

It’s really easy to batch cook sous vide chicken in advance of cookouts and get togethers.  

But what if your sous vide chicken is pink inside?

Pink chicken – that would probably freak anyone out!

But don’t stress– it’s just a color!

To be clear – I’m not saying to eat raw chicken, I just want you to know that it’s normal for it to be pinkish as long as the texture of the sous vide chicken is cooked and completely done.

sous vide chicken looks pink after cooking
See how this sous vide chicken looks pink after cooking? That doesn’t mean it’s raw. The sous vide process cooks chicken longer at a lower temperature – so it might not be the crisp white you’re used to seeing, but it is done if it’s just a little pink and is completely tender and falls apart easily!

That slow, long cooking time has killed more bacteria than a traditional cook does.

The long, slow aspect means the meat may not look ‘cooked’. It is! So long as the texture is right–tender and easy to pull apart with a fork–  you are good to go.

This sous vide chicken is getting a finishing sear in a hot cast iron skillet. This final step adds flavor to the outside – but remember: the sous vide chicken was completely cooked in the bath already.

What texture should sous vide chicken be like?

If you think your sous vide chicken texture is strange and you can’t pull it apart easily with a fork. You really shouldn’t need a knife to cut it – that’s how tender it should be.

So if the chicken is pink and not tender – then you are probably right. It’s not cooked fully.

SOUS VIDE WHOLE CHICKEN turned out raw didn't cook

What if your whole sous vide chicken is raw?

Once I had an issue with raw chicken when I was testing the recipe to sous vide a whole chicken. My Anova machine was on the fritz (you have no idea how many sous vide recipes I’ve made over the years!). It started to make a noise during the sous vide bath. 

And since the machine wasn’t holding a temperature properly, the whole sous vide chicken was raw in some areas. Even though I spatchcock and carefully vacuum seal whole chicken before cooking it.

To fix this in time for dinner, I just stuck it in the oven at 400 degrees until the internal temperature reached what is save for oven-roasted chicken: 165 degrees. 

For another version of my whole chicken recipe, try this one with oranges…. see the recipe for sous vide whole roast chicken. 

fully cooked sous vide whole chicken

Should chicken fully cooked sous vide smell bad?

Now, if you’re wondering why your sous vide chicken smells bad, that’s probably not a good sign!

sous vide chicken thigh
These sous vide chicken thighs are just a little bit pink… but they are fully cooked. They are not raw. Did you know that thighs cook longer than sous vide chicken breast? It’s true!

Time to throw that away and make new dinner plans. Many people like to leave their sous vide chicken in the vacuum-sealed bag for a long period of time, in the refrigerator, of course. And yes, you can do this, if it has hit pasteurization.

If it’s begun to smell, though, you’ve saved it too long. 

Personally – I’ve never left my chicken in the fridge for longer than a few days. We’re a hungry family with lots of food going in and out of the kitchen!

See how to put together a simple dinner with chicken breast and avocado salad.

sous vide cookbook with sous vide asparagus
Get more tasty recipes in my new sous vide cookbook – – the asparagus in this picture was made with a recipe in the book

Find new ways to enjoy your favorite dishes – including a huge chapter with my favorite Poultry sous vide recipes – in The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

It always amazes me when people post photos of their food from the book!

Share your sous vide cooking

Aren’t the nuances of sous vide cooking interesting?? There are so many details that help get a recipe right – like knowing the right time and temperature for sous vide wings and learning the ins and outs of how to sous vide onions in beer.

I hope you’re completely satisfied with your food after learning more in this post. Have you got some sous vide chicken that doesn’t look strange– maybe even some that looks positively delicious?

Post a picture to show me how your chicken turned out, and tag me @sipbitego so I know to look you up!  I love seeing photos of delicious food.

Feeding a few?? Try this sous vide a whole chicken.

 

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jenna passaro food blogger

I want to help you cook up your wildest dreams — in and out of the kitchen!

   

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Years ago, I ditched a predictable career path with very few vacation days to pursue a life of fun, food and travel.

Along the way, I moved to Portland, launched this blog, wrote a cookbook, and started a family.

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Now my days are filled with recipe testing, creativity, family time, and chatting with foodie friends on my podcast.

Here at Sip Bite Go, you’ll learn my favorite restaurant style recipes. Get my secrets to making pizza at home and feel like a true home chef with my sous vide recipes.

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