What Is Chicken and How Can I Use It?

Chicken breast is the lean, mild white-meat cut from the front of the bird, and it is the single most cooked piece of chicken in most home kitchens. It is fast, it takes almost any seasoning, and it carries a dish without dominating it.

The trade-off for that leanness is a narrow margin for error. Breast meat has very little fat to buffer heat, so the gap between juicy and dry is a matter of a few degrees and a couple of minutes.

Chicken pieces means a whole bird cut into parts, or a mix of bone-in cuts sold together: legs, thighs, wings, and breast halves in one pack. It is the format old-school braises and fried chicken recipes call for, back when you bought a whole chicken and broke it down yourself.

The appeal is that bone and skin stay on.

Bone keeps the meat from drying as it cooks, and skin renders into flavor and crisp. A pack of mixed pieces also stretches further and costs less than buying any single cut on its own.

Broiler and fryer chickens range from 6 to 8 weeks old and weight about 3 to 4 pounds (1 1/4 to 1 3/4 kg) according to the National Chicken Council.

However you may find that the chickens in your local supermarket tend to be closer to 2 1/2 pounds (1 kg) as factory farms rush the birds to market at an ever faster pace.

These chickens may also be referred to as "spring chicken".

Broilers and fryer chickens can typically be used interchangeably. They are generally best cooked with high heat which make it an ideal choice to butterfly and broil, grill, or sauté in a skillet or frying pan.

The meat is young, tender and quite mild tasting which can make them a less than ideal choice for braises and stews where an older bird would deliver significantly more flavour while the younger broiler or fryer will tend to dry out.

The following chart from the National Chicken Council in the US shows the U.S. broiler chicken performance from 1925 to 2011.

Chicken livers are the small, deep-red organ meat tucked inside a whole bird, sold separately in tubs of a pound or so. They taste rich and minerally, softer and milder than beef liver.

That mildness makes them the easy entry point for anyone nervous about offal.

Each liver is two lobes joined by a thin membrane. They cook in minutes and bruise easily, so they reward a light hand and punish a heavy one.

Cooked chicken meat is exactly what it sounds like: chicken that has already been roasted or poached and pulled off the bone, ready to fold into another dish. It is the engine behind most quick weeknight dinners that start with leftovers or a store rotisserie bird.

It is the chicken in the supporting role.

Recipes call for it when the meat is along for the ride rather than the star, so it carries flavor instead of providing it.

Ground chicken is chicken meat run through a grinder, sold as a pale, soft mince. Depending on the cut, it ranges from very lean breast-only grinds to richer blends that include thigh meat and some skin.

It is the leaner, milder cousin of ground beef and pork.

That leanness is its whole story. It cooks fast and takes on seasoning easily, but it dries out the moment you stop paying attention.

Canned chicken is fully cooked chicken meat packed in a can or pouch with a little broth or water, sealed and shelf-stable. Drain it and the meat is ready to eat without ever touching a stove.

It is the pantry version of leftover cooked chicken.

The meat is softer and a touch saltier, broken into shreds rather than neat slices.

Creamed chicken is a preparation, not a cut: cooked chicken folded into a creamy white sauce and served over something that catches the gravy. It is old-school comfort food, the kind of thing built from a leftover roast and whatever is in the cupboard.

The base is a simple béchamel or velouté. You make a roux of butter and flour, whisk in milk or chicken stock until it thickens, then stir in diced cooked chicken and warm it through.

Chicken nuggets are bite-sized pieces of chicken, breaded or battered and fried or baked until the outside is crisp. They come two ways: frozen from a bag, made from ground or chopped chicken pressed into shape, or homemade from real cuts of breast.

The appeal is simple. They cook fast, kids eat them without complaint, and they turn a plain piece of chicken into finger food you can dip.