Freezing cooked chicken for future use. 2 hrs of prep, months of quick meals!
I used to cook chicken in the crock pot and shred it and freeze it, but I didn't love the texture of shredding it for everything. A few years ago I decided to try baking it (since I previously had not really ever put raw chicken in the oven) and WOW! It changed my life!
I buy my chicken through a Food & Meat Co-op every few months. It comes in a 40 lb box and I generally find someone to split the order with. Once cooked, the original 20lbs becomes about 15 containers of 1lb each.
This Chicken is amazing quality, always juicy and mostly trimmed. I just separate the breasts, remove the tendons, pound them flat so they will cook evenly (in a plastic bag to reduce the mess), sprinkle seasoning on them — Montreal Steak Seasoning, Tony's Creole are favorites — and cook on the air fryer setting in my oven (or regular bake setting works too). I use the internal temp thermometer and just watch the setting on my oven and stop when it reaches 165 Farenheit. This takes about 20 min at 400 setting for Air Fry.
When using my air fry setting, I use the air fryer tray and place a regular cookie sheet underneath to catch juices. This cleans up easily afterwards with water while it's still warm if you let it sit for a few minutes before cleaning.
Once cooked, remove 1 batch of chicken to another tray or platter and let it rest for 10-15 min before cutting so the juices will stay in with the meat. If you cut right away, all the juices will spill out.
Cut to desired size and bag or put in Extreme Freeze Reditainers. Let cool a bit with lids off before freezing so it doesn't heat up your freezer sticking it in hot.
When ready to use, thaw in fridge or run the bottom of the container under water till the contents loosen and put on a microwave safe plate to thaw quickly. You'r chicken is ready for SO many dishes now!
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