How does partial curing change cook temp?

I love marinading chicken in a lot of lime juice, soy, and a bunch of other stuff for a minimum of 2 days up to about a week. It results in a much juicier, more flavorful, and tendererererer chunk of bird, and from what I've seen, it drastically reduces cooking time. (This time I marinated 6 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 3.5 days in the juice and zest of two limes, a little canola oil, a bunch of honey, a TON of cumin, a few tablespoons of soy sauce, and a bit of sriracha.)

So my question is, does partially curing chicken in a very acidic and salty marinade decrease the necessary internal temp for food safety when it's ultimately cooked? Because I don't think it's cured enough to be safe for consumption without cooking. If so, is there a table or a formula that I can use to figure it out? I googled this, but I couldn't find anything relevant.

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brian_martin2001

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-tartare

here's a link to ChefSteps' Chicken Tartare method/recipe. I have yet to come across any curing method that eliminates the need for a heat-kill step, with the exception of ceviche. Maybe I'm just too Americanized, but chicken to me is still one of those foods that needs to be fully cooked. Your brining/curing method as well as the ChefSteps method are primarily surface treatments. If you were going to salt /remove enough moisture to eliminate bacterial risk you would have something that would be unpalatably salty or something that resembled jerky. For me, anyway, chicken will always need to be fully cooked. Often times, I will recommend trying it out and reporting back to us your findings, but I cannot do that in this case, as I truly believe you would be risking food poisoning. Good luck.

Amos_Schorr_168815

Like I said, I cooked it. It's definitely not cured enough to be safe for consumption. But my hypothesis is that curing for several days in a marinade with high acidity and salinity decreases cook time. And by that, I don't mean I leave the inside somewhat raw like a rare steak, I mean that the inside fully cooks much quicker than a plain, raw chicken breast. This is purely anecdotal, but I've been doing this for a while and it's happened every time. It seems to almost loosen the chicken meat so that it's heated through quicker (when you take it out of the marinade, the chicken is pretty white and you can actually see the grain of the meat), though I don't have any justification beyond my perception, so I can't say this with any certainty. It ends up being super tender and juicy, to the point that my family was losing their shit over it last night (and it was actual reheated, so it was somewhat overcooked), talking about how they could cut it just by looking at it. And this is the same chicken that we always, always, always buy. It's quite consistent, and it's not like it's super high quality, free-range stuff.

Also, far as I know, acid and sodium are the only two things that AREN'T just surface treatments.

I might try to experiment next time by grilling a control chicken breast of the same size right next to the semi-cured one, but I don't really have the resources or the interest to do it properly scientifically.

brian_martin2001

I never said you didn't cook it. As far as I know, the only thing that isn't strictly a surface treatment is salt. Acids will denature the proteins and effectively form a barrier against itself going deeper. This study has been done many times, and there are many sources out there that can better explain it in depth. I have seen methods of cooking chicken as low as 130°F, no pre-treatment involved, but that's a personal choice that I am unwilling to experiment with. Your question was :"does partially curing chicken in a very acidic and salty marinade decrease the necessary internal temp for food safety when it's ultimately cooked?" I do not believe it does. I'm sure I've seen some of the same research you've seen. However, the main risk of bacteria is on the surface. However, with regards to salmonella, certain strains can burrow into tissue, which require to kill step. So, again, do what you're going to do, it seems you have pleased your family well enough with what you've been doing, but I do not think there is an effective curing/brining that would still leave it appetizing that would lessen the final temperature for food safety.

Amos_Schorr_168815

I phrased it poorly. Temp isn't what I really mean. What I mean is that the denaturing and impact of the salt might impact the flesh in such a way that it allows it to cook more quickly.