Fried Chicken

Thundyrkatz

It is delicious, its moist and crispy, and full of deliciousness!

I can not make this happen at home, and it saddens me. So i am reaching out to you for help.

Here is my problem, I can't get the breading to stay on the chicken, and or it gets wet.

We use skinless chicken, boneless tenders or breasts. We have tried using breadcrumbs and panko crumbs. We have tried using an egg wash first. Tried flour first then egg then bread crumbs. Clearly i don't know what i am doing.

Please help! Thanks everyone.

pacbowl

I think the problem is that you're using skinless, and they require a special kind of breading. I found this.

Traditional fried chicken HAS SKIN. Skinless fried chicken is a weird invention of those who think that it makes for a lower-fat chicken (and what are those people doing eating Fried Chicken in the first place!). The skin is necessary to provide the support for the breading, and to add that element of 'crisp' that is the goal of the great chicken fryer.

Buttcleft

Cut up the chicken, unless you buy chicken bits (legs, thighs, etc), with the skin on.

Set them out on a rack over a pan, pat them dry and leave them sitting out for 15-20 minutes to let the surface dry and to bring the temp up

season the chicken to taste, then dredge in flour, Shake it to knock off the excessive flour, dredge in beaten egg, then into flour again and shake the excess off again. Then let this sit for another 5-10 minutes to set up, then fry.

Aurora Borealis

I make my chicken like this:

Cut up chicken into finger edible bits.

soak in a beaten milk/egg mixture 5-10 minutes (sometimes I season the egg mix too).

stir flour, salt, pepper, adobo seasoning and herbs to taste together (this usually takes up the time that the chicken is soaking).

roll eggy chicken into flour mixture until covered

drop into pan of hot sizzling lard, cover

fry 5ish minutes till bottom is brown, flip chicken over with tongs

cover, fry until second side is brown

flip again and fry a little longer uncovered for even browning

take chicken out of lard, set on paper towels to cool

eat delicious crispy chicken

Lackadaisical

Have you ever seen Good Eats? It's a cooking show. It's whimsical, full of science and pretty entertaining. The youtube link below is one part (there's only two) of a chicken frying episode. This may be useful on your quest to fry a chicken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbc1aW5C1W0

Six

Here's my fried chicken, which I take a great deal of pride in:



http://www.clintonhillfoodie.com/2009/09/time-for-fried-chicken.html

KalTorak

Good Eats fried chicken is goddamn tasty. It's a hassle to make and clean up after, but so worth it.

Casual Eddy

do what this woman says -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqvxNv3H9LU

tynic

It sounds like part of the problem is that your oil isn't hot enough. What do you mean by 'it gets wet'?

matt has a problem

Fried chicken breading like you get at a restaurant isn't the result of egg washing it and dredging it in flour or breadcrumbs, it's done with a wet batter. Also like tyn said, the oil needs to be right around 350 degrees for everything to work correctly.

bowen

What kind of oil are you using? What kind of bread crumbs?

Use Panko, peanut oil, and egg. That is the only way I've gotten it to work, any other oil doesn't cook the right way, not using the egg won't let it stick to the chicken, and the panko will turn a really dark brown when the chicken is cooked (make sure chicken is thinly sliced if you're getting breast or thigh and not chicken wings or something)

Generally if I didn't use any of the above the chicken turned out to be overcooked, cooked slower than the breading and the breading would become burned.

As always, check the temperature of your chicken.

Djeet

Pat the chicken dry after it's cut up the way you want.

Dredge in flour. Dredge in wet dredge (egg wash, buttermilk, whatever). Dredge in breading (I use salt and pepper flour).

Then rest the pieces on a drying rig (mesh/grill for letting baked goods cool for example) and let the breading set up for 15-20 minutes. Can be done in fridge or on counter. If you don't let it set then the breading could slide off.

Then fry your chicken. Don't crowd the pan/pot as you'll drop the temp too fast. You want the oil to stay over 350 but below 400, in lard or peanut oil. An instant read fry/candy thermometer really helps.

Dust with pountry seasoning/spice after the fry (I've found the spices will often burn when fried before the chicken is done).


And skin on's totally the way to go. It's fried chicken, come on. An overnight brine in a brine/buttermilk will give full pieces a lot more wiggle room to cook without drying out.

Thundyrkatz

Hey Everyone! Wow, thanks for all the helpful advice. looks like i was doing all kinds of things wrong!

Patting the chicken dry to start, was missing. Mostly though the waiting between dredging and frying, i have never done that.

I usually use Vegetable Oil, or Olive Oil which i have around the house. I have never used Peanut oil, before. I don't have a thermometer, so i usually wait till the oil starts getting eddies in it and then test by dipping a little chicken into the oil to see if it starts frying right away.

We have tried all sorts of bread crumbs, from the corn flake kind to the 4 seasons in a tube. Most recently, we have tried the panko crumbs as they have been hailed as the next best thing. We are always trying to get that real crunchy outer layer.

What i mean by wet, is that the breading becomes wet on the bottom when it we go to eat it on the plate. Like soggy. The plate is dry, but i guess the chicken is leaking its juiciness through the breading?

So here is my plan of attack based on your suggestions.

I will get me some Peanut Oil and chicken and flour and eggs.

Then cut up and dry the chicken, let sit for a few min while i prepare the wet and dry dredge. Then dredge in flour, making sure to shake off extra. Then into the wet and then into the breadcrumbs.

Then Wait for 10 min for the breading to set!

Then fry, making sure not to crowd in the pan, and set out on some paper towels to dry.

Lastly, dust with seasoning and enjoy!

I will let you all know how it works out, Now i have to wait till work is over. :?

Thanks!

bowen

:^: that should do it

Terrendos

Personally I suggest following Alton Brown's recipe from the above Youtube video. Specifically, submerging your chicken for an extended period of time in a brine or other flavorful liquid. This is a good idea with just about any poultry.