Fried Chicken

[Shooby]

  Our local KFC closed and i am in desperate need for some awesome fried chicken!  I don't want oven baked, i want fried!  If anyone has a great recipe for an awesome coating and tips i would love to hear them.  I just bought a deep fryer and i really want to do it up right. 

[Deleted]

The original shake and bake is good and easy. BTW KFC deep fries their chicken a few times. It makes a differance for being juicy inside and crispy outside.

[Deleted]

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/buttermilk-fried-chicken-recipe10/index.html

[Shooby]

Jun 9, 2013 13:03:48 GMT -5 @justaposter said:

The original shake and bake is good and easy. BTW KFC deep fries their chicken a few times. It makes a differance for being juicy inside and crispy outside.

I think they Pressure fry it with some fancy schmancy pressure fryer thingamabob.

[Shooby]

Jun 9, 2013 13:05:10 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/buttermilk-fried-chicken-recipe10/index.html

Have you personally tried this recipe anne?

[Shooby]

  I did try to do fried chicken but i fried it and it didnt' cook completely.  And, i couldn't have cooked it longer cuz the coating was starting to burn.  A friend suggested i par boil the chicken first.

[Deleted]

No, but it's gotten rave reviews.  Thomas Keller is a famous chef.  Williams-Sonoma sells his deep fried chicken kit from Ad Hoc.  I think the first time I saw the recipe was in Gourmet.

I live in an area where it's easy to get really good fried chicken.  I'm terrified of what will happen to my waistline when I discover I'm able to deep fry.

Here's a step by step from one of my favorite cooking blogs:

momofukufor2.com/2010/03/ad-hoc-buttermilk-fried-chicken-recipe/

[Deleted]

And, i couldn't have cooked it longer cuz the coating was starting to burn.

Did you use a thermometer?  DH uses one when he makes me shoestring fries.

[Shooby]

Thanks anne.  I will check those out.

[steff]

I've found that trying to deep fry chicken in a deep fryer is very hit & miss.  Basically, it's either not hot enough or too hot & you can't control it well enough.

I soak chicken in buttermilk & a few shots of Tabasco style sauce for a few hours.  Then dredge thru seasoned flour.  Shake it off good & let it sit for about 5 minutes before frying. 

I use a good deep wok because I find it has the best consistency, you can control the heat better, and it doesn't splatter oil all over the stove.  I put in enough oil to cover the first piece of chicken you put in. The level will rise enough when you add other pieces.  DON'T crowd the pieces in.  Frying chicken on the bone is time consuming & ends up being done in batches.  When I start to heat the oil, I also turn the oven on to 350 & let it heat up.  This will #1 help finish off any pieces in the oven #2 keep it all hot while you fry for days #3 helps hold up the crispy.  I heat my oil up to 365 (I use a thermometer to make sure).  It's hot enough to start it frying good, but not too hot to fry it too fast & leave it raw near the bone.  Only turn the chicken ONE time....so that means waiting, waiting, checking it, and waiting.  With chicken on the bone, you also watch how much it is still bleeding out while frying (yes that sounds gross).  But early on, you will see a little blood oozing out, the further along it goes, you still can see the blood, but it's not "fresh" anymore (if that makes sense).  You want to wait until that first side is really crispy, golden brown & the meat you can see facing up (the uncooked side) is starting to show cooking around the edges (it will start to turn white around the edges).  Once the 1st side looks like perfect fried chicken, THEN you flip it & the 2nd side will NOT take as long as the first.  Watch it closely at this point & check the side frying often, it will brown faster.  This is also where a meat thermometer is your best friend.  165 for chicken.  When the chicken is around 160ish, I take it out & put it in the oven & start the next batch for frying. 

If frying chicken off the bone, same things except fry until the uncooked side facing up starts turning white & then flip....again, 2nd side will not take as long as the first side. 

[Shooby]

Thanks steff.  Those are excellent instructions.  And using a wok is a great point.  I would have never thought of that and i DO have a great wok that i picked up at a yard sale for a couple of bucks!  Now what should i do with my deep fryer!  I wonder if i can pack it up and ship it back. 

[steff]

I use my deep fryer for making donuts or doing quick fry of store bought things like taquitos.  I found that it wasn't "all that" like I thought it would be.  Frying in a wok has been the best idea I ever ran across. 

[Shooby]

Yes.  I mean that seems so logical you wonder why more people aren't doing that.  I actually did try to make donuts!  LOL!  Here is a pic.   They didn't turn out so good!

[Shooby]

 And, then i didn't cover the donuts and they dried up like an old shoe.

[steff]

Instead of trying to spread the icing on the donuts, melt the icing in the microwave & dip the donuts in it.  Nothing wrong with some funny shaped donuts. 

[Shooby]

I think i fried them too long.  But  even still they just did not have the texture and taste of a professional donut.  And, then how do you store them overnight to keep them from getting soggy?

[Shooby]

  The donuts weren't great but i did make a Too Die for Cheesecake yesterday. 

[chiver78]

Jun 9, 2013 16:16:32 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Thanks steff.  Those are excellent instructions.  And using a wok is a great point.  I would have never thought of that and i DO have a great wok that i picked up at a yard sale for a couple of bucks!  Now what should i do with my deep fryer!  I wonder if i can pack it up and ship it back. 

if you can't pack it up and send it back, it works quite well for all those really bad-for-you snacky foods you can find in the frozen aisle. my first roommate out of college put on about 30lbs when she moved out of our apt and into one with her now-DH who had a Fry Daddy. they perfected the art of frying up those snacks that we all used to just bake off in the oven

and steff, thanks for those instructions and good tips! I might actually try my hand at this some time soon. I do a lot of frying in the form of eggplant and chicken cutlets, but have never felt brave enough to try good fried chicken.

[steff]

If you didn't like that recipe, find a different one.  If yours had yeast, then find a more basic recipe that doesn't or vice versa. I'm all about trial & error.  I'll try 4 or 5 different recipes before I give up on something that just isn't turning out the way I want or doesn't taste like it should.  If the recipe is almost there, then try to pinpoint what specifically didn't work for you & research if that can be tweaked. Baking is a pain because you can't just throw it together, it's actually a science.  Pioneer Woman has a  recipe for donuts & I've always had good luck with her recipes (her sweet roll recipes are GREAT!).  thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/08/yum-doughnuts/

We don't end up with many leftover donuts here because there's always 3 or 4 extra teens here to scarf down anything that isn't tied down.  But I would try an airtight container like tupperware/rubbermaid & keep them in the fridge.  Donuts are something IMO that are best right after they are made.  The longer they sit, the less yummy they are.  But that's just me.

[chiver78]

Jun 9, 2013 16:38:08 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I think i fried them too long.  But  even still they just did not have the texture and taste of a professional donut.  And, then how do you store them overnight to keep them from getting soggy?

you really don't. if you have cake donuts, they will hold up okay overnight, but the yeast ones really don't. and you definitely want to dip them in the icing rather than anything else, for optimal results.

(my parents ran a franchise of a local Dunkin competitor when I was in HS. I'm not a fried chicken expert, but I do know donuts. )

[Shooby]

Yes, i will keep trying.  I like to try new recipes.  I have tried a couple of pretzel recipes too.  I did an Auntie Annie's soft pretzel knock off recipe and it was pretty good.  i would love to make pretzel rolls too.  I will keep the deep fryer just because i am a kitchen gadget freak.

[Shooby]

Jun 9, 2013 16:48:36 GMT -5 steff said:

If you didn't like that recipe, find a different one.  If yours had yeast, then find a more basic recipe that doesn't or vice versa. I'm all about trial & error.  I'll try 4 or 5 different recipes before I give up on something that just isn't turning out the way I want or doesn't taste like it should.  If the recipe is almost there, then try to pinpoint what specifically didn't work for you & research if that can be tweaked. Baking is a pain because you can't just throw it together, it's actually a science.  Pioneer Woman has a  recipe for donuts & I've always had good luck with her recipes (her sweet roll recipes are GREAT!).  thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/08/yum-doughnuts/

We don't end up with many leftover donuts here because there's always 3 or 4 extra teens here to scarf down anything that isn't tied down.  But I would try an airtight container like tupperware/rubbermaid & keep them in the fridge.  Donuts are something IMO that are best right after they are made.  The longer they sit, the less yummy they are.  But that's just me.

I actually added the Pioneer woman to my list of Fave sites after you had posted on it.  I found some great recipes there.

[steff]

The other thing about frying chicken on the bone.  If you are using a whole chicken cut up, fry the biggest pieces first.  I know that sounds obvious, but we all ding out at times.  Start with the breasts & thighs.  The wings will take very little time compared to the breasts.  And it can be tricky because it's very time consuming.  And it's not a throw it in the oven & walk off for 30 minutes.  You end up babysitting the chicken while not doing anything to it.  If you have really big breasts (of chicken), then it might take 20-30 minutes to fry them.  And then you still gotta cook the thighs, legs, & wings.