# ISO the best way to fry chicken



## User0127 (Jun 28, 2005)

Hello,

Just found this forum today.

Erm, I have a problem with frying chicken. I buy breasts, slice them up and whack them in hot fat for various recipes.

But the chicken (from whichever supermarket) always seems to "leak" water! It's as though it's been injected with water to make it look bigger.

So, is there anyway to fry chicken without my pan ending up full of juice? When it happens, the chicken ends up being boiled rather than fried.

I'd appreciate any tips.

Andy


----------



## texasgirl (Jun 28, 2005)

Welcome to DC, Maddarlo. Most chicken these days are injected with broth. As for fixing that, I'll let some else answer that. There are some pretty smart cooks here that will come along and give you that answer.


----------



## pdswife (Jun 28, 2005)

Welcome to the group!  Texas is right.. someone will come along and answer all your questions.


----------



## abjcooking (Jun 28, 2005)

This is just a guess, someone else might prove me wrong, but your oil might not be hot enough.

Anyway, welcome abord!


----------



## TomW (Jun 28, 2005)

I'll go along with everyone else, and wait for a good answer to your question   , but in the meantime, how hot, and how deep is your oil?

I have good results using a dutch oven no more than half full of oil heated to a starting temperature of 360 degF.  Then, 350 degF is maintained while the chicken cooks.

Tom


----------



## htc (Jun 28, 2005)

I've never tried this, but could you take a meat tenderizer to the meat a little bit to make it even and then some residual liquid would come out? Or wrap in a paper towel and put a large plate over it w/ a can or something heavy on it. I do this with tofu, gets a lot of water out. Haven't tried it w/ chicken though...


----------



## kitchenelf (Jun 28, 2005)

I'm taking a stab at this too - frying chicken requires some sort of breading on the outside and put into 375° oil at least.  The breading/flour-egg coating will sear and hold in all the juice.

There absolutely is a good amount of water injected into chicken these days.  If you want to avoid that you will have to buy free range chicken or look for some that isn't injected.


----------



## abjcooking (Jun 28, 2005)

maddarlo, 
Could you give us more specifics on exactly how you are fixing the chicken?  More details might help us out in figuring what is going on.


----------



## ironchef (Jun 28, 2005)

htc said:
			
		

> I've never tried this, but could you take a meat tenderizer to the meat a little bit to make it even and then some residual liquid would come out? Or wrap in a paper towel and put a large plate over it w/ a can or something heavy on it. I do this with tofu, gets a lot of water out. Haven't tried it w/ chicken though...


 
That's actually good advice. Use paper towels because you can discard them to avoid cross contamination. You don't have to drain the chicken as long as you would tofu, nor would you have to weigh the chicken down. Just put the chicken between a couple of layers of paper towels and squeeze together to get some of the excess water out.


----------



## htc (Jun 28, 2005)

I thought that the hot oil (if hot enough) would act as a sealer and seal all the juice and liquid in...Can anyone give me more detail on this, or correct me if I'm wrong?


----------



## TomW (Jun 28, 2005)

htc said:
			
		

> I thought that the hot oil (if hot enough) would act as a sealer and seal all the juice and liquid in...Can anyone give me more detail on this, or correct me if I'm wrong?


The way I see it, the hot oil acts more as a catalyst with the breading on the chicken.  The skin does an excellent job of supporting the breading as the breading does not stick to the meat very well.

So you end up having weak spots (non-skinned areas) on your chicken pieces.  If you deep fry, it is not too much of a problem.  But if you pan fry, a total sealing coat cannot be established at once, and you risk puncturing the sealing coat with tongs during the sealing process.

You are right with what you thought IMO.  But the first step is the breading the chicken right.

Tom


----------



## Andy M. (Jun 28, 2005)

When you put a piece of chicken into hot oil, the heat causes the moisture in the chicken to turn to steam and escape into the oil.  That's what causes all that bubbling when you put a piece of meat into hot oil.  As long as there is moisture in the chicken, the vaporizing action of the steam pushing out keeps the oil from getting pulled into the chicken.

Continuing the cooking a bit longer at a slightly lower temperature will draw out more moisture without wrecking the outer layer of chicken.

To pick up on an earlier point, the chicken should be fried with a batter or breading coating rather than naked.

Also, I don't agree that the frying seals breaded chicken.  In fact, if the chicken is cooked to the point where the moisture is cooked out, the oil will be absorbed into the coating to create a greasy piece of fried chicken.


----------



## Michael in FtW (Jun 28, 2005)

Welcome to DC, maddarlo Andy!

Obviously you're not deep frying ... or you wouldn't have a pan full of juices, and "boiling" wouldn't be a problem - the juices from the chicken would rise to the top of the oil and evaporate. I'm guessing your pan frying, not stir frying, with just a minimal amount of oil (2-3 tablespoons at most) to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan. I can see a couple of places you could be having problems.

1. Pan temperature too low.
2. Over-crowding the pan.
3. Slicing the breast before you cook it is allowing the juices to escape easier - especially if thin cut against the grain.
4. IF your chicken is being injected with broth or anything else it HAS to be listed on the label on the package if you live in the USA - under ingredients which is usually right below the nutritional information. Read the label to find out.

Fixes might include:

1. Make sure the pan is hot enough to sear the meat when you add it. DON'T turn it until you see juices start to appear on the top of the pieces.
2. Don't over-crowd the pan - leave about an inch between pieces.
3. Cook the breast whole and slice after allowing to rest 5-10 minutes after cooking.

Dredging the pieces in flour, or battering, will also help keep the juices in somewhat - if that is a texture you want. But, as Andy M noted - that only works if you do it right.

As abjcooking said - knowing exactly what you are doing would be a great help in helping you find a solution.


----------



## kitchenelf (Jun 29, 2005)

Moved to Chicken, Turkey Forum


----------



## User0127 (Jun 29, 2005)

Wow! Thank you all so, so much! What great, helpful people! I'm truly touched!

Yeah, I was shallow frying with maybe three tablespoons of hot oil. I think, as Michael said, I may well have been overcrowding the pan though because I put about four sliced chicken breasts in, so there's no way that there's an inch between pieces!

I was cutting against the grain as well. Should I be cutting WITH the grain? Never knew that! And shall try the flour and egg as well. Will let you know how I get on.

Thanks so much again,

Andy


----------



## abjcooking (Jun 29, 2005)

I found that this is the best breading for chicken.  There are many versions so if you have a favorite please share.

After letting the chicken sit in buttermilk for awhile I add a little hot sauce to the buttermilk with the chicken in it.  Let it sit for a little.  Take out and pat dry.  Now dredge in a 1/2 flour 1/2 cornstarch mixture (add any seasonings you want to the flour mixture).  Now dip it back into the buttermilk and then back into the flour mixture. (Yes, it can get messy, but it's worth the clean up)  This way you are double breading it and you will get a nice crispy crust.  Put in oil and fry without overcrowding.

Tip:
I have also heard advise that if you don't get the oil too hot that you keep it around 360?, but definitly not too cold, I believe the chicken will cook slow enough for the crust to stick to the skin of the chicken and it won't fall off too easily.

Let the chicken cool before putting it into any bag.  If not the chicken will steam and the crust will start falling off.  Let cool and stick into a brown paper bag to travel with it.


----------



## Shellygloo (Jun 29, 2005)

*frying and sauteing*

Hello,
I learned from Sara Moulton, from Sara's Secrets (FoodNetwork) that when frying and sauteing, you should be careful not to crowd the pan...if there's too much too much in the pan, your meats and veggies steam instead of frying or sauteing.  That is a great tip, and I have followed that lesson since, and had crispier chicken, and better sautees.


----------



## TomW (Jun 30, 2005)

*Heloise clippings (1959 ), "Putting crust on chicken”*

The original Heloise offered some good advice on frying chicken:



> Remove the skin from the chicken if your husband does not like it. Soak the chicken in water. I add salt if I am using frozen chicken, but you may not want to. When the chicken is thoroughly thawed and warm, remove it from the water, and quickly put it in a bed of flour. Nothing else! Leave it there for a few seconds.
> 
> Remove the chicken, after it's floured on all sides, and lay it on a piece of waxed paper. Leave it there for at least thirty minutes. This will form a seal, and looks as though you had put glue on the chicken. It will not look too appetizing. Never mind. This is exactly what you want. It is *most important* to let the chicken sit thirty minutes after flouring. This odd-looking batter (and it won't look like batter at all, but a real mess ) will form a coating on the chicken that I find seals in the juices, and keeps the grease *out* when frying. Really it does.
> 
> ...



Tom


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jul 1, 2005)

Michael in FTW has hit the nail on the head yet again.  When you fry something in hot oil, a very thin layer of outer skin should be all that's affected.  The oil should be about 360 degrees.  At that temp., the oil is hot enough to heat the outer coating, be it batter, or the outermost layer of meat tissue, sufficiently to cause the moiture to heat and evaporate.  Then, it is replaced with a thin bit of oil.  That's what creates the crispy outer layer.  In addition, the heat causes teh muscle tissue to contract and bind together, forming a barrier against more moisture loss.  Of course there will still be some.

My MOL taught me a virtually foolproof method for making pan-fried chicken.  It always gives me superior results.  Preheat the oven to 360 degrees.Take the chicken and dredge it first in egg-wash, then in seasoned flour.  Shake off the extra flour and fry in two to three inches of oil until lightly browned (about four minutes per side).  Cook only two pieces at a time to avoid cooling the oil.  Place the partially cooked chicken on a foil-lined cookie-sheet.  When all of the chicken is "fried" and on the cookie sheet, bake for 40 minutes.  Remove and serve immediately with sides.  Your chicken will be so juicy, and yet with a lightly crisped crust, that it will litteraly squirt you when you bight it.

I have also had great success with frying chicken in just hot oil until done.  But this comes out better with boneless chicken.  Just follow the above technique, but leave in the oil for about 6 minutes per side.  This works fine if you're cooking for two or three people, but I wouldn't want to do it for a crowd.  It would take forever, unless you have a very large deep-fryer, or realy big frying-pan with lots of available BTU's to heat it.

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North


----------



## Michael in FtW (Jul 1, 2005)

maddarlo said:
			
		

> I was cutting against the grain as well. Should I be cutting WITH the grain? Never knew that!


 
*I didn't say that!!* I was just speculating on what you were doing - and how you had cut it. I have several dishes where I cut the breasts thin (1/2 inch or so) at a 45-degree angle and cook them on the cut sides. 

The main thing is to have the pan and oil hot enough so that it sizzles instantly when you put the chicken into th pan, and don't overcrowd the pan.


----------

