# Help with deep fried chicken?



## jasonr (Sep 5, 2008)

So I fried up some chicken last weekend. Filled a stock pot with corn oil, heated it to about 350, and fried away, using standard breading procedure (flour, egg wash, then bread crumbs). Here's the thing. The chicken came out moist and perfectly cooked, so as far as I'm concerned, the cooking was a success. 

But I had a problem with the texture of the skin. I was hoping to get a soft texture akin to KFC. Instead, I ended up with this very thick, hard skin, like armor. It wasn't terrible, but it's just not the texture I was looking for. I used all-purpose flour, a milk / egg mixture, and some finely ground bread crumbs I bought at the store. Any ideas on how to get the texture I want?

The second issue was flavour. I seasoned the flour according to a recipe I found online. I can't find the exact one, but it was something similar to below:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

The actual recipe I used had even more paprika, and also called for MSG. I didn't have any MSG or celery salt, so I omitted those.

Bottom line, despite a huge quantity of spice, the skin was relatively bland. I could have just sprinkled on a little salt and pepper and it would have been the same. 

How do I get a better flavour for my chicken?


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## quicksilver (Sep 5, 2008)

Next time, jasonr, you might try letting chicken pieces set in plastic bag, in buttermilk, in fridge, at least a couple of hours or up to overnight. Then pat dry and proceed as you did.


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## Uncle Bob (Sep 5, 2008)

jasonr said:
			
		

> How do I get a better flavour for my chicken?


 
You might try sprinkling your "stuff" on after you fry it....just out of the oil.


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## pacanis (Sep 5, 2008)

I get a real nice skin on my fried chicken just by pan frying them in oil, not deep frying (submersed). I brown them on both sides, cover them and simmer, then uncover, turn the heat back up and finish them. If you want to go that route...


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## Dave Hutchins (Sep 5, 2008)

Brine your chicken.  When ready to cook pat dry dredge in seasoned flour  then in butter milk & egg then & seasoned cracker crumbs.  Brown in oil then put in a 350*F oven covered with foil for 45 minutes.  It will be brown and the skin will be soft
    Enjoy


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## jasonr (Sep 6, 2008)

Well none of this can be right, because the object is to deep fry, not bake or pan fry.

I don't want a way around the problem. I want to solve the problem.


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## blissful (Sep 6, 2008)

I fry mine like Pacanis, I use less than an inch of oil, brown on one side, then turn and brown on the other side, turn to a third side if there is one, and cover.

Looking at your mixture for the coating, if you want more flavor, use more spices in relation to flour, or less flour in relation to spices. Also, you can soak in buttermilk prior to dredging in the flour mixture, dip them into a Louisiana Hot sauce first, then in the flour mixture and see if you like that.
I get a wonderful texture on the skin, but I don't dredge in egg and bread crumbs after the flour. Just milk/buttermilk, then the flour mixture.

I hope that helps, give it a try?


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## letscook (Sep 6, 2008)

I do the same as blissfull with good results
I marinate mine in buttermilk and a few dashes of hot sauce, then season your flour well, (your seasons you used already should flavor it well) I put the flour in a big brown bag or a large plastic bowl with secure lid and then the chicken and shake the heck out it until all is well coated and place on a wire rack to dry as the oil heats up then i fry in conola oil just till half way up chicken and turning and covering it with a lid, covering steams it which keeps the coating crisp but not hard with moist chicken inside.
No egg no bread crumbs


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## GhettoRacingKid (Sep 6, 2008)

+3 for marinating in buttermilk

also season the chicken before you bread it.  that should fix your issue.

When I have fried chicken I usually do the quick fry and then toss in the oven


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## pacanis (Sep 6, 2008)

All this talk of chicken.... I fried some last night for dinner.

And I know you are looking for deep fry help jason, but pan frying will give you the makings for some good gravy. But you are right, it's a different product.


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## VeraBlue (Sep 6, 2008)

Next time, soak the chicken overnight in highly seasoned buttermilk.  Next day, drain off the excess and dredge the chicken in highly seasoned flour.  Wait 20 minutes and repeat the dredging process.  Refrigerate half an hour.

Instead of dropping the chicken into a full pot of oil, try pan frying it, instead.  Cook one side, then flip it to cook the other side.  I've found that par cooking in the pan, and finishing in the oven insures that everything is cooked safely and you get a softer yet still crispy coating.


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## Jeekinz (Sep 6, 2008)

jasonr said:


> Well none of this can be right, because the object is to deep fry, not bake or pan fry.
> 
> I don't want a way around the problem. I want to solve the problem.


 
I think deep frying yields a tough outer crust. It's just the nature of that cooking process.


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## Uncle Bob (Sep 6, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> I think deep frying yields a tough outer crust. It's just the nature of that cooking process.


 
Can you elaborate on this for me Jeekinz? There are many foods, (including Chicken at KFC, Popeyes, Churches, and many others) that benefit from the cooking process (deep frying) with out causing/creating a tough outer crust...

Thanks for your help!


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## GhettoRacingKid (Sep 6, 2008)

the tough sking your getting is becuase its not being broken down.

Buttermilk is the key,  the enzymes help break down the fibers to give you taht awesomeness your looking for.

If you dont have butter milk you can marinate it in yogurt.

I maranate all my chicken in yogurt, oil and whatever....


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## Jeekinz (Sep 6, 2008)

Uncle Bob said:


> Can you elaborate on this for me Jeekinz? There are many foods, (including Chicken at KFC, Popeyes, Churches, and many others) that benefit from the cooking process (deep frying) with out causing/creating a tough outer crust...
> 
> Thanks for your help!


 
Sounds like the skin is getting overcooked/cooked too quickly.  I never tried using buttermilk yet, but pan frying always had good results.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 6, 2008)

Jeekinz said:


> Sounds like the skin is getting overcooked/cooked too quickly.  I never tried using buttermilk yet, but pan frying always had good results.



I've never used buttermilk, either; I've read that it used to be necessary because chickens were tough in the "olden days" before grocery stores, but modern chickens are much more tender to begin with.

Although it's been a while since I've made fried chicken, the skin was crispy but not tough. My mom's recipe, which I used, is to dredge in seasoned flour and pan-fry uncovered in about 1/2 inch of oil for 25 minutes or so per side. It was always cooked through, crispy and browned. I don't see how covering and steaming it, as other have mentioned, keeps the skin crisp, but YMMV, I guess.


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## pacanis (Sep 6, 2008)

Shaken in a bag of seasoned flour, not quite 1/4" of oil, 10 minutes browning both sides. 25 minutes simmering covered, 10 minutes uncovered. Not KFC crunchy, but not totally limp either. Cooking uncovered the whole time will yield a lot crispier skin, but this skin is perfect for me. What hasn't been prefect for me is that it seems the storebrand doesn't have the quality lately, the skin was barely hanging on as compared to perdue or tyson, whose pieces come more "intact".
From last night.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 6, 2008)

pacanis said:


> Shaken in a bag of seasoned flour, not quite 1/4" of oil, 10 minutes browning both sides. 25 minutes simmering covered, 10 minutes uncovered. Not KFC crunchy, but not totally limp either. Cooking uncovered the whole time will yield a lot crispier skin, but this skin is perfect for me. What hasn't been prefect for me is that it seems the storebrand doesn't have the quality lately, the skin was barely hanging on as compared to perdue or tyson, whose pieces come more "intact".
> From last night.



Sounds like a good reason to buy whole chickens and cut them up yourself  Looks like a delicious dinner.


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## pacanis (Sep 6, 2008)

Thanks GG.
I've been thinking about whole chickens, but I really don't eat or like the breast. Or the drumsticks for that matter. I'd be making a lot of soup and chicken &  biscuits to satisfy my thigh and wing habit. Sad to say but I think the family pack of thighs is my best buy.


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## VeraBlue (Sep 6, 2008)

pacanis said:


> Thanks GG.
> I've been thinking about whole chickens, but I really don't eat or like the breast. Or the drumsticks for that matter. I'd be making a lot of soup and chicken &  biscuits to satisfy my thigh and wing habit. Sad to say but I think the family pack of thighs is my best buy.


thighs and wings are the best!!!


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## jasonr (Sep 6, 2008)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! For me, this is less about the food, and more about the technique. If I switch to pan frying, even if it yields a better product, then I'm admitting failure at deep frying. I don't want to circumvent the problem, I want to solve it.

I refuse to accept that deep frying cannot yield good fried chicken. That's impossible.



> the tough sking your getting is becuase its not being broken down.
> 
> Buttermilk is the key,  the enzymes help break down the fibers to give you taht awesomeness your looking for.
> 
> ...



Ok, so you're saying that I should be marinating in buttermilk or yogurt? Say I marinate for 24 hours, and then finish with standard breading procedure (flour, egg / milk wash, bread crumbs), will that do the trick?


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## AllenOK (Sep 10, 2008)

IMHO, 24 hours in buttermilk and/or yogurt is probably to long.  The natural enzymes and bacteria in those products will break the connective tissue down to far, and yield "mushy" chicken.

Here's my recipe:

Fried Chicken
Yields:  12 pieces

	I usually use leg and thigh quarters, cut apart, as they’re dirt cheap and the kids love them.  Also, I typically use just water in the marinade, and the brand-name seasonings listed.  The "original" recipe, from where I work, calls for Cain's Meat Seasoning and Cain's Seasoned Salt, but unless you live in OK, good luck finding them.
	I used to always think that this was just a marinade, but I’ve recently realized that this is more of a brine, and the salt helps to transport the flavors and extra moisture into the flesh of the chicken.  Keep in mind that if you use buttermilk, or marinate for 6 hours or longer, you will want to cut down on the amounts of seasoning used with the flour, as the resulting chicken will be to salty.

12 pieces of chicken
For the marinade:
3 eggs
3 ¼ c cold water
-or- buttermilk
-or- milk
1 ½ T McCormick Broiled Steak Seasoning
-or- 1 ½ T meat seasoning
1 ½ T Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
-or- 1 ½ T seasoned salt
For the seasoned flour:
1 ½ T McCormick Broiled Steak Seasoning
-or- 1 ½ T meat seasoning
1 ½ T Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
-or- 1 ½ T seasoned salt
3 c flour

	Combine the marinade ingredients.  Place the marinade and chicken pieces in a mixing bowl or gallon ziplock baggie.  Stir the chicken around to coat it.  Marinate for 3 - 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.
	Heat a deep-fryer to 350°F, or heat an inch of oil in a large cast iron skillet.  Sift together the seasonings and the flour.  Remove the chicken from the marinade, and dredge through to the flour.  This may be easier if you do the “shake and bake” style, by placing the flour into a bag and dropping a couple pieces of chicken in and shaking it.  You may want to dip the chicken pieces back into the marinade and repeat the breading, for a thicker breading.  Deep-fry the chicken pieces until done, about 15 - 20 minutes, or until a probe thermometer reads 170°F in the thickest part of the meat but not touching the bone.  When done, remove to a wire rack over a sheet pan to drain.


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