Fried Chicken.

[Gypsy]

So I've got 4 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on).

Some buttermilk.

Pretty much every spice I might need (unless there are some really interesting things people add) and lots of different hot sauces.

Eggs, flour. Lots of drege pans, so I can dip, re-dip, and re-dip to coat as many times as I need to.

A cast iron deep skillet, and a deep fryer. Can use either.

Canola Oil.

Gimme what works for you.

I'm looking for SUPER moist, tender falling off the bone inside, crispy on the outside chicken with some nice flavor.


Whatcha got in your recipe files folks?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.


(ETA: What is the point of buttermilk? Sorry not from the south here).

 

[bebe]

There is controversy if you fry one side, ,turn then cover the pan with a lid, that that method keeps it moist, dunno, but I never did that.
I always worried that mine was never done all the way through.
Sounds like you have the goodies - go for it and let us know how it turns out. Sounds yummy!

 

[pinkstars]

Oh I love fried chicken!!!

The buttermilk, I add tabasco to it to add a little bit more flavor to the meat, I like to let it soak overnight, but it gets extremely tender.
Egg - I beat it up, add some more tabasco and chili powder(just a little, like up to a teaspoon.)
Flour mixture - Flour, salt, pepper, paprika. I heard add a bit of cornstarch to the flour is good(makes it crunchier), but I haven''t tried it yet.

I usually use a deep fryer and I really don''t remember how long I leave it there for. BF loves my fried chicken, and I like it myself.
I will add, I''ve never made it on the bone though. I''m sure it will be tasty though!

 

[Gypsy]

Do you rinse the buttermilk off after the soaking? What do you do after you soak them in buttermilk? And is buttermilk like a brine, in effect? Should I add salt to the buttermilk to get the osmosis thing going?

Tabasco. Okay. Check. Still trying to figure out how to handle the butter milk issue. I'm assuming I soak them (like a brine) in the stuff, seasoning the stuff with flavors I like. Then take them out rinse them. THEN do the egg mix, flour mix, egg mix, flour mix two step THEN fry them. Bebe-- I think I've heard the same thing about the pan, I'm going to use the pan to fry them.

Am I on track?

 

[audball]

I use a deep fryer.

I wash the chicken off (so it''s not so sticky) and lay it out on my cutting board.

Season chicken (both sides) using: salt, garlic pepper, McCormick''s original chicken seasoning (it''s orange), and (when we''re feeling spicy!) a little McCormick''s Cajun chicken seasoning.

Bread chicken using a mix of crushed (crushed until so fine it''s almost like sawdust) saltine crackers (yes it''s weird, I know, but the best breading I''ve ever used) with a little flour. Makes the chicken (even skinless chicken) come out nice and crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

I usually use boneless/skinless breasts and cut them into strips, so frying time would likely be a bit longer with full size pieces. I usually drop a basket of the strips for about 6 mintues (on the hottest setting) and they come out perfect.

Serve with homemade creamy mashed potatoes, buttermilk buscuits, chicken gravy, peas, and sweet tea!

Good luck!

 

[D&T]

don''t have any recipe for fried chicken - I have yet to make it, but I do make a mean chicken parmesean - your thread is making me hungry

 

[pinkstars]

I''ve never rinsed off the buttermilk. I think after I take the chicken out of the buttermilk I think I do flour-egg-flour.

It sounds like you got it down!

 

[Gypsy]

http://www.recipezaar.com/Crispy-Fried-Chicken-Americas-Test-Kitchen-235949 Okay so I'm shortcutting this recipe a biit, as I just found it and the chicken had already been soaking in a buttermilk bath.

The chicken's been soaking in a buttermilk brine with seasoning for about 2 hours. I just added hot sauce, paprika and sugar (sugar was per the recipe... don't ask me, we'll see what happens).

I'm going to take them out of the buttermilk in another hour or so. Then apparently I'm going to put them on a drying rack to chill them (

) for two hours then I'm going to cook them in the skillet. We may be eating late tonight. Good thing we had a nice lunch.

And I'm making home made potatoe salad to go with. And sweet iced tea (sweet tea is too sweet for me, I like my iced tea tropical and sweetened only a little).

 

[Miranda]

I like to fry it in shortening, not oil. It makes the coating crunchier. I love fried chicken! Good luck!

 

[Gypsy]

I don''t think I''v ever bought shortening. Good tip though. Will keep it mind. What kind of shortening? Is there canola shortening?

 

[Miranda]

I usually use plain old Crisco. I figure, if you''re eating fried chicken, what''s a little more fat gonna do! I''ve also used Smart Beat (or Smart Balance - I don''t remember) and had good results.

 

[whitby_2773]

gypsy -

i've never made fried chicken, i'm sorry, so i've got nuthin' here. however....

i *do* have a suggestion for a pair of low heeled, silver, wildly uncomfortable shoes you could wear while doing it....

(ps they weren't as bad as you thought! and - who knows? - perhaps i didnt look like an out of proportion midget for *my* wedding either!)

 

[April20]

I love fried chicken and I''ve never actually made it myself. I''m a southerner born and bred and that''s pretty much a sin. Let me know how yours turns out! In my world, it''s always, always, always made in a cast iron skillet. No exceptions.

 

[Gypsy]

Crisco. I never would have thought of that. Wow, now I'm curious. Let's see how this recipe turns out this time, and if it's worth doing again... I'll investigate shortening. Thanks Miranda!

Whitby... ROFLMAO. I wore them to work on Wednesday actually cause I had no meetings and pretty much all drafting on my schedule. Took them off under my desk, and everything. LOL. I was being stubborn about them. I'm not going to cook in them however. If I were to cook in anything it's the buttery cream betty boop type 4 inch heels I have with the red dot cut outs that I've worn twice (and the silver shoes pale in comparison to these when it comes to comfort, but I do get so much joy fondling them in my closet). I bet you are right about your wedding pics. Wanna share...

.

April, there is a skillet ready and waiting.

BTW.. for those wanting a play by play, the chicken is now "air chilling" per the recipe. I feel like it's at the spa or something. LOL.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 7/17/2009 8:45:22 PM
Author: Gypsy
Crisco. I never would have thought of that. Wow, now I''m curious. Let''s see how this recipe turns out this time, and if it''s worth doing again... I''ll investigate shortening. Thanks Miranda!


Whitby... ROFLMAO. I wore them to work on Wednesday actually cause I had no meetings and pretty much all drafting on my schedule. Took them off under my desk, and everything. LOL. I was being stubborn about them. I''m not going to cook in them however. If I were to cook in anything it''s the buttery cream betty boop type 4 inch heels I have with the red dot cut outs that I''ve worn twice (and the silver shoes pale in comparison to these when it comes to comfort, but I do get so much joy fondling them in my closet). I bet you are right about your wedding pics. Wanna share...

.


April, there is a skillet ready and waiting.


BTW.. for those wanting a play by play, the chicken is now ''air chilling'' per the recipe. I feel like it''s at the spa or something. LOL.

oh lord! i laughed out loud and scared the dog when i read this!

do you have one of those zen fridges that plays relaxing music to the food inside? do you think it will come out looking trim, taut and terrific after the specified time? do you think eating it will negatively affect it''s karma? sort of...more of a korma than a karma??




( ok, i made the part about the zen fridge up...)

 

[bebe]

Is it dinner yet?? !!

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/17/2009 9:54:31 PM
Author: whitby_2773


oh lord! i laughed out loud and scared the dog when i read this!

do you have one of those zen fridges that plays relaxing music to the food inside? do you think it will come out looking trim, taut and terrific after the specified time? do you think eating it will negatively affect it's karma? sort of...more of a korma than a karma??




( ok, i made the part about the zen fridge up...)

I swear you are in my brain. I actually opened the fridge to check on it and expected elevator music. HAHAHA!

Bebe, no it's got another half hour in the spa, it's all done up in curler's under the dryer now. Probabaly another hour before we eat.

 

[Bia]

don''t have any recipes. i just love fried chicken

 

[Gypsy]

Okay so... it was a PITA but it turned out pretty good. Somethings worked, other''s didn''t.

Here''s a run down.

The buttermilk brine worked really nicely. I added salt, peper, gradulated garlic and onion, a little bit of ground sage, some hot sauce, paprika and sugar to the 1% buttermilk. I''d actually totally buttermilk marinade/brine it overnight if I use bone in pieces again. The chicken had great flavor.

Air chilling. Not getting this and it seems like a nice way to invite cross contamination. Skipping this unless I can figure out why the chicken needs a spa day.

The egg dip ROCKED (eggs, buttermilk, baking soda). And the baking soda is ABSOLUTELY needed. I did the first piece without the baking soda (we had no baking powder so I didn''t use any, will next time) then remembered to add it. That first piece fried up totally wonky crust wise and even tasted different.

What wouldn''t have worked... unseasoned flour as the dredge. We seasoned ours with paprika and gradulated onion and garlic and pepper. No salt. GLAD we did this. It would have been bland otherwise.

Temperature control REALLY is the key to that recipe and we could NOT get it right. The chicken wasn''t cooked through on any of them (microwave to get the pinky red out), on two of them the crust was perfect. The other two (including wonky piece) crust was a burned. The ones with the perfect crust were more cooked than the burned crust ones. But I think the thighs need ten-twelve minutes of even cooking heat time, and I have no idea what the heat should be to get the chicken cooked right inside, and the crust right on the outside. Above 300 definitely. But probably start with 365 and then add the chicken, but keeping the oil (if you can... we couldn''t, was either below 300 or above 350) at 315 or so for the rest of the time if you are doing thighs, would be my guess. 9 minutes, not enough for thighs either I''m thinking. 10-11 minute and even temp.

Next time???

Taking pink stars suggestion of breast strips and deep frying or using de-boned thighs and deep frying. Using the buttermilk brine and the same dredge and soak. Bone in is just not for me. Don''t have the patience for it. And temperature control was just a nightmare. And we have a high temp instant read thermometer and a cast iron skillet.

 

[JulieN]

the thinking behind the air chilling is to get the skin crispier. racked for 2 hrs isn''t long enough to dry the skin out, though. but unless your chicken is touching anything else, you don''t need to worry about cross contamination.

I prefer a deep fryer.

 

[brightlight]

Date: 7/18/2009 12:18:08 AM
Author: Gypsy
Okay so... it was a PITA but it turned out pretty good. Somethings worked, other''s didn''t.

Here''s a run down.

The buttermilk brine worked really nicely. I added salt, peper, gradulated garlic and onion, a little bit of ground sage, some hot sauce, paprika and sugar to the 1% buttermilk. I''d actually totally buttermilk marinade/brine it overnight if I use bone in pieces again. The chicken had great flavor.

Air chilling. Not getting this and it seems like a nice way to invite cross contamination. Skipping this unless I can figure out why the chicken needs a spa day.

The egg dip ROCKED (eggs, buttermilk, baking soda). And the baking soda is ABSOLUTELY needed. I did the first piece without the baking soda (we had no baking powder so I didn''t use any, will next time) then remembered to add it. That first piece fried up totally wonky crust wise and even tasted different.

What wouldn''t have worked... unseasoned flour as the dredge. We seasoned ours with paprika and gradulated onion and garlic and pepper. No salt. GLAD we did this. It would have been bland otherwise.

Temperature control REALLY is the key to that recipe and we could NOT get it right. The chicken wasn''t cooked through on any of them (microwave to get the pinky red out), on two of them the crust was perfect. The other two (including wonky piece) crust was a burned. The ones with the perfect crust were more cooked than the burned crust ones. But I think the thighs need ten-twelve minutes of even cooking heat time, and I have no idea what the heat should be to get the chicken cooked right inside, and the crust right on the outside. Above 300 definitely. But probably start with 365 and then add the chicken, but keeping the oil (if you can... we couldn''t, was either below 300 or above 350) at 315 or so for the rest of the time if you are doing thighs, would be my guess. 9 minutes, not enough for thighs either I''m thinking. 10-11 minute and even temp.

Next time???

Taking pink stars suggestion of breast strips and deep frying or using de-boned thighs and deep frying. Using the buttermilk brine and the same dredge and soak. Bone in is just not for me. Don''t have the patience for it. And temperature control was just a nightmare. And we have a high temp instant read thermometer and a cast iron skillet.

Is it wrong that reading this made me crave fried chicken?

 

[Gypsy]

Julie. Yeah, the skin was partially crisp, but um mostly NOT. So no more spa days. OR skin. Ick.

Brightlight, well... kinda

.

 

[JulieN]

at LudoBites, we fry the chicken in duck fat.

short cut to nirvana.