How To Make Fantastic Pan Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is a great American classic, with nearly as many ways to make it, as there are families. However, this guide can help you make better chicken, no matter which recipes you use. Let us take a look at a few tips that will help you avoid some of the most common problems and end up with great chicken.
Start With Smart Battering
It is a good idea to set up a battering or breading station, depending on how you are making your chicken. The flour coated type is the most common. Set things up going in the most comfortable direction, with seasoned flour, egg/batter, and coating mixtures in baking dishes or shallow bowls. Remember to have a place to put the chicken safely when you are done.
It is a good idea to designate one hand for wet ingredients and another for dry to avoid cross contamination of your dishes. Get started by rolling a piece of chicken in flour, then coating it in batter. The wet hand can then be used to transfer it to the coating bowl and roll it in its coating.
After you have battered and coated all your chicken, the pieces are going to need some rest time, so the coating will stick properly. If you are not going to be cooking your chicken within a half hour, this period should be done in the fridge. Of course, there are other ways to bread chicken. If you have fried chicken recipes that you think will work better, you can use them instead of this method.
Pan Frying Chicken
There is a big difference between juicy on the inside, crisp on the outside fried chicken and soggy, grease soaked chicken. The factors that most affect it are oil temperature and the way you do your frying. A high smoke point oil is also important, so choose shortening, peanut oil, lard, or others that will not smoke when hot enough to fry.
You will also need to use a heavy skillet to distribute heat and maintain it. Cast iron is traditional and makes truly crispy chicken, but steel and others may work, too. The fat must be deep enough to reach half way up the side of each chicken piece and be maintained at a temperature of about three hundred fifty degrees. Oil that is less hot will create results that are greasy and unappealing.
Lower chicken pieces into oil skin side down, starting with the edge of the piece closest to you. Work away from yourself to avoid spatters and use tongs. Frying in batches is important, too. That is because overcrowding will affect the way the pieces cook and make them much oilier and less well done.
Once your chicken pieces have become a deep golden brown, you will want to remove them and transfer to a rack for cooling. Place this rack over a baking sheet so that all drips are caught. Use an instant read thermometer to check the meat’s internal temperature for safety, then start cooking the next batch of delicious chicken.
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