Learn me fried chicken

I made some fried chicken last weekend. It was the best I had made yet, I used yogurt and egg for the batter, and flour and spices for the breading, then booked it in oil about halfway through the sliced breast in a cast iron pan on my gas stove at around 350F.

Last night Tunawife got Panera, due to a very rushed evening, and it was probably the worst fried chicken ever. Not crispy, even a little cold, and floppy.

Chik fil-a is decent, but only if you can find a restaurant which will still do the "extra well done" option, which more and more seem to be skipping. Popeyes and the like are pretty far down the list.

How do I do it better? What's your favorite fried chicken? Help me out. It's like my favorite food when done well, but apparently really hard to do well.

In reply to tuna55 :

TBH, you're pretty much doing it right.  Some folks like to marinate the chicken in buttermilk or use it to make the batter, but if you like the result you got, i'd stick with it. 

Step one and by far the most important step. Also why we don't eat a lot of fried chicken?

I would also suggest brining the meat for several hours or overnight. It makes all the difference in the world. 

If I'm making strips or nuggets, I use a chick filet clone recipe. Pretty standard recipe, except you soak the chicken in milk, eggs, and pickle juice or hot sauce overnight, and there's a bit of powdered sugar in the breading.

If I'm doing whole pieces, I experiment. I've done everything from just corn starch and into the oven, to soaking in buttermilk overnight, KFC/Popeye clones, rolled in crushed captain crunch or corn flakes. I think what makes the clone recipes taste better at home is the ingredients going into them. At home I use locally milled flour, and I buy good spices, not the industrial grade stuff the restaurants use. 

I've been trying to get KFC extra crispy style figured out, but I have issues with the breading and batter not sticking. 

Fried chicken is kinda like pizza, there's a million ways to do it and everybody wants something a little different and thinks their way is the best. I say start with one aspect at a time and experiment. Get the flavor profile you want, then adjust to get the crispness you're after. 

If and when possible, always soak overnight in something slightly acidic to get a flavor going into the chicken to start. Buttermilk, milk and egg, yogurt. 

I like your yogurt idea, I've done similar with baked chicken in Indian recipes, haven't tried to fry it like that. Real mayo does a surprising job in the oven Crispin up nicely. 

Popeyes. Done. 
 

there was a food critic guy whose name I forget, going on and on about the process for perfect fried chicken. At the end of his whole spiel, he said something like- "I enjoy the process, but the truth is, you probably will never get as good as Popeyes. "

RevRico said:

If I'm making strips or nuggets, I use a chick filet clone recipe. Pretty standard recipe, except you soak the chicken in milk, eggs, and pickle juice or hot sauce overnight, and there's a bit of powdered sugar in the breading.

If I'm doing whole pieces, I experiment. I've done everything from just corn starch and into the oven, to soaking in buttermilk overnight, KFC/Popeye clones, rolled in crushed captain crunch or corn flakes. I think what makes the clone recipes taste better at home is the ingredients going into them. At home I use locally milled flour, and I buy good spices, not the industrial grade stuff the restaurants use. 

 

I've been trying to get KFC extra crispy style figured out, but I have issues with the breading and batter not sticking. 

 

Fried chicken is kinda like pizza, there's a million ways to do it and everybody wants something a little different and thinks their way is the best. I say start with one aspect at a time and experiment. Get the flavor profile you want, then adjust to get the crispness you're after. 

If and when possible, always soak overnight in something slightly acidic to get a flavor going into the chicken to start. Buttermilk, milk and egg, yogurt. 

I like your yogurt idea, I've done similar with baked chicken in Indian recipes, haven't tried to fry it like that. Real mayo does a surprising job in the oven Crispin up nicely. 

Yeah the yogurt was totally an accident. I had my booster the day before, and was feeling like hot garbage, and was responsible for dinner. I went to grab the milk, nope. Panicked for a bit, then grabbed the whole-fat plain yogurt and adjusted the egg amount to match, and it was pretty great. Way better than buttermilk in my opinion, though I don't have a long battery of testing to fall back on.

Teh E36 M3 said:

Popeyes. Done. 
 

there was a food critic guy whose name I forget, going on and on about the process for perfect fried chicken. At the end of his whole spiel, he said something like- "I enjoy the process, but the truth is, you probably will never get as good as Popeyes. "

Eh. Just eh.

Toyman! said:

 

my wife's side is from 'Bama and there is the large can of this for frying food.  I was shocked when I witnessed it.  

Look up the America's Test Kitchen country fried chicken recipe with homemade ranch dip. It's excellent.

My issue with Popeye's is locally, their service is horrible.  Toughest part of getting good chicken in a fast-food setting is getting it freshly prepared.  Chick-Fil-A is probably consistently best at this, and their customer service blows away any other fast-food restaurant, IMO.

Also, a friend of mine left work just after lunch yesterday and had to take the next 24 hours off due to a case of KFC-induced food poisoning. 

There's something to be said for DIY.

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

The best hash browns, fries, and tater tots also require Crisco. 

If you are feeling brave, it also makes an amazing pan-fried steak. 

Also, try it in place of butter in cookies. 

It will also clog up your arteries so I wouldn't use it for every meal. 

Growing up in the 70's and 80's, my parents made fried chicken with a pressure cooker.  I don't think they did anything exotic with batter or spices.  They would then use the leftover residue in the pot to make a thick gravy that went over rice.  The veggie side varied.  I grew up in the era where you ate what was put in front of you and didn't ask questions, even by my parents' otherwise pretty loose child-rearing standards. But since that is what "Fried Chicken" was to me, it's the standard against all others are judged, and few come close.  We didn't have a lot of money so we didn't eat out very often. 

Some day I'll have to buy a pressure cooker (or maybe an Insta-pot?) and do some experimenting since I haven't spoken with my father in 14 years and I'm pretty sure my mother hasn't made it since my parents split over 30 years ago.

Toyman! said:

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

The best hash browns, fries, and tater tots also require Crisco. 

If you are feeling brave, it also makes an amazing pan-fried steak. 

Also, try it in place of butter in cookies. 

It will also clog up your arteries so I wouldn't use it for every meal. 

Timely, I was just reading this and thought you guys might enjoy the read:

Crisco

Fried chicken (with bones) is just something I get somebody else to make.

We've got Smithfield's chicken and BBQ, King's and a bunch of other places.

Heck, Bojangles is pretty good in terms of taste for effort, the effort being "show up, give them money, get chicken."

Chick-Fil-A doesn't have fried chicken (with bones), and their other stuff is just bland. Taste aside, I won't give them money anymore, so it doesn't matter.
 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

Don't care about bones, don't care about personal opinion of different places, just want excellent fried chicken.

Slippery said:

Timely, I was just reading this and thought you guys might enjoy the read:

Crisco

Thanks for the article.  I think the term "pure vegetable shortening" lulls some people who might think lard is "bad" into thinking that Crisco is "good".  Goes to show the damage that profit-motivated marketing disinformation can do. (Hello, Pfizer!) 

I tend to use two fats in a majority of the cooking that is done in this kitchen.  Butter--because it's awesome, and olive oil--because study after study lists it among the most healthful fats.  https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/olive-oil-why-choose-it-over-other-fats/ar-AASdFGs

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

Pressure fried chicken is amazing on a whole other level. There are instant pots that can do it now, but I'm thinking about a standalone. 

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

You might try avocado oil as well. It's a great oil and has a higher smoke point than olive, 520 degrees vs 400. I regularly use it for steaks because I can get the pan hotter without smoking out the house.  

If you don't already have some, add sesame oil to the pantry as well. It adds a nice flavor to foods as well as being stable at high temps. 

In reply to Slippery :

Lard makes even better fried foods. Most people lose their minds when you recommend using it though.

I fry pancakes and waffles in lard or bacon grease. Oh so tasty and crispy.

tuna55 said:

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

Don't care about bones, don't care about personal opinion of different places, just want excellent fried chicken.

I misunderstood, I thought you asked for our opinions regarding fried chicken, and mine is "I find chicken somebody else made to be best in terms of time, effort and cost, especially given that there are some local places around that make it to my taste."

So, look for a local joint with a good reputation. I looked on Google and Big Boy's Country Chicken out your way has a few good reviews.

At the Walmart in Cicero, IL they have a large center aisle stack of this - I always think it's gotta be a killer.  
 

Experiment with different brines and breadings, but I agree that going with lard will move it to the next level. 

For almost any chicken, I start with about 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 TBSP of Kosher salt as my brine for 3-4 lbs of chicken. I also like to use a cast iron pan for it. Keeps the temp consistent. 

My mom would pan fry chicken, then stick it in the oven to finish it. It was pretty damn good. 

As for chicken restaurants, for the chains, it goes Gus's > Popeyes > Bojangles > Lees > Culvers > KFC < Chick Fil A. I haven't had Churches or some of the others to include here. Top tip though, often times the best fried chicken is going to be found at the grocery store deli counter or a local pizza joint. 

Not sure how it would be for frying chicken, but there is this:

Duke said:

Look up the America's Test Kitchen country fried chicken recipe with homemade ranch dip. It's excellent.

I agree that their recipes are super yummy, but I find them to have 652 super-anal-retentive steps.  You go through 16 hours of prep and cooking and you're left with one awesome meal and 1204 dirty pans. 

tuna55 said:

Teh E36 M3 said:

Popeyes. Done. 
 

there was a food critic guy whose name I forget, going on and on about the process for perfect fried chicken. At the end of his whole spiel, he said something like- "I enjoy the process, but the truth is, you probably will never get as good as Popeyes. "

Eh. Just eh.

agreed.  some of the most overrated and undewhelming fried chicken Ive had the displeasure of eating.