I have more appreciation for a person that can make great fried chicken than about anything else.

I've made my last fried chicken this evening, I damn well guarantee it.

A friend's grandmother used to do it in one of those electric skillets. I don't believe she was using a "healthy oil" to fry it either.

grease temp is critical...if you get it too hot the oil (and the chicken) burn on the outside and its raw on the inside....if you fry it too "cold" it will be greasy....I like to use a big dutch oven and fry just 3 or 4 pieces at a time... don't get it too salty....my grandma used to partially cover her black skillet with a lid at the end of the frying process which would steam the chicken and make it more tender...really well prepared fried chicken is food of the gods.....don't give up.....

Not claiming to be a good cook, I parboil first.
That might be breaking some rules, but it works.

Nooooooooooooooooo!

fried chicken dang sure ain't hard.

I'm with Scott on this one. The few times Ive tried it were disastrous....

There are several ways to fry chicken. My wife does a great job on pan fried bird. That is rolled in flour, browned, then covered in the oven.
When I try frying, it is in deep fat.
Sirloin butt steaks tonight, grilled. I'll try those salt potatoes as well.

Patience is your best friend with fried chicken! I know Sam is gonna slam me on deep fried but it works great. Frankly, I do all my frying outdoors with perfect results.

If you do not have a turkey or deep fryer then:

A good skillet depending on your stove top. Cast iron on a ceramic top is a big no!
Learn to monitor the oil temps. Start the oil at 375/400 and keep it at 325-350 or so.
Light batters are best.
Turn the chicken once!
Do not re-use oil!
DO NOT crowd the skillet!!!!!!! This will cause the chicken to steam and burn!

If you can't hack it on the stove top then try the oven.

FWIW Publix and Church's offer the best commercial chicken out here.

publix is so salty.....

That's probably why I like it. I'm addicted to salt. Most likely the worst habit I have.

It goes on everything including watermelon.

UGH!

Pan fried here

I can't do it. My mom is a pro and my wife is worse than me.

Fried chicken just became part part of the Fire competition!! :)))

ain't nothin wrong with salt on watermelon!

I'd finish dead last!

I'd beat ya.

For last place

But I can fry some fish

That's cuz your an expert!


.... an internet expert that is.

yeah Keith---you ain't nuttin' but an innanet expert!!!!!!

Fried fish done right is near the top of the food chain.

OK bish drive on out if you have the juevos

regarding fried fish check out the Quemado Get together

thread... I'll leave the thread at that

check your mailbox about Wednesday

It takes time to cook it right.Not too hot and not too cold.I season the chicken and dredge it in flour.I have found that once you start cooking,the juices from the chicken will bring the seasoning out to the flour coating,so there is really no need to season the flour.It is also easier to control the amount you use if it's just on the chicken.I fry chicken in a cast iron skillet over a gas flame just barely above medium heat.I like the oil to be up just about half way on the chicken pieces.You can see the batter start to brown,it should be about the color of done chicken on the side that's in the oil before you turn it.Practice,practice makes a good cook.

you got it

yup agreed. He does have it.

You sending me some fried shikken??

Sometimes when I make pan fried chicken it's sooooooooooo good !

Other times the dog thinks I'm tryin' to kill him.


Denny.

no but it might be alive and hungry....

I'm betting that dog thinks you're about to feed him to that rabbit eating pellet cooker you bought. :)))

Now thay was funny...rabbit eatin pellet cooker

I can handle it in the deep fryer..the wife is in charge of pan fried.

Yep, and now I'm craving some..

I'm better at fried fish than I am at chicken, but the wife can do a damn good job with the chicken so........I let her. We like to do what we cal Fry-B-Q chicken when it is hot. Brown it and then throw on the grill. Fried chicken + smokey goodness, still have greees for gravy. Win-win.

If I question the quality of your cooking, can I drive over and make you prove it to me? please?

I didn't know you could eat it without salt!?

Mike

Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Most all the pointers to good fried chicken have been stated. Face it learning to fry chicken well takes practice. That is why Grandma's fried chicken was so good. She'd had lots of practice.
OTOH hand you are going to naturally ruin several chickens before you get the deal down pat but when you do it will be worth it. Patience, don't crowd and keep the oil at the right heat. Did I mention patience.

Now we can move on to fried chicken gravy! ;>)

Yes Sir! She may be the Fried Chicken expert but when it's gravy makin time, she yells " Ok, can you make the gravy?"

You obviously don't know my friend byc....

move along now nothing to see.... I noticed you skipped over my other post ...conveniently... I find it humorous when newbs make an ass out of themselves.

What is hilarious is you most likely have never actually met one person on this site or even talked to them on the phone. I won't go into detail about who I have met or hosted in my home and hunting camps...rest assured you won't be counted in that group based on your behavior.

I've never put anyone on ignore in the cooking forum...but you are going to be the first if you don't pull your head out of your ass. And as much as I think trh is a dork attention whore drama queen I don't even have him on ignore....think about it.

I am a firm believer in soaking chicken in buttermilk, but a brine gives good results as well.

Honk on BoBo!

Good skillet fried bird ain't the easiest thing to master.

The cut makes a big difference. Boneless skinless breast is easy. Bone and skin on quarters, not so much.

Every place out here(PNW) seems to use pressure cookers to fry their bird. Turns out pretty good.

you confirmed it..........



attention whore............

first one from the cooking forum on ignore....sad that

I need to check out the buttermilk soak...Sam says that is good too...just never done it myself.

I agree.

I also believe the most important ingredient to start with is a SMALL chicken! Not these near turkeys you can buy....smaller pieces fry much better than large pieces.

I'm thinking that using a fresh farm raised chicken makes a big difference too. Store bought yard bird doesn't even compare. JMO

Good feature don't be surprised when others follow suit attention whore.

Scott get an electric skillet. 1/4" of corn oil in it. Heat to 350 - 375. coat your chicken however you like it. Fry it for 35 to 45 minutes turning every 10 minutes longer if you like. You will be successful...

Part of your problem guys is that you have never eaten a fresh chicken. Had a cousin tell me one time that your Mom made the best fried cheicken. I told him because it was 2 hours from walking in the yard to on the table. Those old frozen things we use now will never do.

.... exactly!

Some things are easier said, than done. Much like the old "Putting the bell on the cat." Store bought birds are what we have. I've raised chickens, no desire to do it again for the near future.

rookieboobyie most likely raises them in his house...

As Stan says size do make a difference. I have searched all over and threatened to beat my grocer severally about the head and shoulders looking for three pound and under frying chickens. Not the 4 and a half roasting hens the packers pass off as fryers.

Can't be found for love nor money unless you raise them yourself. A 2 1/2 pound spring fryer is goooooood easy to cook and tender. Don't have to scorch the outside to get the inside cooked or soak it in hot grease too long.

I have to go to a butcher shop to get small chickens. I would be lucky to find one less than 5lbs around here. We have 4 poultry producers within 30 miles of me and all that is on store shelves are mini turkeys.

Don't know how I missed this flame war...and another chance to get 'food prep' banned is squandered...

Not even I would do something as foolish as that...

Boiling is just for beets?
We may get adjoining cells in the forum jail.

All this fried chicken, and gravy calls for some good dessert.
Perhaps mine will have a file baked in.

That sounds about right to me. Fresh chicken as others have mentioned. And to my palate, peanut oil is the only thing to use.

Ella

cheater!

I have had fried chicken prepared in more ways than there are grains of sand at the beach; most ranged from acceptable to excellent. The one must is that it be completely done; degrees of rareness are for beef.

Chicken!

And that is why a some of us are hollering for smaller chickens to fry. They are a heck of a lot easier to cook well.
What you got is a combination of heat and time. With a big old piece of chicken you just have to let it soak in the hot grease until the heat gets down to where the bone is. Oil a tad too hot you burn the outside, too cool you got greasy chicken. Try to rush it and you got bloody meat next to the bone. That is just the way of it according to my long experience. Also why fried chicken is touchy to do right.

With smaller pieces it doesn't take as much time and you can lower your flame just a bit w/o lowering too much so it gets greasy. Just a lot easier to cook a spring fryer right than it is a roasting hen you are trying to turn into fried chicken. Say nothing of better flavor to the meat.

I like finding bars or restaurants that know how to broast chicken...done right, it's the best going.

Good point.

deep fried can work, and you can get a darn good product that way. I am more concerned with the prep of the bird parts, and the way it was breaded.
That said, a deep cast iron skillet, peanut oil at 365F, careful attention to the color, and not turning it 20 times, works wonders.

I use a cast iron skillet, coat the chicken with poultry seasonings, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, then coat with flour. I usually use olive oil to cook.

The girls and I love it, but then again, I am a single Dad, so they better!!!!!!

The lady with the show on Food Network, 'Pioneer Woman', fries the chicken in a cast iron pan, then bakes it in the oven for a while.

Excellent way to produce doneness.

especially if you have limited 'sperience and skill with pan frying.

whatcha mean willis?

You need to fry some of them gobblers tracking across your front yard.

Love the sauces!! Thanks for sending Keith!

David

you're so bad...

What's the best traditional oil to use?

Corn and peanut oil have been mentioned on this thread...

I've never made fried chicken (-gasp-) but would like to give it a try! The best fried chicken I've ever had was at Gus's Fried Chicken in Memphis!

Thanks,

Eric

You want to get real serious about the best fried chicken then use lard or even leaf lard.

crisco

Shocker!

Only question is, do I fry it before or after I take it out of the oven...?

I actually use an original Griswold cast iron "Chicken Fryer" pan with matching cast iron lid. Works awesome.

My Southern grandma used bacon grease, and that's what I use. I save it in a grease can in the fridge. Much healthier than any vegetable oil for deep frying.

Vegetable oils produce carcinogenic free-radicals when heated up that much. Animal fats do not. The processed food industry started pushing vegetable oils for cooking in the early Twentieth Century because the profit margin was much higher for them, and they were producing vegetable oils as byproducts of vegetable processing for other purposes and needed a way to market it. That's why animal fats got a bad rap healthwise in the press, i.e., because that would turn folks in the direction of high profit vegetable oils.

There you go.

all right that's IT. Your reply made me snort half a mouthful of beer up my nose!!!

Why do you think I posted the rubber chicken?

TRH - Thanks for the reply. Now I have just the reason to buy more bacon!

Eric

I have one as well and this thread has me thinking about doing some buttermilk chicken on our deck while the WSM is doing a brisket flat this week end.


Denny.

I totally agree that the best oil for fried chicken or about any thing fried is lard. However if your quack goes stemwinding, ape schist crazy about cholesterol as most do then, in my experience, plain old Crisco is in distant second place.

I use a chicken fryer too, but mine is a Wagner and not a Griswold.

I love cooking with cast iron. It is all I use.

I've heard that's really bad...

The world may never know...

The world may never care.
Just a bit of harmless fun.

Like you needed another reason.

I wouldn't say cast iron is all I use, but I use it quite a lot. Hardly a day goes by when I haven't cooked with cast iron. I like my steaks grilled on cast iron. I make my bacon and eggs every morning on cast iron. I braise meats in cast iron Dutch ovens (the kind that go in the regular oven, not the camp out style). And quite a few other things. Love my cast iron.

Oh, the worst. Pure transfat.

Again, I'm telling y'all.

Leaf lard!!

Some oils, or fat, may be better.
I've a feeling, a good cook could use a variety of oil, or fat, with splendid results.

Yep. I've got lots of air tight packages of pork fat from pastured pigs I bought from a local homesteading family. From time to time I open a package and render lard for cooking. It's the perfect fat/oil for cooking at high temps. Very healthy.

Like I said, this was standard in America till the processed food industry started paying for research suggesting that vegetable oils where healthy and animal fats unhealthy, this to promote the sale of vegetable oils which had a high profit margin. It was shortly after that big switch to vegetable oils that Americans started dying off from heart attacks and cancer at high rates.

PS Raw olive oil is great for your health in moderation, but it's not a good idea to deep fry with it. Saute is OK.

I'm thinking rookie booby and trh are one in the same........ rah rah girls

So, when you gentlemen are talking about Crisco, are you talking the white solid, or the oil?

I use the oil...it works but I use the corn oil version.

Thanks!
My cardiologist considers canola oil to be the least of evils.
If it were not for my cardiologist, I might be posting from six feet under. Not much of that going around.

bad thing about canola oil when heated is the fishy taste

Cardiovascular disease is caused by a high starch diet, not by animal fat consumption. Sure, if the interior walls of your arteries are damaged from a high starch diet, blood cholesterol will indeed contribute to plaque formation (which forms like scabs for the purpose of healing the damaged arterial walls), but addressing the cholesterol without addressing the cause of the problem to start with is putting the cart before the horse. You're supposed to have cholesterol in your blood ... both kinds. It serves several vital functions in your body. What you're not supposed to have are chronically damaged interior arterial walls from a high starch diet, which walls are thus prone to plaque formation, buildup, and eventual occlusion. Quit the starch and arteries heal up. That's what cardiologists should be telling folks.

Try this method
Dredge the pieces in flour with some salt and pepper added
Heat your oil of choice pretty hot and brown the chicken on both sides.(some fresh garlic in the oil is a good thing) We aren't trying to cook it through, just brown it.
Add a little water to the pan reduce heat and cover
Steam the pieces for awhile without turning them.
Remove the lid and turn up the heat until the water is gone and the chicken is browned. Turn it and brown the other side.
Sorry, I can't give you cooking times.
This is the way my Grandmother fried chicken and it is very good
I know she used lard. Ken

He's a little better than that. I've shared camp with Keith and looking forward to again next month.

Chicken always benefits from brining. Whether it's fried, grilled or baked. It makes a huge difference! I don't fry chicken often any more, but when I do I use an electric skillet with peanut oil. Do multiple batches so you don't crowd it. All I add to the flower is salt, pepper and tarragon. Now I want some.

Bob

It's common knowledge that yankees can't do it.
LOL!

don't burst the nfg's bubble Bob...BTW I need to send out a PM for Antelope Armageddon 2013...I am supplying the NY strips

sucks to be a rookie boobie in this case among others

I sure wished you fellows would stop talking about Fried Chicken!!! Just Makes my mouth water ever time I read this thread!
Makes me think about my Grandmaw on the farm ringing a chickens neck, cuttin it up, & deep frying it in her big old iron skillet using good ole lard for the grease.
Along with home made french fries & white gravy made in that same skillet! And home maid sourdough bisquite to go with it.
One of my favorite childhood memories!

I've still got her ole iron skillet, but no matter what I do, I can't cook it as good as she did!

I swear...ain't memories like that golden?

Yes they are. Great Times. Priceless, IMHO

This thread inspired me to bid on an old Griswold "Chicken Fryer" pan on Ebay.

The sucker went past $200!

I didn't buy it. I had no idea old cast iron was that pricey.

Eric

$200 is actually on the low side depending on condition. Keep an eye out at garage sales for good deals on CI.

http://www.wag-society.org/

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?catselect=castirongeneral

Cool website...

I agree, thanks for the link.

Eric

Original Griswold cast iron is usually that much or more, depending on rarity and condition.

The best fried chicken I have ever had is the way my wife does it.

She soaks it in buttermilk, overnight in the refrigerator, then rolls it in flour to coat.

She deep fries it in an old Dutch Oven, using Olive Oil, or other deep frying oil.

Her's is so much better, I won't order it when we go out, because I have never tasted restaurant chicken near as good.