Sunday, February 8, 2009

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cooking Fried Chicken

By KC Kudra

Nearly everybody loves the taste of fried chicken and there are plenty of different fried chicken recipes to try out. Deep frying is a common way to cook fried chicken but you can also pan fry it or oven fry it, which is when you bake the chicken but it tastes like it has been fried. Fried chicken, also known as southern fried chicken, is a real comfort food too.

Fried Chicken Tips

If you have not made fried chicken before, it is not difficult. As with many other chicken recipes, you have to be careful with the handling of raw chicken and wash any surfaces it has touched afterwards with hot, soapy water. You need to make a batter, dip the chicken into it, and then use a deep fryer to fry the chicken. When the chicken is white all the way through and the batter is crispy and golden brown, it is ready.

One of the easiest ways to coat your chicken pieces is to use a Ziploc bag full of your dry ingredients and add a few chicken pieces at a time, shaking well to coat every piece well. Next, you dip them into your liquid batter then fry them. This method also cuts down on mess!

If you dredge the chicken pieces in flour, then into a milk and egg yolk mixture and finally into breadcrumbs, this makes a really crunchy and crispy coating.

Be very careful with hot oil and never leave it unattended. Never have your face too near to the oil because it can spatter. Use tongs to remove the chicken from the hot oil.

Different chicken parts cook at different speeds. Legs and thighs need to be cooked at 165 degrees F. Start with these first, then add the breasts and then wings, turning the heat down to 160 degrees F, so everything finishes at the same time.

If the chicken is ready before anything else, do not worry. Put some water in an oven dish and add some rolled up foil balls. Spread a large piece of tin foil over the top, put the chicken on this piece, and cover everything with a lid. Keep this in a 175 degrees F oven until the remainder of the meal is cooked. The foil works like a steamer and keeps your chicken tender and moist until it is needed.

Serving Fried Chicken

There are lots of different side dishes that go well with a deep fried chicken recipe including French fries and corn on the cob or mashed potatoes with green beans.

If you are making food for a party, fried chicken is a great recipe to make. Leave out some catsup and mayonnaise too so people have something to dip their fried chicken into. It can be tricking knowing how much food for a party is the correct amount but with fried chicken, you can be generous because any leftovers are nice cold the next day.

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