Secrets for the BEST fried chicken?

Question

What oil?

What heat setting? (forget temps...I don't have a thermometer)

What seasoning?

How long on each side?

What kind of pan?

Answer 1

All of the above suggestions are appropriate and probably tasty but the SECRET for the best fried chicken is cooking in castiron skillet in LARD.

Answer 2

I doubt I could answer most of those questions completely accurately. I do make my own friend chicken, but I've been doing it so long it's just second nature. I dont' think about heat temps and time. But I can give you a pretty good idea. I use a large, heavy deep frying pan. To a mixture of flour and Pepperidge herb stuffing mix (or my own home made whole wheat herb seasoned stuffing mix) I add salt & pepper, tarragon, poultry seasoning. I put all that in a paper sack. I dip the chicken pieces in an egg & milk mixture, then coat well by putting a few pieces at a time in the bag, and brown at a med high heat until brown on both sides. Then I turn down the heat to a slow simmer and cover to cook the rest of the way. I couldn't say the time for sure... maybe another 10-15 mins total (turning once) It's one of those things I just know when I'm doing it. The last few minutes (3-5), I uncover, turn the heat back up to re-crisp on both sides. Drain on paper towel on a rack. I usually do 2 pans at once, and strain off the "stuff" between batches. I used to use Crisco, but now use canola oil. I only do it for special occasions or for parties as it's no longer the healthiest choice for an everyday meal.

Answer 3

Medium-High heat, you want it almost hot enough to burn & don't skimp on the oil. Use a big heavy, deep skillet, cast iron if possible.

Mix salt, pepper, and a little Creole seasoning (Like Tony Chachere's ) into your breading flour. The flour should still be white, but VERY speckly. Dunk the chicken in milk, then egg, then flour mix, then do it again in that order.

Use peanut or canola oil, deep in the pan (at least 1/3 inch deep) Get the oil good & hot, and then before you add the chicken, add a tablespoon of honey to the oil. Sounds weird but it's crazy good.

Cook about 20 minutes on each side. Watch closely & don't turn anymore than you have to, you don't want to knock all the good coating off. Cut into a piece before you remove & make sure there's NO pink in the middle, cook longer if you need to.

Eat with the skin ON ! This is fried chicken, not granola for Gosh sake !

Answer 4

I can't give you KFC's recipe or Culver~ but I can give you an Old Southern recipe I've be using for about 6 years that I invented:
Start off with a base oil, fried chicken is always gonna be fatty, so if you want to be a health nut, find a different way to cook it, so I like to stick with some Veggy Oil. Cheap, not overdoing it. Get a bowl of flour, throw in Parsley, Pepper, Red Pepper if you like a kick, but dont over do it; Chicken Seasoning will include some of my other base ingrediants, add a bit of McCormics Steak seasonig (Sounds weird I know), and mix it all together. Grab a pot, cause we're going to the south and deep frying, so perferably a big one, pour in your oil, set the oil to HIGH, once it gets hot, perferably around 5-6 on your stoves temp., once the oil settles, bread your chicken and toss it in, keep an eye on the chicken, it takes about 15 minutes. Toss it around, make sure your chicken doesn't stick. You can pull it out once you got a nice Golden brown skin, and if your not so sure, take the biggest peice, and cut on its fatest part, if any pink, cook for another 3-10 min. If you like thick crust, after the first crust sticks, redip your chicken in leftover flour, and throw back in. Set the chicken on a plate that is covered by a paper towel (or towel), and let drain, enjoy!.

Answer 5

First - put a stick of butter in a baking dish and melt it in in a 250 degree oven. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Take the dish out of the oven and dip the chicken into the melted butter.

Roll the chicken in a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmasan cheese. (Mix to your taste) Usually about a 1/4 cup of parmasan and a cup of breadcrumbs.

Put the chicken in the pan with the melted butter and bake at 350 for an hour. Make sure you have great ventilation though because it can get smokey because it's in a oven.

Another good way is to do the steps as above but use ground up corn flakes instead of the breadcrumbs.

My husband and I love either way but I think the corn flakes are the best!!!!!!

Answer 6

go to the web site for womans day.com or better homes and gardens and you will find awesome recipes for everything under the sun.google fried chicken for that matter. the recipes are endless.i personally like chicken cutlets. you wash them and get the slime off then throw them in a bowl with a little salt pepper,garlic powder if you dont have fresh garlic and parsley and a little basil. in another bowl have 2 eggs beaten with a little milk added and in the third bowl have progresso italian bread crumb. take the meat that has been sitiing in the fridge marinating in the above ingredients and dip it in the egg and then in the bread crumbs. your pan of oil should be on medium high heat. on an electric stove thats about 6 on the dial. drop a drop of bread crumb into the oil and if it sizzles its hot enough. then throw the cutlets in for about 4 minutes on each side. if you are doing fried chicken you can do it this way too just peel back the skin on the pieces and put the spices under the skin to marinate. happy cooking.

Answer 7

Here is my favorite.

Southern-Fried Chicken

1 3 lb chicken, cut up
1/3 cup butter milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup lard

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a paper or plastic bag. Dip chicken in the buttermilk. Shake one or two pieces of chicken in bag to coat.

2. In a large deep cast iron frying pan, melt lard over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. I use the splatter test, put a little water on your fingers and flip it into the grease, when it splatters the heat is right. Add chicken pieces and cook turning frequently until brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain on paler towels.

Answer 8

Soaking the chicken in buttermilk overnight is amazing!

I soak the chicken and then dip it in a plate of eggs with a splash of milk and then into a plate of flour seasoned with pepper, paprika and thyme and then finally into a plate of flavoured breadcrumbs ( I make my own by taosting bread and then drizziling it with olive oil and seasonign with garlic and basil and oregano and baking it until its crispy) and then I cook it at 450 in peanut oil for about 5 mins each side!

Answer 9

precook the chicken (or roast in the oven, low temp) . rub the chicken with salt pepper and selfrising baking powder. (1:1:2) then fry at a high setting.

Answer 10

My mom always used a heavy cast iron skillet. It makes the best crust.