Southern Fried Chicken

[Arky]

...my mom did hers in a dutch oven by sound, ... when the sizzling eased up in about a mintite she turned the fire up full and removed the lid. she cooked just till there was no more spattering sounds. it was always tender, juicy and crisp.

I learned something new - thanks.

 

[msmofet]

I learned something new - thanks.

you're welcome. i'd say the chicken was fully cooked in about 15 - 20 minutes.

 

[Phil]

you're welcome. i'd say the chicken was fully cooked in about 15 - 20 minutes.

Thanks, msmofet, for the clarification. The truth is, my wife does the chicken. However, this time "we" did use the meat thermometer. I complained that the thighs were over cooked. Another bit of differance is we pull the skin. We haven't fried chicken with the skin on in years. That may make a differance in the crunch. My wifes uncle had the Kentucky Chicken franchise in Denton, Tx. in the 60's and it was pressure cooked. However, the original recipe wasn't crispy.

 

[TheMetalChef]

KFC chicken was/is cooked in a pressure cooker to get it tender and crispy. i have heard this on several shows. just adding info.

my mom did hers in a dutch oven by sound, when the spitting eased up she would turn off the oil and put some water in the lid for the pot then clap the lid on the pot (this raised the temp and made the oil boil and gave the chicken a bit of steam and also the extra heat crisped up the coating). when the sizzling eased up in about a minute she turned the fire up full and removed the lid. she cooked just till there was no more spattering sounds. it was always tender, juicy and crisp.

Your mom was doing a quasi-pressure fry. She pulled the top off before it was done, that's how she got it crispy - but, believe it or not, the weight of that cast-iron lid plus the steam escaping from the chicken created a bit of pressure inside the dutch oven, which helped with the internal temperature.

My next project: Smoke the chicken for two good hours over low coals (200 degrees) to get some nice wood flavor in there, then drop in the fryer to crisp the skin up and finish the cooking.

I love smoked chicken, but I hate how leathery the skin gets.

 

[TheMetalChef]

Thanks, msmofet, for the clarification. The truth is, my wife does the chicken. However, this time "we" did use the meat thermometer. I complained that the thighs were over cooked. Another bit of differance is we pull the skin. We haven't fried chicken with the skin on in years. That may make a differance in the crunch. My wifes uncle had the Kentucky Chicken franchise in Denton, Tx. in the 60's and it was pressure cooked. However, the original recipe wasn't crispy.

Of course not - it was soggy as hell, because of the pressure frying. You can't get crispy skin under those circumstances, because there's nowhere for the moisture to go. Every convenience store in this city serves "fried chicken" - all of it is soggy, because it's pressure-fried, and most of it is rank as hell, because it dries up like an old shoe if left under the heat lamp for more than 10 minutes, because all that moisture comes to the surface so quickly after a pressure-fry and it just evaporates into the ether if you don't serve it immediately.

 

[Phil]

=
My next project: Smoke the chicken for two good hours over low coals (200 degrees) to get some nice wood flavor in there, then drop in the fryer to crisp the skin up and finish the cooking.

I love smoked chicken, but I hate how leathery the skin gets.

That's funny because that's what I like about smoked chicken. I salt it inside and out. The salt turns the skin into a browning bag and holds the moisture. I'd like to hear the results of your deep fried, smoked chicken.

 

[Sonic98]

I'm used to deep frying, but I recently tried going back to pan frying and it didnt turn out so well. I tried a recipe where i soacked the chicken in buttermilk over night, after the excess driipped off I seasoned it with some seasonings I mixed, I floured it, then I pan fried it in shortening. Didn't really come out lke I had hope.