So I fried up some chicken last weekend. Filled a stock pot with corn oil, heated it to about 350, and fried away, using standard breading procedure (flour, egg wash, then bread crumbs). Here's the thing. The chicken came out moist and perfectly cooked, so as far as I'm concerned, the cooking was a success.
But I had a problem with the texture of the skin. I was hoping to get a soft texture akin to KFC. Instead, I ended up with this very thick, hard skin, like armor. It wasn't terrible, but it's just not the texture I was looking for. I used all-purpose flour, a milk / egg mixture, and some finely ground bread crumbs I bought at the store. Any ideas on how to get the texture I want?
The second issue was flavour. I seasoned the flour according to a recipe I found online. I can't find the exact one, but it was something similar to below:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
The actual recipe I used had even more paprika, and also called for MSG. I didn't have any MSG or celery salt, so I omitted those.
Bottom line, despite a huge quantity of spice, the skin was relatively bland. I could have just sprinkled on a little salt and pepper and it would have been the same.
How do I get a better flavour for my chicken?
But I had a problem with the texture of the skin. I was hoping to get a soft texture akin to KFC. Instead, I ended up with this very thick, hard skin, like armor. It wasn't terrible, but it's just not the texture I was looking for. I used all-purpose flour, a milk / egg mixture, and some finely ground bread crumbs I bought at the store. Any ideas on how to get the texture I want?
The second issue was flavour. I seasoned the flour according to a recipe I found online. I can't find the exact one, but it was something similar to below:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
The actual recipe I used had even more paprika, and also called for MSG. I didn't have any MSG or celery salt, so I omitted those.
Bottom line, despite a huge quantity of spice, the skin was relatively bland. I could have just sprinkled on a little salt and pepper and it would have been the same.
How do I get a better flavour for my chicken?