Just Can't Seem To Get It Right

[manning]

I must have watched my mom cook fried chicken a thousand times while I was growing up. Unfortunately, mom is no longer here to ask. No matter what I do, my friend chicken isn't like her chicken.

She always cooked using Crisco. I have tried Crisco, oil and butter. I have used my mom's recipe and dozens of others. The chicken does get brown, but it is never crispy the way hers was.

I am beginning to think it is due to a difference in the ingredients in Crisco. When mom was alive, Crisco was not pure vegetable. Maybe I should try lard and see what happens.

Does anyone else have this problem? The chicken tastes good on the inside, but the outside seems oily and does not have those little brown crispy pieces that I love. I make sure the oil is hot before I add the pieces and I do coat them in flour. I also make sure to cook the pieces for 15 minutes before turning them. I'm sure doing something wrong!

my friend chicken LOL

Crisco has been changed to get rid of trans fat. Someone I know does cake decorating and Crisco is the main ingredient in butter cream frosting. When it was changed the flowes (rose pedals) were not as firn anymore.

 

[powellrj]

I blame the chickens. I think the chickens we get nowadays are injected with water and different things to get them to last longer and it makes a difference in how they taste. I remember when I was first married and you bought your chickens at the meat counter and needed to use them in a day or two so they were fresh. Now I can buy a chicken in the meat case and its dated for more than a week.

 

[nancycg56]

Make sure your oil stays at the correct temp by only putting a couple of pieces in at a time and letting the oil come back to temp otherwise, the chicken will absorb oil and just be yucky. A deep fry thermometer works great!

 

[LuvOrlando]

I make a Christmas pastry that hasn't ever been as good as when my grandma made it for me. Then this year I decided to pick up the giant drum of LARD at Walmart instead of the Crisco and you know what, the LARD adds a totally different taste.... a better taste. My whole family ate the stuff and usually it's just me. I don't think it's the healthiest option but for this particular once a year pastry LARD is the new 'must have'.

 

[live4christp1]

I blame the chickens. I think the chickens we get nowadays are injected with water and different things to get them to last longer and it makes a difference in how they taste. I remember when I was first married and you bought your chickens at the meat counter and needed to use them in a day or two so they were fresh. Now I can buy a chicken in the meat case and its dated for more than a week.

As someone who works in the industry I can say that you all would be shocked at how much water and other solution is injected into the birds. Also most store bought chicken from your major manufacturers have gone from hatched to slaughter in 6 weeks for a 4 lb bird. They are pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones. Yes my family still eats chicken. I am amazed to see the label of none marinated breast fillets which technically should be pretty plain.....there are quiet a few ingredients listed.

 

[TifffanyD]

Do you do the dredging/breading twice? From living in the dirty south in grad school, that's what i learned. I think it went flour -> buttermilk -> breading -> buttermilk -> breading

 

[m&m's mom]

As someone who works in the industry I can say that you all would be shocked at how much water and other solution is injected into the birds. Also most store bought chicken from your major manufacturers have gone from hatched to slaughter in 6 weeks for a 4 lb bird. They are pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones. Yes my family still eats chicken. I am amazed to see the label of none marinated breast fillets which technically should be pretty plain.....there are quiet a few ingredients listed.

Wow. My family is full of farmers and ranchers but no one does chickens. Had no clue it was only 6 weeks. I had a nutritionist tell us after my DH's heart attack to eat Sanderson Farms but I wonder why not organic.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, so I am making fried chicken tonight . I went to the store and bought some chicken-they had big family packs of thighs for $1.99=not a pound, $1.99 total-there are 10 thighs in the pack .

So, do you fry the chicken for 30 minutes total then, 15 minutes/side?

I do agree that the chicken makes a big difference. For years I have heard about my DH's aunt's fried chicken-which she hasn't made in over 20 years now because she is sick of making it-farm wife (my BIL even asked for her fried chicken for a wedding present ). Part of what made her chicken good, from what I am told, is that she always used fresh chicken-fresh like she killed and plucked the chicken right before cooking fresh.

 

[Witch Mountain]

If it's not getting crispy, the oil temperature is too low or you're covering the pan while cooking.

I've got a Lodge Cast Iron chicken fryer. The sides are much taller than the traditional skillets and it makes a huge difference, IMO. Years ago, I worked in a restaurant and we deep fried in shortening, but the temperature was a steady 350° and we'd cook it for 13 minutes. At home, I tend to go a little longer because it's not being submerged in the fat.

Recently, I went to using the solid crisco with a little bit of lard mixed in (like 3 parts crisco to 1 part lard) and my family asked what I did different, so it could be a solution to try. You can get the 1 pound box of lard at WalMart for about $1.50 and it keeps in the fridge for ages. The goal is when the shortening/lard melts, you want about 2" of oil before adding any chicken.

Mine never turns out as crispy when I use liquid oils. I never could figure that out, but it doesn't.

 

[Tinkermommy]

My Grandmother's fried chicken was like you mentioned, lightly breaded (salt, pepper and flour) and very crispy. It was delish!

Of course she raised her own chickens most of her life. She also used a cast iron skillet.

The thing she told me though (which seems contrary to some opinions here) is to "crowd" the chicken. She had a small skillet when she just made chicken for her and my Grandpa.

I bought a set of Saladmaster cookware and it comes with this incredible electric skillet. The thing with Saladmaster is you don't need oil to fry the chicken! My fried chicken comes out crispy and brown on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. It's much healthier since you are not adding additional oil or even flour. I just season it a little.

 

[golfgal]

Well, the chicken is a fryin' . It looks very good, very crispy. I can feel my arteries hardening from here . I'll let you know the final results in a little while.

 

[golfgal]

Well, the chicken is gone. I made 12 pieces for the 5 of us. It was very crunchy and the chicken was very moist. I needed more seasoning though. I soaked the chicken in buttermilk for a few hours, dredged twice and fried at 350 in my electric frying pan. I have a large pan and 10 of the pieces fit pretty well but I squeezed in all 12 with no noticeable difference in the crispness of the chicken. I should have had more Crisco though-it wasn't quite deep enough to cover 1/2 of the drumsticks but I made it work. That is a LOT of Crisco .

I am going to try a similar process next time but use ranch salad dressing instead of buttermilk.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I must have watched my mom cook fried chicken a thousand times while I was growing up. Unfortunately, mom is no longer here to ask. No matter what I do, my friend chicken isn't like her chicken.

She always cooked using Crisco. I have tried Crisco, oil and butter. I have used my mom's recipe and dozens of others. The chicken does get brown, but it is never crispy the way hers was.

I am beginning to think it is due to a difference in the ingredients in Crisco. When mom was alive, Crisco was not pure vegetable. Maybe I should try lard and see what happens.

Does anyone else have this problem? The chicken tastes good on the inside, but the outside seems oily and does not have those little brown crispy pieces that I love. I make sure the oil is hot before I add the pieces and I do coat them in flour. I also make sure to cook the pieces for 15 minutes before turning them. I'm sure doing something wrong!

When I used to make fried chicken I would use lard to fry, it gives the chicken a nice flavor.

Before I fried my chicken I would soak the pieces in salted cold water for a couple of hours.

I would then put flour, salt and pepper in a heavy brown paper bag.

You can drain the chicken in a colander (I don't bother, I just let the excess water drip off of the pieces) but make sure it's still moist so it holds the flour.

Put a couple of pieces at a time in the bag, shake well until the pieces are coated with flour and put in hot oil. Leave it alone and let it cook. When it browns turn the piece over.

Depending on the frying pan you use (I used a heavy fry pan or cast iron pan) and the type of meat (white/dark), whether your pan has hot spots or not, you've got to stand there and watch the chicken cook. You can tell when it needs to be turned. You can't just say I will cook it for 15 minutes and then turn it cause each piece is different and needs a different cooking time.

I don't use buttermilk or milk or anything else. Just chicken, flour, salt and pepper is all you need.

There's nothing like good homemade fried chicken. When I was a kid we used to get our chickens from the chicken market. Chickens today aren't as flavorful as chickens of days gone by.

Next time I will try Bell and Evans brand.

 

[cm8]

When I used to make fried chicken I would use lard to fry, it gives the chicken a nice flavor.

Before I fried my chicken I would soak the pieces in salted cold water for a couple of hours.

I would then put flour, salt and pepper in a heavy brown paper bag.

You can drain the chicken in a colander (I don't bother, I just let the excess water drip off of the pieces) but make sure it's still moist so it holds the flour.

Put a couple of pieces at a time in the bag, shake well until the pieces are coated with flour and put in hot oil. Leave it alone and let it cook. When it browns turn the piece over.

Depending on the frying pan you use (I used a heavy fry pan or cast iron pan) and the type of meat (white/dark), whether your pan has hot spots or not, you've got to stand there and watch the chicken cook. You can tell when it needs to be turned. You can't just say I will cook it for 15 minutes and then turn it cause each piece is different and needs a different cooking time.

I don't use buttermilk or milk or anything else. Just chicken, flour, salt and pepper is all you need.

There's nothing like good homemade fried chicken. When I was a kid we used to get our chickens from the chicken market. Chickens today aren't as flavorful as chickens of days gone by.

Next time I will try Bell and Evans brand.

I do however use peanut oil to fry it in and it is very delicious . I hope that the next time you make some it comes out as well as you'd like it to be:

 

[golfgal]

I took some pictures of the final results. The pictures are kind of dark but here is one of them:

 

[GeorgeG]

I don't have a recipe, but I am available to taste test fried chicken. Does that help?

 

[java]

I just made this recipe a week ago and it was a huge hit! I used cast iron and the chicken was crispy and moist! everything fried chicken should be. It's our keeper recipe now.

2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 gallon canola oil, for deep-frying
Chicken:
1 whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces, or 4 legs and 4 thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Coating:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Directions
Make the marinade by combining the buttermilk, sour cream, Dijon mustard, salt and freshly ground black pepper in a large bowl. Mix well with a whisk. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place in the marinade. Stir everything together so the chicken is coated evenly, cover, and set aside in the fridge to marinate for 12 hours.

Fill a heavy-based pot (such a deep cast iron skillet) with canola oil and set over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, heat the oil until 375 degrees F. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the coating by adding the all-purpose flour, salt, paprika, mustard powder, and garlic powder together in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and dredge lightly in the seasoned flour, 1 at a time. Set the coated pieces on a wire rack over a tray as you work.

Add the chicken, 3 to 4 pieces at a time, to the hot oil, skin-side down. Cook until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Increase the heat on the oil if you need to as the chicken will bring the temperature of the oil down. Remove the chicken from the pot with a wire strainer and set over a clean rack over a tray. Season with salt while still hot. Continue to cook in batches, allowing the oil to heat up again before adding the chicken to the pot each time.

Place the chicken into the oven and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until cooked through. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Pile high in a basket for a fun presentation.


ONLY COOK 3 -4 pieces at a time to not overcrowd the pan- it will also reduce the temp of the oil if you overcrowd.
Good luck.

 

[GeorgeG]

My wife makes great chicken in the oven. She puts the breasts in a pyrex dish with a little olive oil, sprinkles a little salt and pepper, and it comes out with crispy skin every time.

 

[Feralpeg]

I took some pictures of the final results. The pictures are kind of dark but here is one of them:

Looks good, but not what I remember eating for so many years. All of the recipies I see result in chicken with an overall coating. That's not really what I want. I want chicken that really isn't coated, but just has crunchy areas. Maybe, I've lost my mind!

 

[crazelion]

Okay just took some chicken out the freezer for tomorrow night dinner. I most have fried chicken, mashed potato and gravy now.