Fried Chicken: Cook-Off 5

[Smithy]

... Soon there will be fresh pods everywhere.

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For some reason, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" comes to mind -

[mizducky]

I'm due to fry tomorrow (while Fearless Housemate is out of town so I don't smoke him out of the house ), and was also contemplating what to cook to accompany the chicken. I know it's not particularly Southern, but I was thinking of taking advantage of that panful of hot fat to maybe do some breaded-and-fried eggplant slices. I have zero experience with cooking okra, but maybe if I find some good-looking okra in the market I'll give that a go too. I've just Googled some sorta-likely-looking okra recipes, but pointers to others are appreciated. (Ummm, maybe PM them to me so we don't send this thread too far off-course? Still a little fuzzy on the egullet etiquette around that...)

[fifi]

Lady peas . . . swoon!

Brooks, do us all a favor and report on the size of your chicken and the frying temperature. We seem to be having "issues" with some of the recipes out there.

[Smithy]

I'm due to fry tomorrow (while Fearless Housemate is out of town so I don't smoke him out of the house ), and was also contemplating what to cook to accompany the chicken. I know it's not particularly Southern, but I was thinking of taking advantage of that panful of hot fat to maybe do some breaded-and-fried eggplant slices. I have zero experience with cooking okra, but maybe if I find some good-looking okra in the market I'll give that a go too. I've just Googled some sorta-likely-looking okra recipes, but pointers to others are appreciated. (Ummm, maybe PM them to me so we don't send this thread too far off-course? Still a little fuzzy on the egullet etiquette around that...)

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I can't help you with okra recipes, but I'm here to tell you that my family had a pronounced Southern background and there was a lot of fried eggplant in my grandmother's house. I don't remember if Nana paired it with fried chicken, but I can't think why she wouldn't have.

Edited to add: the fried chicken photos have not only been making me drool this week, but I've gained 5 pounds just reading the doggoned thread. My attempt was so feeble by comparison, but I still couldn't put the leftovers away and leave them alone. (That might have to do with the tight jeans, too.) Just as soon as I can put my clay pots away, I'm going to try some of these other methods.

Edited March 18, 2005 by Smithy (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

I'm due to fry tomorrow (while Fearless Housemate is out of town so I don't smoke him out of the house ), and was also contemplating what to cook to accompany the chicken. I know it's not particularly Southern, but I was thinking of taking advantage of that panful of hot fat to maybe do some breaded-and-fried eggplant slices. I have zero experience with cooking okra, but maybe if I find some good-looking okra in the market I'll give that a go too. I've just Googled some sorta-likely-looking okra recipes, but pointers to others are appreciated. (Ummm, maybe PM them to me so we don't send this thread too far off-course? Still a little fuzzy on the egullet etiquette around that...)

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Try this. It works great with really good canned tomatoes (good italian plums come to mind) and sliced frozen okra.

[Mayhaw Man]

I am sitting here with my laptop unable to stand. I am filled with fried chicken goodness to the point of foundering. I am a human ship run aground on a delicious, rocky coast of crusty fried chicken. I am about to pop. Normally, I am not a glutton, but after all of this fried chicken talk I had a big, big hunger tonight for the noble bird.

I took some photos, but I seem to have left my camera cord at work, so that will have to wait til Sunday when I go to the city to meet my pal Varmint and all of the Lil Varmints.

Anyway, the stuff turned out great. Here's the scoop on tonight's yardbird frydown.

I got home from work about 6 and my wife, the lovely Mrs. Mayhaw, already had a giant pan of chicken sitting in the soaking solution. There was a whole cut up fryer, 18 legs and 10 thighs. It might sound like I am about to open a small outlet for Popeye's, but the real purpose was to feed a group of boys who had gathered at my house in preperation for a big event that takes place in my little town once a year-The Abita Springs All Town Garage Sale! (Also mentioned here in something that I wrote last year about this time)The boys are gathering in order to get on their bikes and go out early in the morning looking for bargains (or junk to clutter up their rooms, whichever comes first) that we can keep around for a year and then dump at next year's sale (we only sell every other year, it's a ton of work and my house is a wreck right now).

I quickly set to work, as they were all screaming for food like angry, hungry baby birds, except that some of these kids are bigger than I am (including my 15 year old who is 6'4" and still going, apparently) and they are not to be trifled with when hungry. I set up the fry rig outside (I have enough outdoor cooking equipment to run a party of a 100 folks with no real effort-I do, after all, live in South Louisiana-it's what we do) and made up my egg wash and flour mix. Tonight I spiced the flour and the egg wash up a bit more than I usually do, as the boys were all demanding "hot" chicken (this is, after all, the land of Popeye's). The egg wash consisted of two eggs, a 1/4 cup of Tiger Sauce and a cup of water. The flour had random amounts (meaning the right amount, but I didn't measure ) of salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, and some hot paprika from Penzey's.

Pay attention here kids, this is the payoff for you "cold fryers" who have patiently read this rambling tale........I heated the peanut oil in my chicken fryer (mentioned above in several posts, I got the magnalite chicken fryer when I got married and I really like it-it has fried a ton of bird in the last 21 years-it's just the right size).....now for the frying........

I heated the oil to to 375 ( I use a glass candy thermometer as they are accurate as hell and cheap if they break) and while it was coming up the last couple of degrees I rolled the chicken in the egg wash and went straight to the flour (incidentally, I use a very large volume of flour-it goes better, doesn't clump up, and is much faster than rolling and rolling-you get a much better and more solid coverage). After a solid, but not too heavy, coating of flour I went into the oil at about 375F. I first fried 8 thighs. After the last thigh had dropped my oil had dropped to about 345F, but as I was using a burner that was built from the burner out of a fast recovery industrial hot water heater, it didn't take too long to get it back to 350F . At that point I turned down the heat a bit to maintain 350 and fried for ten minutes on one side (oil depth basically covered the chicken a little over halfway up the sides of the thighs) and ten on the other. It went into a paper bag lined with paper towels and I coated the next batch as the temp came back up to 375F. And then I did it again, and again,k and again. All the while I was careful to keep the oil between 340 and 360. The deal here is that if your oil gets too cold, you are going to get greasy, greasy chicken and if you let it get too hot, you will just burn the grease and ruin the whole thing. So the key here, to me, is temp control. If you have a cooktop that has a big bazillion btu burner you can do this pretty well inside, but I find it's easier to just use the industrial gear.

I should mention here that at the request of a couple of the boys, most of whom have been eating my food all of their lives, I "double dipped" a batch of legs to make a seriously crusty batch. I don't like it this way so much, but they love it. These are the same kids who will fight over "crunchy rolls" at the sushi joint. They just like fried dough. I could probably fry drywall and as long as the crust was right, they would eat it and ask for more.

Anyway, the sides included baked potatoes, peas, and biscuits (Mary B's frozen hockey pucks, I love those things, they are pretty good and really quick).

The boys mowed through the stuff like Sherman went through Georgia. It is a good idea to stand clear until they have filled their plates and headed off to the table. Those kids will run you down. There was, however, plenty of fried chicken goodness left, and I was able to eat as much as I could stand. It was actually alot of fun and the whole thing took about an hour and a half from the time I walked in the door until the first urchin grabbed the first leg. They need to let me into Kitchen Stadium to take on a few of those clowns. I'm ready for the big leagues. Those judges on Iron Chef are not any tougher than those boys. They let me know pretty quickly when my efforts aren't up to their incredibly high standards. All in all it was a pretty fun night.

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[snowangel]

Thanks for the report, Brooks. Don't forget photos when you retrieve your cord!

Now, is there any left for munching over the sink in your bathrobe, or will the boys beat you to it?

And, here's wishing they don't come up with too many "bargains" tomorrow (I'm in an "anti stuff" phase, except when it comes to kitchen toys, of course).

And, thanks for the temp advice. Would be interested to hear what you have to say if you ever do the buttermilk thang.

Edited to add: Those Dough Boys would love double dipped backs.

Edited March 19, 2005 by snowangel (log)

[torakris]

I was planning on fried chicken tonight (and coleslaw and cornbread to go with it) until I went to the supermarket (the only one in the area that sometimes has whole chickens) and came back empty handed. No whole chickens, no chicken parts with bones, just boneless pieces at a ridiculous price....

so I picked up some tuna for sashimi....

[handmc]

After Brooks' Phd course in frying chicken I dare ask has anyopne tried mixing in some yellow cornmeal into the flour? Last time I made chicken I soaked it in buttermilk with spices and hot sauce then rolled it in a mix of peppers black, paprika and cyanne, salt, some thyme and a 50-50 mix of flour and yellow corn meal. I don't know why I did it, just messing around. It was really good.

Having tortured myself in reading this entire thread in one sitting I have resolved to make chicken this weekend. Its to late to start now or I would.

I like it with buttery mashed potatoes and a steaming side of Roma tomatoes, baby limas and okra.

[slkinsey]

After Brooks' Phd course in frying chicken I dare ask has anyopne tried mixing in some yellow cornmeal into the flour? Last time I made chicken I soaked it in buttermilk with spices and hot sauce then rolled it in a mix of peppers black, paprika and cyanne, salt, some thyme and a 50-50 mix of flour and yellow corn meal. I don't know why I did it, just messing around. It was really good.

Per my post back here, I find that the addition of corn makes it turn out too dark by the time it's cooked through.

[Susan in FL]

Great piece of writing, Brooks! Do some editing to adapt it to whatever readers, and you can publish that baby! And don't stop there, I agree... You are headed for the Iron Chef. I can't wait... we all knew you when.

Very seriously now, I enjoyed that, and as usual, learned a bit from you.

...the flour (incidentally, I use a very large volume of flour-it goes better, doesn't clump up, and is much faster than rolling and rolling-you get a much better and more solid coverage).

...but of course! That is like Duh. Then, when we have that three inch layer of clumped up gob of dough substance on our fingers, we can release it into the trash and not have to continually replace the flour mixture. Thanks.

Those Dough Boys would love double dipped backs.

ROFL, Susan!

Our chicken goes into the buttermilk today.

[fifi]

Great job Brooks.

A rousing here! here! for the big cooker. I have not yet tried chicken on the big propane shrimp boil burner but I have done a ton of fish. You are right. You can fine tune that puppy to maintain a constant temp and if you do get overzealous at adding pieces, you have the BTUs to just about immediately get it back to where you want it. I am thinking that for any quantity at all, that is the only way I will attempt it. I am actually thinking of installing a couple of those babies outside at the house.

Susan in FL, the flour quantity definitely helps. That is why I didn't cut back on the quantity when I did those four thighs. Flour is cheap.

snowangel is going to cause a run on chicken backs. Prepare for the price to go to $3 a pound.

I predict that one of these days, somebody will figure out how to make the crust without the chicken. The crispy bits will then start showing up as the signature ingredient in the starred restaurants of the world.

[Dianne]

This whole thread is an inspiration. My chicken thighs and wings go in the buttermilk tonight. What a Sunday dinner we are looking forward to.

[Chris Amirault]

I usually strain it and save it in a coffee can in the back of the fridge.

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I refuse to believe that you have room in the back of your fridge! If you actually, do, please share your secrets, as we're fresh out of space!

[Chris Amirault]

Just a note to those of you who are coming to this cook-off later than others. Thanks to the internet, remember that you're never too late for an eGullet cook-off. While all have a specific starting time, none have a end time, and there are many of us eager to see what you will do with the cook-off recipes. So don't hesitate to contribute if you're finding this thread weeks or months after its start: your posting your own ideas, questions, or results can bump activity back up on this thread in no time!

Edited March 19, 2005 by chrisamirault (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

I predict that one of these days, somebody will figure out how to make the crust without the chicken. The crispy bits will then start showing up as the signature ingredient in the starred restaurants of the world.

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I was just thinking that it would be a fine experiment for one of those avant garde guys like Grant Aschatz or Ferran Adria. Foam of fried chicken is something that I could probably get into. Fried Yardbird Sorbet. Lollipops of Fried Chicken (sort of a rediculous take on chicken on a stick, maybe ). Someone should write them a letter telling them of this brilliant new idea for their secret kitchens.

Edited to say that today's take was pretty reasonable. My wife found some black and white transfer ware that she collects, and my youngest borrowed money from his big loan sharking brother and bought a really nice Fender bass. He is a fairly accomplished cello player, and a decent pianist, but is trying to branch out a bit (oh joy. Bach to rock. Imagine how happy I am). I found, at the only sale I went to, a bunch of cheap records (those are large vinyl discs with a hole in the middle that, when put on a device called a turntable, play sounds that are etched into them via a needle like device) that I really didn't need and won't listen to and to some degree, already have. I bought them all. You can't have too many records. There was one that was worth having though, an original Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin-a great record and an even better snapshot in time of one of my musical heros.

[Susan in FL]

Lollipops of Fried Chicken

Yes.

[mizducky]

Fried chicken experiment #1: Well, that was an, erm, interesting learning experience.

I should have known I was in for trouble when I hit the Von's last night and found no whole fryers whatsoever. Some whole (6-lb) roasters, but no fryers. I had wanted to just do thighs anyway, but the only packages of thighs I could find, as others here have encountered, must have come from giant mutant bionic birds. Still, I was dead-set on frying, so I said "hell with it" and bought the humongous thighs anyway, blythely assuming I'd make them work somehow. This was probably my first mistake.

Second mistake was inevitable: trusting that the elderly, wimpy, and capricious electric range top in the equally capricious rental house I share with Fearless Housemate was up to this task. I could not keep the goddamn temperature regulated on that burner to save myself. Yes, there was the expected temp drop when pieces first went in the pan. But even when I got that stabilized, the thermostat on the burner would cycle or something, sending the temp caroming up or down a good 50 degrees with little warning and no easy way to compensate quickly enough.

Plus I grew to suspect that the candy/fry thermometer with which I was attempting to ride herd on this procedure was off. My Crisco was already beginning to let off wisps of smoke while the thermo read barely 340 deg. F. (It shouldn't be smoking until 360, right?)

But it was too late--or, perhaps more accurately, I was feeling too stubborn--to turn back now. The chicken fryer was ready for action, or as ready as it was going to get:

My chicken had already come out of its buttermilk soak:

... and was sitting there all floured and ready to go:

And so I proceeded. Immediately, I realized that I was having a problem with the coating turning way too black, way too fast:

And nomatter how I struggled with keeping the temp at what my thermo insisted was 350 deg. F, the chicken kept on getting way too black.

The finished burnt offerings:

The chicken meat inside is actually pretty much done--maybe a hair underdone by some people's standards. But that coating! Sigh. My theory about the over-blackening was that it was equal parts overly-hot/poorly regulated fat temp, and too much heat zapping directly from the laboring electric coil through the pan bottom to the chicken pieces--exacerbated by the fact that the chicken pieces, being overly heavy, were not just lightly resting on the bottom but just lying there splat pressed right up on it.

So, I've retired from the field to lick my wounds--and those pieces of chicken not so dark that even I wouldn't face them--and to contemplate things to try the next time I pull this experiment:

1. Yes, the gargantua-thighs Do Not Work Right. Next time when confronted with bionic chicken parts, maybe I should go for a packet of wings--bet they'd have been the size of normal chicken thighs. Or maybe I need to invest in a good Chinese-style cleaver to whack each thigh in half through the bone, the way I used to see my grad-school acquaintances from China do it.

2. Get a better thermometer. 'Nuff said.

3. Either get a cast-iron frying implement with a much thicker bottom, or consider getting some kind of flame-tamer to put between the electric burner and the pan bottom, to avoid premature chicken-scorch.

4. Get a whole new gas range top (this, alas, is destined not to happen anytime in the next, oh, gazillion years...)

Conclusion: Bummer! But hey, at least y'all can learn from my mistakes, as I offer myself as "a source of innocent merriment," as they sing in the Mikado.

P.S. You may also derive amusement from the Late 20th Century Ghetto styling of my kitchen and its appointments, as displayed in all its glory even in the tightly-cropped photos above. But please don't guffaw too loud, okay? At least the rent's not totally ridiculous by San Diego standards...

[edsel]

Mizducky, that electric stovetop can't be helping matters. Maybe an electric skillet would provide more control. Probably not as good as a big ol' iron pot on a gas range, but buying a gas cooktop for your rental house is not the ideal investment...

[fifi]

Actually, the electric skillet idea has a lot of merit.

Mizducky, your thighs look exactly like mine did the first time I tried that on the electric range I had two abodes ago. I hadn't thought of the weight of the big thighs affecting the whole debacle. I think you have something there.

Heads up . . . I just got back from my Asian market and they had 2.5 to 2.8 pound chickens, heads off. I was eyeballing the thighs and they look like dainty little things compared to the porkers I was trying to do. They would have tripped the light fantastic over the bottom of the pan.

[Eden]

OK the chicken's in the buttermilk/goat-yoghurt and tobasco mix marinating till tomorrow, and I've "forced myself" to have a bacon sandwich for lunch in order to make bacon grease for frying. hence the plate of bacon on the left standing in for the bacon grease...

There's also a pot of chicken stock going on the stove since I don't share the fascination with chicken backs...

I'm planning to walk a line somewhere between Aunt Minnie & Alton Brown - I hope they don't fight too much

[Mayhaw Man]

Actually, the electric skillet idea has a lot of merit.

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Electric skillets, big ones with plenty of btus, work great. An underpowered one sucks. If you have one that you probably got when your grandmother died and your stingy sister didn't want after she got all of the enamel ware and cool Betty Furness stuff, and the skillet was all that was left you are all set. The jokes on your sister. It's hard to find those heavy duty ones anymore. Much the same situation as with roaster ovens of old and the cheesy ones that they sell at Tarmart.

Those skillets recover pretty quickly and as long as they are not overloaded, they keep the heat where you want it.

Mizducky, I could be wrong but I am thinking that thermometer probably was registering low as it needs to be in the grease a couple of inches to get a good reading, but it also can't be TOUCHIng the bottom, that's just as bad. DOn't give up, it's all about learning and frankly, I would have sat right down with you and chowed down. I kind of like the overdone bits.

[mizducky]

Mizducky, I could be wrong but I am thinking that thermometer probably was registering low as it needs to be in the grease a couple of inches to get a good reading, but it also can't be TOUCHIng the bottom, that's just as bad. DOn't give up, it's all about learning and frankly, I would have sat right down with you and chowed down. I kind of like the overdone bits.

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Thanks for the encouragement, Mr. Mayhaw (and everybody else). I was wondering about my thermometer's positioning too. I was definitely having some trouble keeping it properly submerged without touching the bottom of the pan--it got a little easier, of course, when the chicken was in the pan and raised the fat depth, but the tip was still at most an inch deep into the fat. Another reason to seek a different thermo, hopefully with a more accomodating design.

Edited March 20, 2005 by mizducky (log)

[fifi]

I just got back from Bed Bath & Beyond and bought this thermometer. I have been wanting one but this is the first time I have seen it at BB&B and the restaurant place was out of them last time I was there. While the design is fine, there is no way you are going to get it as deep as the immersion mark in a cast iron skillet. They say it will suffer some in accuracy if you don't get it that deep. It does have a guard to keep the tip from touching the bottom of the pan.

I have determined where the fat level will be on that thermometer and have e-mailed Taylor to see what they have to say about how much inaccuracy one could expect.

[Hector]

This is such an inspiration, I want to do american style fried chicken right now!

But anyway? what is Buttermilk? I have no idea, i'm not american..