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Fried Chicken Backs?

lesfen

By lesfen
in Food Traditions & Culture

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lesfen

lesfen

Posted
Posted

Akron... well, Barberton... Ohio. Lunch. The folks at my office were nice enough to buy us lunch today and I am always appreciative of a free lunch. I went to the cafeteria to pick up my goods and was greeted with a white box of deep fried goodness. Barberton Fried Chicken dinners. Chicken, fresh cut fries, vinegar slaw, 2 slices of white bread, and hot rice. Now, I don't know how many of you are familiar with "Barberton Fried Chicken" (I'm guessing not many), but it's crumb coated and fried in lard. Ooooo. It's a pretty big deal 'round these parts. I'm a crispy skin girl myself, so the soft coating on this chicken doesn't do much for me, but the meat inside is glorious. (Tasty as it is, I would gladly get all 4th grade and trade my chicken for someone's hot rice, but that's another post...) I'm getting off of my own topic...

While digging into my boxed heart attack, I came accross an oddly shaped piece of chicken. Long and almost phallic. I was disturbed. I had to venture out of my cubicle to ask a native Barbertonian exactly what I was looking at. Did someone at Hopocan Gardens deep fry something naughty? My townie co-workers rolled their eyes.

"That's the back."

Huh? Wha? The back? Of the chicken? What's it doing in my lunch?

"That's the best part."

Ok. I'll take your word for it, because I'm not eating it.

Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm a big fan of the chicken and all of it's parts. I love all of their bits and pieces, I love gizzards and necks... to snack on while I'm waiting for Thanksgiving dinner, or chopped up into little pieces and added into just about anything else. To me the back has always been relegated to the stock pot. I was actually shocked to see one in my deep fried lunch, which brings me to my question for the masses...

I'm not a fried chicken junky. I'm not going to get into my Intrepid and tour the country in the name of research. Do other regions use the backs as part of a chicken dinner? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

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Marlene

Marlene

Posted
Posted

Oh boy. Wait till snowangel sees this thread. Snowangel, is seriously in love with fried chicken backs, as you can see here.

If you don't want em, I'll guarantee Susan will take them off your hands! :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

Posted
Posted
Do other regions use the backs as part of a chicken dinner? 

Oh yes indeed! Chicken backs are a very big thing here in the South! BTW, I read something to this effect: The backs are cooked only for family (never for company). Of course, if no one liked the backs, they were not cooked ...

article on chicken pieces ... from Southerner

Down here, food sustains us in both body and spirit. We work for food, we eat to work, and we know deep down in our hearts that there will always be work and food. We are raised on love, faith, and fried chicken.

I've come up with a psychological profile that describes what type of person you are depending on which piece of chicken you choose. 

Back: You are a mediator because you choose this piece to make the others at the table happy (and quiet). You have dishpan hands, have no privacy, and find yourself standing in a room with absolutely no idea why you are there. You are a parent.

:laugh: all of which may or may not have any validity!

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Pan

Pan

Posted
Posted
[...]"That's the back."

Huh?  Wha?  The back?  Of the chicken?  What's it doing in my lunch?

"That's the best part."

Ok.  I'll take your word for it, because I'm not eating it.[...]

Why would you decide you don't like it without even trying it? There ain't nothin' wrong with the back!

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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jerkhouse

jerkhouse

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Posted

I grew up in Tennessee, my mom fried chicken all the time, and I've never had chicken backs. I've got to admit, eating it wouldn't be my first instinct, but if other people eat it..

Catchy thread title though. I don't think I would have read just "fried chicken backs" but the promise of something "taboo" lured me in; haha.

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chef koo

chef koo

Posted
Posted

when i was in school, if we ever cooked whole chickens my teacher would secretly hide them and shamr them with me. i was his favorite guy since i was the only one in the class who ate everythign and anything. i loved it. and if whoever butchered it was careless you might be lucky enough to get a few oysters in there

bork bork bork

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handmc

handmc

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First thing I do after I cook a chicken is flip it over remove the oysters, dimantle it into breast, legs, thighs, etc. then I pick the back clean. Dat's were the goot stuff is.

**************************************************

Ah, it's been way too long since I did a butt. - Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"

--------------------

One summers evening drunk to hell, I sat there nearly lifeless…Warren

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DTBarton

DTBarton

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That heavy bone to meat ratio, plus a preponderance of skin makes the back a superior piece of chicken. And, since most people don't want them, they're cheap to buy. Around here (Maryland) chicken backs are sold in big packages for super cheap. The purveyors assume you're using them for crab bait! :laugh:

I used to have to fight my cousin for the back when I was little and my grandmother made fried chicken.

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lesfen

lesfen

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  • Topic Starter
Posted
[...]"That's the back."

Huh?  Wha?  The back?  Of the chicken?  What's it doing in my lunch?

"That's the best part."

Ok.  I'll take your word for it, because I'm not eating it.[...]

Why would you decide you don't like it without even trying it? There ain't nothin' wrong with the back!

I don't know! Something about it just creeped me out. I'll eat a frogs leg without hesitation, but something about that deep fried chicken back just threw me for a loop.

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*Deborah*

*Deborah*

Posted
Posted
That heavy bone to meat ratio, plus a preponderance of skin makes the back a superior piece of chicken. 

Exactly!! More fried skin goodness for you. And yeah, I like the dark bits lurking next to the spine (oysters?).

*has secret addiction to KFC original but only eats it once every 3 or 4 years...would eat all-skin, no meat if possible*

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

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Hest88

Hest88

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Oh yes, all I need are wings and backs. That's because I'm a skin person, so as far as I'm concerned you can have your meat!

Plus, with fried chicken, the spine gets nice and crumbly too. Mmmmmm....

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snowangel

snowangel

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Oh, fried chicken backs :wub::wub::wub: . The best part of the whole darned thing. All of those nooks and crannies for the crusty, crispy bits.

My family is forbidden to eat them. They are mine. My reward for frying the chickens. In fact, there's a woman in my church who saves odd chicken parts for me when she dismantles on, sticks them in the freezer for my stock stash.

I pulled those backs out last time I fried chicken. I'm afraid that my stock may never see another back again.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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mizducky

mizducky

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I consider chicken backs and necks to be the my private reward as cook for all my hard work. All the "pretty" portions of the chicken I'll serve to my guests, especially the squeamish ones who don't like to mess with the unsightlier looking pieces. But I save the bonier pieces like the back and neck for later so I can enjoy their messy pleasures in the privacy of the kitchen.

The meat nearest the bones really is the tastiest--and that's totally leaving aside the whole issue of fried chicken, where all the crannies in the back-piece turn into havens for more yummy crust.

Fie on the breast quarter, say I, with that huge hunk of relatively characterless flesh that requires no labor to get at! I'll take the bony bits, along with the thighs, any day.

Edited to add: Simulpost, snowangel, I swear! :laugh:

Edited by mizducky (log)

Ellen Terris Brenner

Examiner.com: San Diego Budget Meals Examiner

eG Foodblogs: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

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Sleepy_Dragon

Sleepy_Dragon

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The oysters are the best part on a chicken! I always dig those out for myself whenever I roast one.

Agree, I do the same. Dig out the two oysters, and at the same time, rip a sizeable piece of crunchy skin off of the back, roll the whole thing up and shove it into my craw, hehe.

The neck is for earlier in the roasting, as something to snack on while the rest of the bird cooks.

Pat

"I... like... FOOD!" -Red Valkyrie, Gauntlet Legends-

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chef koo

chef koo

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not only is it good fried but when you roast a chicken, since the back is on the surface of the pan it gets the most browned so the flavor is alot deeper. and since it's touching the pan it's constantly being basted.

bork bork bork

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Ling

Ling

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The neck is for earlier in the roasting, as something to snack on while the rest of the bird cooks.

I love necks, too. Everyone knows that the turkey neck is mine--ALL MINE!!! Once, my uncle grabbed it when he came over for Thanksgiving. Abject silence fell over the table...my family fears my wrath when it comes to food. :laugh:

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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jsolomon

jsolomon

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Either you are, almost to a person, more patient than I, or my 20 years of drinking coffee has not yet elevated my mouth to asbestos-level heat tolerance.

I can't eat the back because it's thinness and everything else make it TOO HOT TO SCARF. By the time I've got to the back, I'm stuffed and unwilling to dig through the back for the meaty crisps.

But, living in a household of 2, I can handle saving the backs for my stockpot.

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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rlibkind

rlibkind

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lChicken backs are also great chinese style. Get out your Chinese cleaver and chop them into one-inch pieces. Coat in an eggwhite/cornstarch marinade/batter, deep fry 'til done, remove and drain. Then prepare a black bean sauce with garlic and ginger like you'd put on crab, stir the backs back into the sauce to coat and reheat, remove to platter and top with fresh scallion. Yum.

Bob Libkind aka "rlibkind"

Robert's Market Report

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peppyre

peppyre

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The neck is for earlier in the roasting, as something to snack on while the rest of the bird cooks.

I love necks, too. Everyone knows that the turkey neck is mine--ALL MINE!!! Once, my uncle grabbed it when he came over for Thanksgiving. Abject silence fell over the table...my family fears my wrath when it comes to food. :laugh:

Sweety, even your friends fear your wrath when it comes to food :smile:

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branch

branch

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Posted

ohhhh barberton chicken... yummie :)

And before you trade the chicken for the hot sauce, try an order of chicken paprikash--their take on chicken n dumplings.

Back to the topic and hand (har har I kill me) the back, like everyone else has said, is for the skin and breading lovers. Last time I was back in Ohio I went to Hopocan... 4 backs, 4 thighs, a large order of paprikash and a large side of hot sauce. One sitting, 40 minutes.

My tummy will forgive me someday.

**

I have a boring blog too!

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jayt90

jayt90

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Since a bag of chicken backs can be had for not much money, I have often wondered if I could remove 8 or 10 oyster pads, fricasee them and serve.

Then use the remaining backs for stock. Has anyone seen recipes for oyster pads?

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spaghetttti

spaghetttti

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Herb,

Take a look at the Fried Chicken Cook-Off V and Marlene's fried chicken (the final cooked plate of chicken) the back is at the 8 o'clock position.

However, I see no, excuse the expression, Pope's nose :shock:

Edited by spaghetttti (log)

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

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