Can I make fried chicken without a deep frier?
I've made southern style fried chick before and really enjoy it but found using all the oil to be quite expensive. Could I:
A) Pan fry it? (I know this one is a stretch but could it work if the chicken breast was precooked?)
B) Only make it so the oil covers half the chicken then rotate them half way through?
C) Could I add oil to the batter and bake them?
Would I have more success with these techniques if used thinly sliced raw chicken breasts and made them more like chicken fingers?
Best Answer
B is your best bet. In fact, that's the original (And IMO, best) way to do it! Find a nice heavy cast iron skillet, fill it around halfway with oil, and then fry your chicken and rotate it in the pan as needed
Here are some links: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/deep-south-fried-chicken/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/fried-chicken-recipe.html
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How do you fry chicken without a deep fryer?
StepsCan you fry without a deep fryer?
You don't need to own a dedicated fryer. You just need a deep pot and the proper tools to insert and retrieve the food from a safe distance: long tongs, a slotted deep-fry spoon, or a frying basket. Follow the steps below for deep-frying success.Is there an alternative to deep frying?
Use a small amount of oil to coat the surface of the food, then brown in the oven instead of deep frying. Add moisture to meat by marinating it in buttermilk, then oven-fry. Give fried yeast breads like donuts time to rise on their own. Coat the outside with canola cooking spray and brown in the oven.Can you shallow fry chicken?
For tender, moist and flavoursome chicken, study the inside secrets of this classic cooking technique. Use a heavy-based frying pan for shallow-frying and add enough oil to cover base of pan. Use oils that have a high smoke point such as peanut, canola, vegetable, sunflower, rice bran and extra-light olive oil.Deep Frying at Home is a GREAT IDEA | A response to Adam Ragusea
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Answer 2
You could absolutely pan fry them, a combination of your A and B options. You'll need an inch or so of oil, enough to come about halfway up your chicken pieces. This is a great job for a cast iron pan, because it will soak up heat and help you get through the temperature drop that will happen when you first add the chicken to the pan.
Answer 3
B. Definitely. My grandmother used to fry them this way for decades. Just be sure to watch them closely or the bottoms will burn very quickly. A splatter shield will also come in handy if you want to keep your arms from getting pock-marked from flying grease.
Answer 4
A and B most definitely. My grandmother pan-fried chicken all the time, that was the only way it was ever made in my family. A few inches of vegetable oil in a deep cast iron chicken fryer:
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L8CF3-Covered-Chicken-3-Quart/dp/B00006JSUE
It is just like a regular cast iron skillet, just deeper. I have my grandmother's old one. And I have not had problems with burns any more than frying anything else in a skillet. I thought it was funny the first time I saw someone fry chicken in an electric deep fat fryer. And it is a big waste of oil, clean ups a hassle, and you don't get those awesome crusty bits stuck to the pan.
Fry on one side, turn. The drippings and bits deglazed off the pan make the best fried chicken gravy ever possible. Another must have is homemade mashed potatoes (lumpy is good too) to go with this fabulous Sunday dinner.
Answer 5
I've done it by coating chicken thighs (skin on, bone in) in a flour and spice mix (I haven't cooked this in a while, but I believe it was smoked paprika, celery seeds, salt, and pepper), and then frying in around a millimetre of oil on a very hot flame until the skin has become fairly crispy, and then transferring to a pre-heated oven to finish cooking all the way through.
Real southern fried chicken aficionados might turn their noses up at shallow-fried then baked chicken, but I personally found the results pretty tasty.
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