Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Cooking Fried Chicken for Novice Cooks

By KC Kudra

Fried chicken, also known as southern fried chicken, is a very popular food. There are many different recipes for fried chicken and you can cook it in various ways too. Deep frying is a common way to make fried chicken but you can also shallow fry it or even oven fry it, which is baking the chicken so it tastes like fried chicken but without the extra calories.

Fried Chicken Tips

If fried chicken is something that you have never made before, do not worry because it is not difficult. You do need to take care when handling raw chicken and wash any surfaces touched by the raw chicken with hot, soapy water afterwards. To make a fried chicken recipe, you need to dip your chicken pieces into a batter and fry the chicken until it is golden brown and white all the way through.

An easy way to coat your chicken is to put your dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag and shake the chicken in the bag, a few pieces at a time. Then you can dip them into liquid batter and fry them. This method also helps to keep your kitchen clean, rather than getting flour all over the place!

If you dredge your chicken in flour, then into an egg yolk and milk mixture before dipping it into breadcrumbs, your chicken will come out really crispy and crunchy.

Be careful when using hot oil for cooking. Never leave the oil unattended and keep your face away from it. Use tongs to place the chicken in the oil and to remove it when it is done. This stops spattering.

Not all chicken pieces cook at the same rate so if you are using legs, wings, thighs and breasts, you will need to add different pieces at different times. The legs and thighs need to go in first and these cook at 165 degrees F. Next, turn the heat down to 160 degrees F., and add the breasts. Finally, add the wings because these cook more quickly than the other parts.

If your chicken is done but the rest of the meal is not, do not worry. Simply put some water in an oven dish and roll some tin foil into balls. Lay a large piece of tin foil over the balls, place the chicken on top, and cover everything with a lid. Put in a 175 degree F oven. The foil balls and foil layer work as a steamer to keep your chicken tender and moist until everything else is done.

Fried Chicken Side Dishes

There are lots of different side dishes that go well with a deep fried chicken recipe including French fries and corn on the cob or mashed potatoes with green beans.

If you are making party food, fried chicken is always a popular dish. Estimating how much food for a party is the right amount can be hard but make too much rather than too little because it is nice cold the following day. Serve mayonnaise, catsup, and other dips on the buffet table so people have something to dip their fried chicken into if they choose too. - 16492

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