Chicken deep fried, pressure fried or pan fried?

I have had it al of the above. My personal preference is been pressure fried and then deep fried and then pan fried.

Mamaw Smith does it slightly different as she fries it to a certain point and then puts it in the over at a low temp and lets it brown. I like it that way also.

My personal best is pressure fried although I have always been afraid of a pressure cooker but it comes out brown and tender in a short time. I think that is the way the Colonel finally did his.

The rest comes down to preparation. Some dip in buttermilk and then flour spiced with their choice of amounts of salt,pepper, cayenne and other spices.

The next part is the gravy using the gugggles that remain in the oil to mix with the flour and and the guggles till you get a nice paste and then you mix to the consistency that you like. I like my chicken gravy to be a little brown with lot of guggles in them.

I gotta add one more comment regarding cole slaw. I like it chopped medium consistency, a small amount of onions, small amount of bell pepper, small amount of jalapeno, half a head of the slaw chopped, a little vinegar and alittle bit of lime juic, about a half a cup of coffee creamer and pepper to taste and I had a half of cup of sugar. Cole slaw has to meld in the frige for several hours to be go. Do not add salt until you need it on your plate.

Bisquits are a personal choice and however you make them must make you happy. I always add buuter to mine and the end of the process when they are getting toasty brown.

I slice the fried potatoes thin, mix in salt and pepper, lotsa of onion and slice bell peppers with jalapenoes and let them rip for about 45 minutes. They do not fry fast for me. I like them brown and mushy. Bacon grease always makes the best frying medium for me.

I can cook the chicken all three or four ways listed on top and it seems that they all work.

It will be interesting to hear some of the other thoughts.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Sundancer, Pressure Cooked chicken, IMHO, is the best! But when you say pressure cooker, I sure hope your using the right kind... Most the ones you buy are not made for such jobs, check out this super short article: http://members.lycos.co.uk/pressurecooker/fryer.html Notice he's talking about the Fagor Pressure Cooker thats made specificaly for oil frying (note the safety latch). Be nothing worse then having the lid fly off, hot grease everywhere, not to mention the fire that probably will occur.


http://missvickie.com/howto/fry/frying.html

I have an old National pressure cooker, still works great with the occasional gasket replacement. I think I might try doing fried/broasted chicken in it. I'd hate to have it blow with the hot oil in it though. Found this link, pretty funny www.bytebackonline.com/Article/cooker.html Chow Jim

Sundancer, the way your Mamaw Smith fries chicken is the way my Mom used to make it and it was always so delicious. Wish we could have some of her fried chicken once again. It always upset her so when, at family reunions, all my family would make a beeline for her fried chicken rather than the other pans and platters of chicken from others in the crowd. We couldn't help it, we just loved her chicken so much and figured no else could quite come up to its standards!

I can't for the life of me fry chicken right so have given up on even trying. We simply do without unless we find a deli that does a decent job of frying it, which isn't often.

Donna

Will have to try the slaw method. Mine always seem to taste of too much mayo. Instead of creamer (which I don't keep) could you use half-n-half?

I always make milk gravy from the crunchies lest over from fried chicken and with smashed potatoes it's great.

I like fried chicken all the ways mentioned, but am partial to pressure fried. Miss Vicki's website warning has been thrown up for years now as a warning to people thinking of pressure frying. Of course you have to be careful like anything, but I've been using a 6 quart range top pressure fryer (not a pressure cooker) for 20 years or so now and never had a problem. They are all made for LOW pressure, not the higher pressure typically used with a pressure cooker, so there is less chance of so-called "blow ups." I think more people have been needlessly scared away of using a pressure fryer than is necessary.

I've seen the Fagor and similar products on display and in demonstrations at Home Shows around the country. They usually cook up some pressure fried chicken to show to the crowds how easy, quick and tasty it is. I've done chicken and breaded pork chops generally with good results, but often not equal to some of the great Broasted chicken places that I sometimes frequent. I haven't used it in many months, but with this thread started, I think I will dig up that broasted chicken coating recipe that I recently came across and try it out soon. My favorite is the "Broaster" brand pressure fried chicken with their special nutty-brown coating that is very tasty, crispy, and -- of course -- juicy.

Jimeats, I wasn't able to get to that site with the hyperlink you mentioned. It says "Not Found Page" and that it is an outdated link.

Well now maybe I haven't had the right kind of pressure fried chicken, but most places where I have tried it were KFC or a Convenience Store, and the reason they did pressure fried, is that it was quicker than the traditional ways. But, I always thought that pressure fried chicken wasn't real Fried chicken. Today, most of the better restaurants that serve fried chicken use the deep fried method, but I am old enough to remember the way all the country ladies cooked back in the early '50s, and they pan fried the chicken in a huge iron skillet with lard, and then they made chicken gravy with the left over cracklins, flour, pepper, salt, milk, and a little sugar. You might also have green beans that were plucked from the garden and cooked with ham or ham hocks slowly for several hours with pepper, salt and again a little sugar. Then, they added homemade biscuits with old-fashioned churned butter, not the kind you buy in the store, today,(it had a stronger taste) and dumplings, so light they seemed to float, along with mashed potatoes, that were mixed not only with milk, but also with sour cream, cream cheese, butter and salt and pepper. Then for dessert, you might get apple pie and homemade ice cream, and as my momma used to say a pie crust is not really a pie crust, unless it was made with lard. The problem is a person cannot find this type of cooking anywhere, today. I'm also not sure that high cholesterol was more of a problem with them then, than it is today. Anyway, people say things don't taste the same as they used to, well, for one reason they aren't prepared the same way.

Skillet fried is the only kind I've ever done at home. I've been thinking for months about investing in a pressure cooker.

My Mom made great fried chicken and I have her cast iron skillet but not the recipe. I always used a recipe by James Beard clipped from a newspaper years ago that called for marinating the chicken pieces in buttermilk. Mom always insisted on Crisco; if she ever used lard, it was when I was too young to know anything. I haven't fried chicken at home in years; I have a rotisserie and it's either that or stewing or on the grill or smoker.

Pollo Campero is a Central American fried chicken chain here that marinates the chicken 24 hours then pressure cooks. It's very good, not as crispy skin as I like but very tasty and non-greasy. Frenchy's, a locally owned outfit that is expanding, deep fries, a very spicy, creole-style fried chicken. Since there's one of their new hole-in-the-wall stores near me, I never go to Popeye's anymore.

A c-store near me put in one of those Chester Fried franchises and I tried it. Very good pressure fried chicken the first time I tried it, not as spicy or crispy as I'd prefer it but still good. But every other time I tried it, it's been sitting under the heat lamp too long. I drove 80 miles round trip once to try a Broaster chicken place since I'd heard so much about this product. Got there right at lunch time, there was a line and a huge pile of chicken under the heat lamp. I thought 'This is gonna be good, a bunch of freshly pressure cooked chicken.' It was the toughest, driest chicken I'd ever eaten. Apparently they'd been churning the stuff out all morning long to have enough for the lunch crowd.

If I owned a C-store I'd investigate the possibility of putting in a Chester fried or Broaster franchise but as far as eating there, it's impossible to know when to time your visit to get it fresh so it isn't worth it to me. The Chester Fried system is automated, undoubtedly one of the reasons it appeals to C-Store operators; a clerk can put a batch in the cooker, press a button and go back to dispensing Lotto tickets, beer and beef sticks and such like. When its done, the basket automatically lifts up out of the hot oil to let the chicken drain. I don't know if that's true of Broaster.

quote:

Originally posted by captain_keevin

Well now maybe I haven't had the right kind of pressure fried chicken, but most places where I have tried it were KFC or a Convenience Store, and the reason they did pressure fried, is that it was quicker than the traditional ways. But, I always thought that pressure fried chicken wasn't real Fried chicken. Today, most of the better restaurants that serve fried chicken use the deep fried method, but I am old enough to remember the way all the country ladies cooked back in the early '50s, and they pan fried the chicken in a huge iron skillet with lard, and then they made chicken gravy with the left over cracklins, flour, pepper, salt, milk, and a little sugar. You might also have green beans that were plucked from the garden and cooked with ham or ham hocks slowly for several hours with pepper, salt and again a little sugar. Then, they added homemade biscuits with old-fashioned churned butter, not the kind you buy in the store, today,(it had a stronger taste) and dumplings, so light they seemed to float, along with mashed potatoes, that were mixed not only with milk, but also with sour cream, cream cheese, butter and salt and pepper. Then for dessert, you might get apple pie and homemade ice cream, and as my momma used to say a pie crust is not really a pie crust, unless it was made with lard. The problem is a person cannot find this type of cooking anywhere, today. I'm also not sure that high cholesterol was more of a problem with them then, than it is today. Anyway, people say things don't taste the same as they used to, well, for one reason they aren't prepared the same way.

Capt....you need to be hung from the nearest Live Oak for that description!

So far in this thread, Mamaw Smith's method is closest to mine. I use a cast iron skillet, but fully cook the chicken in it. I then put the cooked chicken on cookie sheets lined with plenty of paper towel to drain the grease. The cookie sheets then go into the oven at about 200 degrees or just enough to keep it warm while I am cooking the rest of the batch. I learned a long time ago if you keep them on the counter they will disappear faster than you can cook them.

A lot of old time cooks swear by the grease they use...lard, bacon grease, Crisco, all have their adherents. I use peanut oil as a healthy traditional alternative that can take high heat. I do add a bit of bacon grease to it just for the flavor factor though.

I also use the buttermilk, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne preparation technique...to me this tastes best.

As far as pressure cooked chicken, I will leave that to KFC, after all they invented that method.

Sundancer, after rereading your post it is unclear if Mamaw Smith uses a pressure cooker to fry chicken, please clarify. All I know is that if my Mamaw was still alive and found me doing fried chicken with a pressure cooker, I would be in the wood shed wearing the pressure cooker as a hat.

Mamaw Smith fries her chicken in a cast iron pan and then puts it in the over at a low temp. She no longers uses lard but Canola. Lard is all she use to have but time has changed that. She just made it for me yesterday along with her gravy, bisquits and cole slaw. She felt sorry for me cause Judi was away.

My personal favortite is pressure fried somewhat similar to KFC but more like Broasted. My brother use to own a restaurant in Minneapolis which was called T R McCoy's. They invested in a broaster and I truly enjoyed their chicken.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Maybe throwing out a red herring that deserves another thread, but does anyone know about wok frying chicken?

Back when 9th Avenue and 58th-59th Street in Manhattan was the gateway to Hells Kitchen and not the fashionable Clinton District there was a hole-in-the-wall Chinese take-out on the West side of the block that made the greasiest lo mein known to mankind. People from St. Lukes Roosevelt Hospital lined up for it, but that's another story. They also did a half fried chicken with fried rice lunch for about three bucks.

Made to order, the chickens were small Purdues, hacked into pieces with a cleaver and marinated for about 30-60 seconds in a soy based concoction with whole black pepper, ginger, and who knows what. Then tossed in a wok and fried. The result was part crispy skin, juicy meat and a subtle but permeating spice that was nothing less than addictive. I know of one couple that divorced after the place closed and the Wife couldn't bring the chicken home any more.

Never found another place in NYC that did the same type of chicken. Most of the "ghetto" Chinese places made broasted chicken and then dipped it in the fryolator to reheat it. Of course, in Boston, forget about fried chicken. Has anyone else had a similar bird?

I also came to love broasted chicken on the same block, at a Korean fish place across the street. We called it "World of Grease." They served fried seafood, Korean fried rice, pressure fried chicken with a delectable light crust, french fries, and "Skimpy Treat," a non-fat, Pareve, lo-cal ice cream substitute.

As for pressure frying at home, I'm a fan of the pressure cooker, but I'd never test my T-Fal out with oil. I don't have that much insurance.

I am so glad you guys are posting all this-i have never been able to make fried chicken well at all-and now i have hope cuz i love the stuff!!!

Pan-fried only (in a large cast iron skillet), when I used to eat chicken/poultry. I would probably eat it again if I had my grandmother's cook's recipe. Pulley-bone heaven.

I tell you Paul, all the recipes you describe make my mouth water. Us yankees don't really know from this.

I've traveled for business so I have had the pleasure of trying chicken throughout the country. But nothing can top good old fashioned home fried chicken and gravy like Mamaw Smith makes!

quote:

Originally posted by CheeseWit

But nothing can top good old fashioned home fried chicken and gravy like Mamaw Smith makes!

I wish Mamaw Smith cooked for me!
Everything Paul mentions that she cooks, makes my mouth water!!
She reminds me of my mom, while growing up....

Fried Chicken is my all time favorite food, and (I think) I've prepared it every way possible. For my taste buds, pan fried is the way to go. When you pan-fry, the parts of the chicken that sit on the bottom of the pan get extra dark and carmelized, which equals flavor in my book. Here's my very simple recipe (adapted from a lifetime of trial and error, assisted by Alton Brown):

-1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (10 if the breasts are huge)
-soak chicken overnight in buttermilk
-rinse and pat dry
-sprinkle with mixture of kosher salt, paprika, black pepper, touch of cayenne
-dredge in flour
-melt Crisco in cast-iron skillet (about 1/2" of melted fat) to 325 degrees
-fry till golden brown on each side

I find it tastes best at room tempurature.

This is one of my "occasional indulgences" that I speak of here sometimes. However, it's the ONE that I make several times a year. It's worth every minute on the treadmill.

I don't really know which way I like best. Probably pan fried, it seems to be the most consistently good. Sometimes deep fried chicken has a good crust but the meat has a greasy flavor. This always reminds me of convenience store chicken. I was at the original Gus's in Mason on Sunday and they do their chicken in a similar way to Mamaw Smith. They deep fry it then let it sit on a grill to crisp. It was fantastic. I had been to the Gus's franchise in Downtown Memphis, but this was my first trip to the original. The chicken is great at both but there's just something about the original.

BtB, I can't undrestand it, it worked yesterday right after I posted it. Today it dosen't, go to home page as directed and click on archive articles, it's about half way down. Some funny stuff there. Chow Jim

Having tried broasted chicken recently in ohio, I think I'm leaning toward pressure fried. Pan fired in how I grew up. I don't really like deep fried usually, 'cause I think the skin separates from the meat too much, but Ukrop's in Richmond and the cafeteria in the 9th Street office building downtown make very good chicken this way. One of these day's I'm going to try Lee's.

Does anyone know of a place in Virginia that does pressure fried chicken?

Cathy

I have to say that since pan fried chicken only happens at home or in a very few places, anymore, that I like the deep fried version, and this is only because my favorite place is "The Chicken Place" in Ireland, Indiana, and as I understand it, they either marinate or dip the pieces in beer and then roll them in their "secret" breading or coating before frying them in hot oil. All I know is their finished product is head and shoulders above any other I have ever tasted, and that includes all the broasted or pressure fried I have ever consumed and the pan fried varieties, as well. The result, for example, is a huge in bone breast, that when opened up is steaming hot and pure white. It is moist, but has a great crispy unique flavor. Then, add their homemade german potato salad or homemade fries or german fries, along with the homemade bread, you have an unsurpassed banquet, a repast fit for a king or someone, who happens to be traveling the road of life.

I'm a huge fan of buttermilk breaded fried chicken done in a pressure fryer.

Keevin,
You are waxing quite poetic concerning that bird. I am going to have to take a ride soon to try it out !

Mamaw Smith just fixed me a super breakfast with pan fried chicken thighs, chicken gravy and her thing biscuits. I also had a load of her strawberry freezer jam with some Mellow Joy coffee.

Great way to wake up and a 5:00AM breakfast.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul, your living the good life there...

I particularly enjoy the chicken gravy with the biscuits. Mamaw brings out the chunks of leftovers after she removes the chicken and makes a great white gravy which she serves with her fresh thin brown biscuits.

The chicken thighs are pan fried with a nice batter and salted and peppered.

What a breakfast with freezer strawberry preserves with real butter and Mellow Joy coffee.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Oh Paul, you are making me hungry

I love it when my mother fixes fried chicken

she pan frys it then puts it in a pan to brown and warm in the oven.

unfortunately she can't make biscuits to save her life
she is always so disappointed when she tries to make biscuits.

Her favorite menu for fried chicken

Fried legs and thighs
boiled red new potatoes
gravy
biscuits
spinach

I always make the biscuits a second course, buttered with honey or jam.

I was in florida this summer and my dad's wife made fried chicken, and my grandmother came over for dinner. As we were sitting there that night at dinner, my dad said to me...

"You know your mom makes the best fried chicken I have ever eaten"
The problem with his comment....
My parents have not been married for 28 years, his current wife was making chicken (and we were eating it at that time), and his mother (who makes durn good fried chicken) was sitting there. Needless to say he was in the doghouse from his mother and wife.

I must confess my mom does make D**N good fried chicken. just don't think I would have made a comment like that at that time.

(I had to correct my typing mistakes, I realized my sugar was too low cause I tried to read this post and I saw all the mistakes from my hands shaking)

quote:

Originally posted by Greyghost

So far in this thread, Mamaw Smith's method is closest to mine. I use a cast iron skillet, but fully cook the chicken in it. I then put the cooked chicken on cookie sheets lined with plenty of paper towel to drain the grease. The cookie sheets then go into the oven at about 200 degrees or just enough to keep it warm while I am cooking the rest of the batch. I learned a long time ago if you keep them on the counter they will disappear faster than you can cook them.

A lot of old time cooks swear by the grease they use...lard, bacon grease, Crisco, all have their adherents. I use peanut oil as a healthy traditional alternative that can take high heat. I do add a bit of bacon grease to it just for the flavor factor though.

I also use the buttermilk, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne preparation technique...to me this tastes best.

Greyghost

this (above) is how I prepare my chicken, my mom uses the electric skillet, then does the paper towel in the pan in the oven trick.
I think it makes a crispier chicken.

When I make chicken, 99% of the time I will pan fry, unless there is a bunch of people coming over then I will pull out the big guns and deep fry LOTS of chicken.

I start by letting my chicken soak in the buttermilk overnight,
take half flour, half corn meal and mix together very well.

Then season my flour mixture with salt, white pepper, cayenne, and a little paprika ( I liked the smoked more than the sweet)

Dredge all my chicken first, and let it set for about 10 minutes, to form a dredge crust on the chicken.

in my BIG cast iron skillet, using peanut oil, up half way on the skillet.

Place the chicken in the skillet, let it brown on one side, then turn over and brown on the other side.

when totally brown, take out and drain on paper towels and place in oven to keep warm.

for the gravy

pour off some of the excess peanut oil, gently scrap up the bits
add some seasoned flour, and make a light roux, then add milk and make the gravy to your thickness ( I like a bulldawg gravy)

I make smashed potatoes with garlic, and sour cream and butter and ...

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15358&whichpage=2

or here is the how to

When making smashed potatoes

peel, but do not cut up the potatoes, and then boil them in salted water.

if you cut them up it exposes more surface and the potatoes start to break down and turn starchy, and your taters turn to glue.

leaving them whole, helps reduce the starchiness.

My taters I make for Turkey Day, and only 1 complaint from a cousin who said they were too rich for her. (witch)

10 lbs baking potatoes
1/4 cup minced garlic

butter, sourcream, 1/2 & 1/2, white pepper, salt and ranch dressing powder


put the garlic in the water with salt and the potatoes, boil until tender

drain off most of the water, add butter, sourcream, 1/2 & 1/2, and seasonings.

mash by hand until creamy.

none of the amounts are exact, it is just by eye and taste.

I fix ten pounds for Turkey Day, and there is only a sandwich size ziplock left.

As for cole slaw That is one food I do not do, even typing about just gave me goosebumps.

cajunking,
we must be related cause that's how i do it.

Cajunking: E mail me and I will give you a easy and wonderful recipe for a great cole slow that will give you all sorts of complements.

Tiki even published it in his cook book recipe.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN