PAN FRYING cont. In my last post I gave you some tips on pan frying, such as temperature of your oil, what kind of oil you should utillize, and what types of pans you sould use. In this post I'll talk about different cuts of protein you may be pan frying. First the ever so popular fried chicken is always on the pan frying topic when friends of mine ask for advice on pan frying chicken I give them this simple advice. "Make sure your oil is hot, your stove is clean because we don't want flames igniting, an oily burner can cause damage to your house and your body. Keep a few boxes of baking soda handy to douse any flames, or have a pertinent fire extinguisher near by just in case." I'm serious. But, let's get to the fun part without getting too scary.
Your pan should be large enough, so I do suggest a 12 inch stainless steel pan with a lid. Covering the chicken will enclose the heat ensuring a good cooking process. Actually there;s 2 different methods I'm going to throw at you. First it's all about the pan frying on the stove top.
So you get your pan over medium high heat, add in enough oil (canola) so that it will be deep enough to cover half of your chicken parts. I'd say about 2 inches of oil. Heat it up until it registers around 360 dg. F, you may need to turn up the heat to get it this hot. If you can't get this temperature read, get it as hot as you can. Toss in a small piece of bread, if it turns golden within a minute, your oil should be hot enough.
Season your chicken parts with salt and pepper and dredge them in simple all purpose flour, coat it well. Find a recipe that you like, and set your chicken parts to the side keep it at room temperature, you don't want cold pieces of protein going into hot oil, it may start to pop or explode. Once you get a nice temperture, add in the chicken parts one at a time, keep the pan from getting too crowded. Once it gets too crowded, the chicken or anything that you'll be pan frying will not turn nice and golden. What will happen is because the temperature of the oil will drop because of the overcrowding of the pan, the pieces of chicken in this case will be more than likely steamed and not pan fried.
Understanding this, when you put too many pieces of chicken in this case into the hot oil, the temperature will not be to its hottest point for pan frying, you'll have a disappointing pale looking chicken that won't cook through that well. To develop that golden looking crust, the pan should not be crowded, just keep lots of spaces in between the chicken pieces. A cold overcrowded pan will produce soggy chicken instead of cripsy, crunchy fried chicken.
So once you get the chicken in the pan, cover it with a lid, keep the temperature at medium high, let it sit for about 5-7 minutes, flip it, it should be golden, if not, let it cook a few more minutes. Once you flip it, cover it again, and let it cook for a few minutes more. Remove and let the chicken parts sit and rest, it will continue to cook. If you have an instant read thermometer try and get the temperature up to 160 deg. F. it should be good to go.
Another method to finishing off fried chicken is this, preheat your oven to about 400 dg. F. once you are done pan frying the first side of the chicken pieces, place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet, and place it in the oven, depending on how many pieces you have, it should take about maybe 20 minutes to finish off about 3-4 pounds of chicken pieces. The product should be golden brown and crunchy. Again use an instant read thermometer to get the right cooked temperature, 160 dg. F is good, if it's a little less that's ok too, because as the chicken rests, it will continue to cook.
Every stove is different in some way, sometimes the burners on one model has to be cranked up to Hi just to get to Med Hi etc. So with practice you'll understand the pan frying techniques, it is really simple, you just need to make it happen.
If you are interested, there are a lot of deep fryers that are electric that you can purchase in department stores, hardware stores, kitchen supply stores, or online.
This 1.1 liter model is electric from Cuisinart the CDF 100 is compact and great for couples or students at college, deep fries up to 1 pound of whatever you want. Sells for around $38.00
SAFEY: NEVER PUT ANY COLD OR WET ITEMS IN HOT OIL, IT MAY POP AND EXPLODE POSSIBLY INJURING YOU. KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE STOVE AT ALL TIMES.
Your pan should be large enough, so I do suggest a 12 inch stainless steel pan with a lid. Covering the chicken will enclose the heat ensuring a good cooking process. Actually there;s 2 different methods I'm going to throw at you. First it's all about the pan frying on the stove top.
So you get your pan over medium high heat, add in enough oil (canola) so that it will be deep enough to cover half of your chicken parts. I'd say about 2 inches of oil. Heat it up until it registers around 360 dg. F, you may need to turn up the heat to get it this hot. If you can't get this temperature read, get it as hot as you can. Toss in a small piece of bread, if it turns golden within a minute, your oil should be hot enough.
Season your chicken parts with salt and pepper and dredge them in simple all purpose flour, coat it well. Find a recipe that you like, and set your chicken parts to the side keep it at room temperature, you don't want cold pieces of protein going into hot oil, it may start to pop or explode. Once you get a nice temperture, add in the chicken parts one at a time, keep the pan from getting too crowded. Once it gets too crowded, the chicken or anything that you'll be pan frying will not turn nice and golden. What will happen is because the temperature of the oil will drop because of the overcrowding of the pan, the pieces of chicken in this case will be more than likely steamed and not pan fried.
Understanding this, when you put too many pieces of chicken in this case into the hot oil, the temperature will not be to its hottest point for pan frying, you'll have a disappointing pale looking chicken that won't cook through that well. To develop that golden looking crust, the pan should not be crowded, just keep lots of spaces in between the chicken pieces. A cold overcrowded pan will produce soggy chicken instead of cripsy, crunchy fried chicken.
So once you get the chicken in the pan, cover it with a lid, keep the temperature at medium high, let it sit for about 5-7 minutes, flip it, it should be golden, if not, let it cook a few more minutes. Once you flip it, cover it again, and let it cook for a few minutes more. Remove and let the chicken parts sit and rest, it will continue to cook. If you have an instant read thermometer try and get the temperature up to 160 deg. F. it should be good to go.
Another method to finishing off fried chicken is this, preheat your oven to about 400 dg. F. once you are done pan frying the first side of the chicken pieces, place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet, and place it in the oven, depending on how many pieces you have, it should take about maybe 20 minutes to finish off about 3-4 pounds of chicken pieces. The product should be golden brown and crunchy. Again use an instant read thermometer to get the right cooked temperature, 160 dg. F is good, if it's a little less that's ok too, because as the chicken rests, it will continue to cook.
Every stove is different in some way, sometimes the burners on one model has to be cranked up to Hi just to get to Med Hi etc. So with practice you'll understand the pan frying techniques, it is really simple, you just need to make it happen.
If you are interested, there are a lot of deep fryers that are electric that you can purchase in department stores, hardware stores, kitchen supply stores, or online.
This 1.1 liter model is electric from Cuisinart the CDF 100 is compact and great for couples or students at college, deep fries up to 1 pound of whatever you want. Sells for around $38.00
SAFEY: NEVER PUT ANY COLD OR WET ITEMS IN HOT OIL, IT MAY POP AND EXPLODE POSSIBLY INJURING YOU. KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE STOVE AT ALL TIMES.
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