I fried the chicken in the deep fryer and it was so easy

Those of us who own one know: The specific magical power of the fryer is in imitation of food that you would normally fry, but without the actual frying part.

Making frozen foods like tater tots and chicken taste and feel like they’ve actually been fried, and returning fried takeout items like mozzarella sticks and onion rings to their former glory is where the fryer really shines. A deep fryer has countless other uses, but its deep-fried capacity alone is worth the price.

But can you really make fried food from scratch in a deep fryer? With “fryer” in its name, can a deep fryer really live up to its promise and produce convincing, homemade fried chicken?

“You can get a great fried texture if you make fried chicken in a deep fryer,” said Yvette Erwin, owner and executive chef. Brooklyn Chckn ‘N’ Lbstr. “It won’t be quite the same consistency as deep-fried, however, it will still be really crispy and a healthier alternative to conventional fried chicken.”

As a chef who staked her claim on fried food, Erwin shared her best practices when it comes to making deep-fried chicken. I went ahead and tried them.

How does a deep fryer work?

Deep frying and deep frying are considered dry heat cooking methods. Both achieve results through 360-degree contact with the heat source. In a deep-frying situation, it’s oil, and in a deep fryer, it’s — you guessed it — air. “A deep fryer uses convection, like a convection oven, and it’s the air circulation that cooks the food and transforms it without using any kind of trans oil or direct contact heat,” Erwin said.

Although not technically fried, the heat from preheating the fryer is moved via an indoor circulation fan, cooking rapidly while creating an atmosphere that can effectively crisp the skin or brown any coating on food in a way that produces frying-like results. .

Read more: Everything you always wanted to know about deep fryers

Fryer Chicken Considerations

When it comes to making deep fryer fried chicken from scratch, think about the chicken first. While white and dark meat are individual preferences, as are bone-in versus bone-in tender chicken, different cuts require different approaches.

“A deep fryer is mostly for quick, easy meals that you can just set it up and forget about it,” Erwin said. “Boneless will cook faster and also get an even crispy texture from the fryer because of the uniform thickness.”

“Larger pieces of bone-in chicken tend to take more time and also require more attention,” added Erwin. This may include turning during the cooking process and checking for doneness.

Bone-in chicken retains more flavor and juiciness during the cooking process, while boneless chicken can be overcooked more easily. Dark meat contains more fat than white meat; when released during cooking, it can add an extra oily element to crisp up the skin.

Preparing the chicken

Whatever chicken you’re working with, “the cooking time will vary if you have different-sized pieces,” Erwin said. You can do yourself a favor by cutting them into similar sized pieces, especially bone-in chicken.

While deep frying allows you to watch the cooking process and remove smaller pieces while they’re done, most fryers don’t have windows to see what’s going on inside the fryer. You can cut the breasts and some thighs in half to accommodate smaller pieces like wings and drumsticks. (Kitchen scissors are a great way to achieve this.)

The chicken should also be as dry as possible to begin with, so that it adheres better to the coating and doesn’t create the possibility of steam during the cooking process, which hinders the possibility of the exterior becoming crispy or crunchy.

The coating is key

You can air fry the chicken with skinless pieces or with the skin on. But without any coating, “it’s not really fried chicken,” Ervin said, “but maybe more like fried chicken or barbecued chicken.” It’s still potentially great in the deep fryer, but it doesn’t qualify as fried.

“You want flour or batter, or even a fish fry coating, because that will make the dish crispy and feel like fried chicken,” Erwin said.

An argument can be made for skin-on chicken wings, which are usually deep-fried without coating (note: without coating) before being tossed into the traditional hot sauce mix, and the fryer excels at that, too.

When it comes to different recipes for deep fryer fried chicken, there are two schools of thought regarding the coating. The first involves a simple brine of milk or buttermilk and a single dip in a dry coating such as one made from flour, cornstarch, cornmeal, breadcrumbs, or a combination of those things. Cornstarch absorbs moisture and prevents gluten from developing in the flour, promoting a crispy result.

The second method is more attuned to deep-fried chicken, where the chicken is coated in flour or a flour-based spice mix, dipped in egg or milk, and coated again in flour. This will create a thicker, fried-like coating on the chicken, while the first method produces more of a thin crust or skin extension.

In either case, “you don’t want it to be wet,” Ervin said. While the deep fryer can handle coatings such as light beer batter, the deep fryer is not suitable for that style.

Just a little oil

The last step is a light coating of oil, to make sure that the dry flour is not exposed on the surface of the chicken. Some of the fat will release from the meat itself and help hydrate the flour during the cooking process, but you’ll only need enough oil to moisten the coating. Ervin suggests olive oil or grapeseed oil, which can be brushed on carefully, or best dispensed in a spray or pump bottle.

This is what differentiates fried chicken from deep-fried chicken, as the coating absorbs much less fat, resulting in a crispy-coated exterior, but with a much healthier result.

Deep Fryer Fried Chicken Verdict

Using all available wisdom, I swung for the fences with bone-in, skin-on chicken, cut into similar-sized pieces, and used a coating similar to that of deep-fried chicken. The pieces were dipped in a flour mixture that contained both flour and cornstarch, dipped in tabasco-infused egg, and coated a final time with the flour mixture.

What I would recommend is to spray oil on all sides of the chicken before you put the pieces in the fryer or to put some oil on the fryer basket itself to prevent it from sticking. Following online prescription i goti sprayed the top, and again when the pieces were turned, but some of the coating was left behind.

After about 8 minutes on each side, the result was a convincing facsimile of fried chicken, without any of the deep-frying issues. No fryer smell, no oil to throw away, just a delicious, crunchy, healthier alternative to the real thing.

For more deep fryer favorites, check out our how-to a whole chicken and 10-minute salmon in the stove.

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