McDonald's Southern-Style Chicken

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

Just looking at the McDonald's ad I knew there was nothing southern about that fried chicken. Then again, I cannot think of any chain restaurant I have ever been to that could even come close to homemade. Fried chicken is one thing I almost never order out.

Real southern fried chicken (at least how I was taught to make it) is soaked in eggs and buttermilk, then rolled in flour with salt and pepper and then fried in fat until it is so dark brown is is about to turn black and has a thick crust that snaps when you pinch it.

Gravy made with the drippings is what most seem to prefer for boneless chicken tenders, but personally I like to dunk them in homemade blue cheese dressing.

Eggs and buttermilk? I've soaked it in buttermilk, drained it, then fried it, but never tried it with egg. My mother can get a good "scald" on it, but for some reason, I still struggle. Sometimes I think it's because I know she'll make it, since I can't!

PS: Cast iron fryer?

[ladylike]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Eggs and buttermilk? I've soaked it in buttermilk, drained it, then fried it, but never tried it with egg. My mother can get a good "scald" on it, but for some reason, I still struggle. Sometimes I think it's because I know she'll make it, since I can't!

PS: Cast iron fryer?

I've noticed that if I try it with egg, it seems to come out more batter-y.
Just soaking it in buttermilk and then adding spices and rolling it in flour seems to do the trick for me.

I'm looking for a good cast iron skillet but the skillets offered in the Amish stores appear to be a bit pricey.

The breakfast biscuit is nothing to write home about. It's dry and pretty bland.

The lunch/dinner sandwich isn't all that bad.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by ladylike

I've noticed that if I try it with egg, it seems to come out more batter-y.
Just soaking it in buttermilk and then adding spices and rolling it in flour seems to do the trick for me.

I'm looking for a good cast iron skillet but the skillets offered in the Amish stores appear to be a bit pricey.

LOL why did i just make this from lunch? it was quite tasty. thanks for the inspiration.

[midwesterngirl]

Originally Posted by ladylike

I've noticed that if I try it with egg, it seems to come out more batter-y.


I'm looking for a good cast iron skillet but the skillets offered in the Amish stores appear to be a bit pricey.

Lodge makes excellent cast iron pots, skillets and dutch ovens. They even make a chicken fryer. All of their products are excellent and last forever if treated correctly and you can find them pretty much anywhere from gourmet stores to Wal-Mart.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

[GeekyPenguin]

Eh, it's not bad but nothing to write home about. It'd be better with cheese.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Eggs and buttermilk? I've soaked it in buttermilk, drained it, then fried it, but never tried it with egg. My mother can get a good "scald" on it, but for some reason, I still struggle. Sometimes I think it's because I know she'll make it, since I can't!

PS: Cast iron fryer?

Actually, I fry chicken in a big old Circulon frying pan that was part of the stash of essentials Mom packed me off to college with as a freshman. It is very heavy, but not sure if it is iron or not.

That pan has seen a good 15 years of use and is perfectly cured at this point. Having a well-used cured frying pan makes a big difference. When I got all new pots and pans last year, I kept the old frying pans and only got 1 new one.

What I do is blend 2 eggs into about 2 cups of buttermilk and then soak the chicken (usually I make chicken tenders) for a bit in the fridge. Then I heat vegetable oil in the pan on med-high heat- maybe 1/4 in deep for tenders and 1/2 inch for pieces. When I roll the chicken in the flour mix, I don't even both draining off the milk. So you have to roll each piece by hand to be sure the outer coating of flour is dry. If you shake them in a baggie with flour or do not get lots of flour on there, the crust will stay gooey and soft when you cook the chicken.

The first batch cooking on the first side will always take the longest- even with the oil preheated for a couple of minutes. And I just let them go until they are very dark brown and then flip them. The chicken will cook most of the way on the first side, and the second side will go faster and really be more about getting the crust crispy.

One pan can do about 3 batches at which point there is too much loose flour and batter mixed with the oil that starts to blacken and will make additional batches more soft and doughey while never getting a good browning throughout.

So if you are making more than 3 panfuls- after the 3rd pan just quickly scrape the old oil and other stuff into a cup, put the pan back on the stove and add more oil. It will heat up again pretty fast.

For draining, I put the pieces on paper towels and do not stack them. Once they have drained a bit and cooled down some- then they will be good and crispy.

Final note- if you, like me, enjoy fried chicken cold as well, put leftovers in the fridge uncovered. You can stack the pieces at that point, but don't put a lid on the container. Or if you must seal them, do it in aluminum foil and do not stack the pieces. Then they can go in the fridge for 3-4 days and keep that crispiness.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

OMG!

Not sure if this thread will continue, but...

I was gonna say that -- honeychile, I agree with you 99% of the time, BUT

NO WAY is McDonald's chicken as good as Chick-fil-A -- Come on Chick-fil-A uses peanut oil!

::::::::shaking head:::::::::

But it was Sunday! No Chik-Fil-A on Sunday! I was going for the next best thing! *hangs head*

Originally Posted by EE-BO

Actually, I fry chicken in a big old Circulon frying pan that was part of the stash of essentials Mom packed me off to college with as a freshman. It is very heavy, but not sure if it is iron or not.

That pan has seen a good 15 years of use and is perfectly cured at this point. Having a well-used cured frying pan makes a big difference. When I got all new pots and pans last year, I kept the old frying pans and only got 1 new one.

What I do is blend 2 eggs into about 2 cups of buttermilk and then soak the chicken (usually I make chicken tenders) for a bit in the fridge. Then I heat vegetable oil in the pan on med-high heat- maybe 1/4 in deep for tenders and 1/2 inch for pieces. When I roll the chicken in the flour mix, I don't even both draining off the milk. So you have to roll each piece by hand to be sure the outer coating of flour is dry. If you shake them in a baggie with flour or do not get lots of flour on there, the crust will stay gooey and soft when you cook the chicken.

The first batch cooking on the first side will always take the longest- even with the oil preheated for a couple of minutes. And I just let them go until they are very dark brown and then flip them. The chicken will cook most of the way on the first side, and the second side will go faster and really be more about getting the crust crispy.

One pan can do about 3 batches at which point there is too much loose flour and batter mixed with the oil that starts to blacken and will make additional batches more soft and doughey while never getting a good browning throughout.

So if you are making more than 3 panfuls- after the 3rd pan just quickly scrape the old oil and other stuff into a cup, put the pan back on the stove and add more oil. It will heat up again pretty fast.

For draining, I put the pieces on paper towels and do not stack them. Once they have drained a bit and cooled down some- then they will be good and crispy.

Final note- if you, like me, enjoy fried chicken cold as well, put leftovers in the fridge uncovered. You can stack the pieces at that point, but don't put a lid on the container. Or if you must seal them, do it in aluminum foil and do not stack the pieces. Then they can go in the fridge for 3-4 days and keep that crispiness.

Thank you! I'll try your method this weekend!

[Educatingblue]

On the day they had the "free" sandwiches with the purchase of a drink, I tried the breakfast sandwich and it was only OK. It tastes a lot like the Chik-fil-A biscuit, but not quite there. I HATED the lunch/dinner sandwich because it was too soggy. If I am going to have a chicken sandwich, it better be grilled or "fried hard"!