Crispy Fried Chicken (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to keeping fried chicken crispy? ›

The best way to keep fried foods crispy? Just place them on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. If you're frying multiple batches, throw the whole setup into a low oven to keep everything warm as you keep frying and adding to the rack.

When paired with all-purpose flour, cornstarch helps prevent gluten development, which makes the flour coating crispier, and absorb moisture (from the frying and the chicken), which also means a crispier coating. If you already have a favorite fried chicken recipe, try replacing a quarter of the flour with cornstarch.

Monitor Oil Temperature: Maintaining a consistent temperature when deep-frying is key to achieving a perfect crunch. Drain and Cool Properly: After frying, be sure to place your food on a wire rack or paper towel-lined baking sheet. This will help remove excess oil and keep them crisp for longer.

The dryer the chicken skin, the better it will crisp when cooked. When you unwrap your chicken from the package, pat it dry on all sides (and inside if it's whole) with paper towels. If you have time, pop it in the fridge uncovered overnight or even for an hour and let it dry out further in there.

That trick is a sprinkling of baking powder, and it'll get you the crispiest, crackliest bites of fatty, salty skin imaginable, whether you're cooking just one thigh, a plate of wings, or an entire bird. Baking powder, it turns out, is good for quite a lot more than baking.

KFC deep fries its chicken for 15 minutes and then drains the oil off for another five minutes – 20 minutes in total. If you don't have a deep fryer, heat up plenty of oil in a large saucepan and do it that way.

If your oil temp is too high, your fried chicken will be scorched on the outside with meat that is undercooked. If the oil is too cool, your chicken will be greasy and will lack the golden-brown crispy exterior you want.

The short answer. Frying food in oil makes things crispy because oil conducts heat at a much higher temperature than water. So when hot oil makes contact with to-be-cooked food (which has moisture), it causes the water on the surface of the food to rapidly evaporate leading to a crispy texture.

Interestingly, cornstarch contains 25 to 28 percent amylose, which is higher than the amount in wheat or potato starch (which are 20 to 22 percent amylose), and this is why cornstarch works the best for making crispy coatings on fried foods.

When the corn starch comes into contact with the hot oil, it forms a barrier that traps moisture within the potato while also developing a crunchy crust. This results in fries that are both tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, mimicking the texture of fries you might find in restaurants.

What makes chicken skin more crispy? ›

Rub with Salt and Baking Powder

Both substances pull moisture out of the skin. But baking powder has additional powers. It prods some of the skin's proteins and fat to break down, which, combined with its alkalinity, accelerates the Maillard reaction, for skin that browns and crisps more quickly.

If your oil temp is too high, your fried chicken will be scorched on the outside with meat that is undercooked. If the oil is too cool, your chicken will be greasy and will lack the golden-brown crispy exterior you want.

Interestingly, cornstarch contains 25 to 28 percent amylose, which is higher than the amount in wheat or potato starch (which are 20 to 22 percent amylose), and this is why cornstarch works the best for making crispy coatings on fried foods.