Deep frying chicken breasts

[wicked1]

I usually deep fry chicken breasts that I get at the local butcher so they arent frozen. I fry them in shortening after they get a rubdown of spices but no breading. Anyway I bought some frozen ones earlier this week because they were too cheap to pass up. I was reading about deep frying them frozen and alot of people said they turned out better so I tried it. I heated the oil to 425 and dropped them in for 8 minutes they looked great golden color on the outside. Sat down to eat one and totally raw on inside. Whats the skinny on deep frying frozen poultry? Less heat and longer?

[Blue_Z]

I recently bought a deep fryer (Waring Pro DF200) and I made fried drumsticks a few weeks ago.* For the batter I used milk/flour with some paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder.* I set the temp to 375 (highest setting) and let it cook for about 20 min.* When I saw that you said 8 min, I knew right away that it wasn't long enough.* And I just now read that they were frozen on top of that.* That will definitely drop the temperature of the oil waaay too much.* Kinda like putting huge ice cubes into the oil.* I think 425 is also way too hot.* Try something around 375 with a longer cooking time.* If you had frozen chicken who knows it probably dropped it down to 375 or probably even lower.* I always use fresh meat when deep frying.* If you have to use frozen, fry them in smaller batches so the temperature can go back to the right temp faster.

[jeff]

First off, frozen chicken breast just wont do. you'll never get them to cook right unless you like blacked (not by pepper) chicken.

Temp should be 370o before your chicken goes in the oil. Unless you're using a very large pot/fryer, you shouldn't put more then 2 piece in at a time. The idea is to cook the chicken at 350o for about 12-14 minutes. I can't push this next point enough.

Use a meat thermometer!!!!!! you will NEVER know if the chicken is fully done with out using one.

One trick I've picked up over the years is to take a big bowl (large enough to hold your chicken pieces) and fill it with water, then add enough kosher salt to make the water taste like salt water from the ocean. Place your chicken pieces into the bowl and let it soak for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes.

When you remove your chicken, pat them dry using some paper towels.

I like to use buttermilk with hot sauce, add enough hot sauce so you can taste it in the milk.
cover the chicken with the milk/hotsauce mix and place the chicken into your flour mix.

I like to use

Flour
Cayenne pepper
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
salt

I also like to load it up with spices since most people go way to light, the chicken ends up having a "flour" taste to it =(
anywho load it up with the spices!

once you flour your chicken, drop them back into the milk/hot sauce mix and reflour them.

once they're floured place them on a plate and let them rest! the flour will crisp up a bit and will greatly help with having everything hold together when it hits that hot oil.

Let me see if I have an old picture of some fried chicken I've made....

yup!

anywho. once again

your oil should be 350o when cooking so set it 370ish to make up for the temp drop once your cold chicken hits the oil. the goal is to keep the oil as close to 350o WITH the chicken in it. I find this to be tricky on a stove top.

if its too high, your chicken will burn on the outside and say raw in the inside. too low and your chicken will pull in tons of oil and get soggy.