Never Suffer Fried Chicken Breading Falling Off Again With One Extra Step

Published 8 hours ago• 2 minute read

but often find that the beautiful dredge — typically made with egg, breadcrumbs, cornstarch, and seasoned flour — always seems to fall off before it even comes out of the fryer, we have a trick for you. Fried chicken is comfort food at its best, but this meal's identity is all about the breading. Without that golden crust, it's just chicken. One of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when breading chicken is failing to place those legs, thighs, and breasts in the fridge after they've been dressed in their coating,

The good news is it's easy to fix this fowl faux pas. The next time you make this dish, place the beautifully breaded bird pieces in the fridge for about 30 minutes prior to frying them. This will allow the breading to bond to the chicken so that when it hits the oil, it stays in place. Why does it work? The cool air dries the dredge, giving the glue-like ingredients the opportunity to be absorbed by the starches and breadcrumbs so they can firm up. Then, the magic of the hot oil transforms the mixture into a crispy, crunchy crust.

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Resting your dredged chicken will not only help the breading adhere to your protein, but it will also mitigate the white powdery residue that can form on the surface if you skip the chilling step. When you are ready to fry your chicken, you should shake each piece before placing it in the oil. This will keep your frying oil clean. You also need to exercise a little bit of patience before flipping your chicken. If you get overzealous and turn it too soon, the crust will not properly form.

If you are making fried chicken for a crowd, you can also dredge it the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight. Be sure to cook in batches. You do not want to overcrowd your cast iron cookware or cause the oil temperature to drop dramatically. If and when you see bits of your dredge floating in the hot oil, take a slotted spoon and scoop them out, or they may make the oil bitter and that flavor will transfer to your fried chicken.