Tips for cooking breaded chicken

Karl.Falconer wrote on 28 Sep 2005 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Hello,
I am a college student still new to cooking. Yesterday i tried to
follow the directions on the back of a container of bread crumbs.
Basically the directions were as follows:

Coat boneless chicken with a beaten egg.
Cover with breadcrumbs.
Fry in pan with oil 5-7 minutes on each side.

Now the problem is the first side i cooked came out pretty nice, the
crumbs turned a nice brown and were crispy. But when i cooked the other
side it came out soggy and the crumbs pretty much fell off.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to get both sides crispy and prevent
the crumbs from falling off?

Thanks,

Karl

Start out with 3 plates...one holding some plain or seasoned flour, one
with you beaten egg mixture and the last one with the bread crumbs, again
these can be seasoned or not.

Well first you dust or lightly coat flour on the chicken parts...then you
dredge the parts in a egg, milk or water mix; perhaps at most 1/2 ounce
water/milk per egg. Then you pat on the bread crumbs. At this point about
a half hour rest in the fridge makes everything tighten up and stick
better.

I like to add mustard to the egg mixture to add flavour. Using spices or
seasonings in the bread crumbs help. Look for Panko (oriental bread crumbs)
sold in Asian markets/grocery stores as they taste and stick even better.

Another tip is allow one side to cook for a goodly amount of time before
messing with it. This browns up the bread crumbs and allows them to break
free (stop sticking) from the pan. Repeat for the other side. The less you
fuss with them the less chance of knocking off the crumb coating.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

Mr Libido Incognito said:

Karl.Falconer wrote on 28 Sep 2005 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Hello,
I am a college student still new to cooking. Yesterday i tried to
follow the directions on the back of a container of bread crumbs.
Basically the directions were as follows:

Coat boneless chicken with a beaten egg.
Cover with breadcrumbs.
Fry in pan with oil 5-7 minutes on each side.

Now the problem is the first side i cooked came out pretty nice, the

Quoted message said:

crumbs turned a nice brown and were crispy. But when i cooked the

other

Quoted message said:

side it came out soggy and the crumbs pretty much fell off.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to get both sides crispy and

prevent

Quoted message said:

the crumbs from falling off?

Thanks,

Karl

Start out with 3 plates...one holding some plain or seasoned flour,
one
with you beaten egg mixture and the last one with the bread crumbs,
again
these can be seasoned or not.

Well first you dust or lightly coat flour on the chicken parts...then
you
dredge the parts in a egg, milk or water mix; perhaps at most 1/2
ounce
water/milk per egg.

I would agree with all of Mr. Libidos directions except the egg, milk
or water part. I would use only beaten egg yolks to dip the chicken in,
it firms up better than a whole egg coating.
---
JL

Quoted message said:

Then you pat on the bread crumbs. At this point about
a half hour rest in the fridge makes everything tighten up and stick
better.

I like to add mustard to the egg mixture to add flavour. Using spices
or
seasonings in the bread crumbs help. Look for Panko (oriental bread
crumbs)
sold in Asian markets/grocery stores as they taste and stick even
better.

Another tip is allow one side to cook for a goodly amount of time
before
messing with it. This browns up the bread crumbs and allows them to
break
free (stop sticking) from the pan. Repeat for the other side. The less
you
fuss with them the less chance of knocking off the crumb coating.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Karl.Falconer said:

Hello,
I am a college student still new to cooking. Yesterday i tried to
follow the directions on the back of a container of bread crumbs.
Basically the directions were as follows:

Coat boneless chicken with a beaten egg.
Cover with breadcrumbs.
Fry in pan with oil 5-7 minutes on each side.

Now the problem is the first side i cooked came out pretty nice, the
crumbs turned a nice brown and were crispy. But when i cooked the other
side it came out soggy and the crumbs pretty much fell off.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to get both sides crispy and prevent
the crumbs from falling off?

Thanks,

Karl

Use a foreman type grill. ;-)
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm
"Stan Horwitz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Karl.Falconer said:

Hello,
I am a college student still new to cooking. Yesterday i tried to
follow the directions on the back of a container of bread crumbs.
Basically the directions were as follows:

Coat boneless chicken with a beaten egg.
Cover with breadcrumbs.
Fry in pan with oil 5-7 minutes on each side.

Now the problem is the first side i cooked came out pretty nice, the
crumbs turned a nice brown and were crispy. But when i cooked the other
side it came out soggy and the crumbs pretty much fell off.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to get both sides crispy and prevent
the crumbs from falling off?

The chicken was too wet. Let the chicken dry by placing it on a grate or
a plate for 20 minutes or so per side after you bread it. This will
allow some of the moisture from the egg wash to evaporate. You may also
need to use a hotter pan.

In addition to the drying, I think flour then egg then crumbs works better.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

So it seems the general consensious is to let the egg dry so the
breadcrumbs stick better to the chicken. I will give that a try.

Also some of you mentioned dustying with flour, what exactly does this
do?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Karl

In article <[email hidden]>,

Karl.Falconer said:

Hello,
I am a college student still new to cooking. Yesterday i tried to
follow the directions on the back of a container of bread crumbs.
Basically the directions were as follows:

Coat boneless chicken with a beaten egg.
Cover with breadcrumbs.
Fry in pan with oil 5-7 minutes on each side.

Now the problem is the first side i cooked came out pretty nice, the
crumbs turned a nice brown and were crispy. But when i cooked the other
side it came out soggy and the crumbs pretty much fell off.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to get both sides crispy and prevent
the crumbs from falling off?

Sounds to me like you had the heat too low.

Even with low heat, *eventually* the oil will get hot enough to make the
coating brown and crisp. But, while that is happening, the oil is
cooling off because when you fry, you boil a *lot* of water, and it
carries a huge amount of heat away.

So you got the oil hot before you put the chicken in, and things worked
OK until you turned the chicken over, because then the oil was too cool
to allow browning, and the low heat never allowed it to heat up again.
So it wasn't hot enough to cause browning, or the kinds of things that
make a coating have some strength and integrity. So it fell off.

Monitor the oil temperature *after* you put the chicken in (use a
thermometer if you wish), to keep it hot enough to cook the food
properly.

Isaac

"Karl.Falconer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So it seems the general consensious is to let the egg dry so the
breadcrumbs stick better to the chicken. I will give that a try.

Also some of you mentioned dustying with flour, what exactly does this
do?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Karl

The flour helps the egg stick to the chicken, and the breadcrumbs stick
to the egg.

Also, sogginess is often caused by low oil temperature. Make sure the
oil stays hot, so it doesn't soak into the coating.

-T

----- Original Message -----
From: "skoonj" <[email hidden]>
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: Tips for cooking breaded chicken

Quoted message said:

"Karl.Falconer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So it seems the general consensious is to let the egg dry so the
breadcrumbs stick better to the chicken. I will give that a try.

Also some of you mentioned dustying with flour, what exactly does this
do?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Karl

The flour helps the egg stick to the chicken, and the breadcrumbs stick to
the egg.

Also, sogginess is often caused by low oil temperature. Make sure the oil
stays hot, so it doesn't soak into the coating.

-T

I find if i just use flour the coating will slip off. I coat my meat with
cornstarch, then egg, then bread crumbs and it doesn't come off.

MoM

"MoM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1128078238.82ab6768c638282197cd49e008bbd83b@teranews...

Quoted message said:

I find if i just use flour the coating will slip off. I coat my meat with
cornstarch, then egg, then bread crumbs and it doesn't come off.

MoM

Rice flour works well too.

MoM said:

I find if i just use flour the coating will slip off. I coat my meat with
cornstarch, then egg, then bread crumbs and it doesn't come off.

I tired fried chicken yesterday for the first time in a long time. I dredged
them first in seasoned flour, then egg wash, then bread crumbs seasoned with
salt, pepper, paprika, dried parsley and a bit of garlic powder. I let them sit
for about an hour before frying.

My question is how do you get it cooked thoroughly without burning them on the
outside. I had a large non stick fry pan with close to 3/4 " of oil on medium
high. I thought it needed to be hot to avoid being greasy, but the outsides were
on the verge of burning and the insides were a little too rare.