Making Great Fried Chicken Recipes

Posted by Christine Szalay-Kudra on July 19, 2010

Warm weather for many of us means thoughts of summer, great weather, and memories of homemade fried chicken. If you love this dish, but have not had much luck recreating Grandma’s secret recipe, you could benefit from these cooking tips.

You can decide to make your fried chicken the Sunday dinner main course, along with gravy and biscuits, or take cold fried chicken on a picnic with coleslaw. This tasty meal has a lot of memories associated with it, and for many people, there is only one way to make truly fantastic fried chicken. However, all good chicken has a few things in common, including juicy moist meat, a crispy breading that is not too greasy, and taste great.

There are a few aspects that are vital to making any batch of southern fried chicken a success. One of them is being sure you cut the tips off the wings to the last joint. No one really eats them, and wing tips are good for chicken stock later on. If you take them off now, you do not have to worry as much about crowding the chicken in the pan.

The amount of space the chicken pieces have in the pan is extremely important. They can touch, but should not be crowded. A twelve inch diameter skillet or more is important, and it should be made of a heavy material such as cast iron or heavy steel that will retain heat effectively.

Many people use cooking oil, but melted shortening is some people’s go-to fat for frying chicken. No matter what fat you use, make sure it has a high smoke point and does not come to a temperature that is too high or low. Too high and the oil smokes and the outside cooks before the inside. Too low and the chicken will be greasy and take a long time to fry.

Usually, your pan should contain more than a half inch of oil, but less than a full inch, a quantity that works well for other recipes fried in the same style as chicken, as well as southern fried chicken recipes. Do not use too little oil or the sides will not cook correctly.

Flouring the chicken can be done by putting your chicken into a paper bag that is strong enough to hold it and dropping it in just a few pieces at a time. Shake the bag and the chicken is well coated. This method is not messy and coats the chicken well.

The shallow dish method of coating the chicken involves putting spices and flour into a dish, like a pie pan, and coating them by rolling them in the flour, instead. This is a messier method that lets you see what you are doing a little better.

Remember that the amount of chicken you work with should correspond to the recipe – three pounds at a time is common. You will want to trim excess skin and fat before cooking. People who use boneless chicken, boneless skinless chicken, or who trim all the skin will need to cook their chicken for less time than those using bone-in chicken or frying an entire bird. No matter what you do, take care and pay attention and you will get great fried chicken to match those old summer memories.

Need some tasty fried chicken recipes? If you do you will want to come where everyone goes to get there fried chicken needs filled, SouthernFriedChickenRecipe.com.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rising Food Costs

Posted by Christine Szalay-Kudra on June 21, 2010

A lot of us are aware of rising food costs and if you are on a low income or you have a large family, this can make cooking a healthy, interesting dinner every night a bit like a juggling act.

A lot of foods are more expensive than ever, including staples such as beef, chicken, milk, and butter. There are various reasons for these price increases. The rising energy costs mean that food is more expensive to process and to deliver to retail outlets so the end price reflects this.

China, India, and other countries have better standards of living now and are importing more of our food. Ethanol is more expensive and it is used in the processing of soybeans, corn, wheat, oats and barley, making these items cost more.

Animals eat grains so the price of meat and poultry increases because the animals have been more expensive to feed. Grains like oats and corn are used in breakfast cereals so the cereals are more expensive now, as well as the milk you pour over it!

How to Make Your Money Go Further

If you are low on money but still want to give your family high quality, nutritious meals, there are a few things you can do. First of all, why not plan the week’s meals ahead of time and shop for all the ingredients? Try to include plenty of grains and fresh produce because these are nutritious and filling.

Chicken has always been quite cheap and there are many different ways to cook it, such as grilling, baking, frying, and poaching. You can make different sauces and flavorings to go with it because chicken is so versatile. What about a tasty dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and salad? That would not cost much to make.

If you have ever read the history of Kentucky Fried Chicken you will know they started very small but managed to transform cheap ingredients into delicious meals. You can do the same and made KFC style recipes for the family. This is certainly cheaper than taking them out for fast food and fried chicken is very simple to make. For a healthier twist, oven fried chicken tastes just like deep fried chicken but is lower in both fat and calories.

Keep Dinners Varied

Healthy meals like stir-fry use small pieces of meat or poultry so they are cheaper to make. You might like to have fish or meat several times a week and cheaper meals such as risotto or pasta the other nights. This is infinitely better than “feast and famine” where you indulge in whatever you fancy for the first half of the month then you realize you can only afford canned chili until payday.

Homemade food is a lot cheaper and healthier than prepackaged food or eating out. When you make your own meals, you know exactly which ingredients are going into it. Prepackaged food often contains lots of chemical additives and filler ingredients and eating out can work out really expensive.

Everybody loves the taste of fried chicken and home cooked fried chicken is especially good. If you want to discover pan-fried chicken recipes, deep-fried chicken recipes or oven fried chicken recipes, in addition to finding some more brilliant chicken cookery tips, have a look at SouthernFriedChickenRecipe.com