From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
Subject: Fried Chicken
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 16:13:36 CST
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.2 PL16]

>From: auwen@convex.COM (John David Auwen)

Don't pay attention to those who say "don't bother" when you ask for
advice on how to fry chicken.  That just shows how little they know
about it!  I fry chicken for my family at least once/week and it is
easy once you get a little practice.   With a $2.00 chicken and $.50
worth of other ingrediants I can turn out fried chicken that the Colonel
would admire and at a fraction of the price he charges. 

Although I own a deep fryer and sometimes fry chicken in it, pan frying
is the true old-fashioned way to fry chicken.  The thing that makes
pan frying difficult is keeping the shortening at a correct and constant
temperature.  I suggest you buy a Sunbeam electric skillet.  Mine cost
about $25 ten years ago and I don't think they've gone up much.  The
combination of frying and steaming that occurs during pan frying gives
the chicken a different quality than straight deep frying.  The pressure
cooking that KFC does allows their chicken to have some of the 
characteristics of pan-fried chicken.

Here's a basic recipe:

	3 - 3 1/2 Lb. chicken, cut up
		3 cups flour
		3 tbsp salt
		1 tbsp black pepper

Put the salt in a large bowl (I use a plastic tupperware container), 
and add cold water to fill the container about 2/3 full.  Stir to 
dissolve the salt.

Rinse the chicken pieces with cold running water and place them in the 
saltwater.  Refrigerate overnight.  This will remove blood and other 
body fluids from the chicken and they will be replaced with saltwater.   
This means that you don't need any salt in the flour.

Remove the chicken from the saltwater, discard the saltwater, and rinse 
the chicken pieces under cold, running water.  This removes all saltwater 
from the outside of the chicken.  You want the salt inside the chicken, 
not on the outside.  Allow the chicken to drain while you're heating up 
the skillet.  I normally use a collander to rinse/drain my chicken.

Plug in the electric skillet and set to 340F.  Add enough shortening 
or vegetable oil to give a depth of 1/4 inch in your skillet.  Allow it 
to heat to cooking temperature.

In a large, sealable container (large tupperware with a tight fitting lid 
or strong plastic bag) place the flour and pepper.  Close the container 
and shake to mix the flour and pepper.

Put the chicken pieces in the container, close it, and shake well to 
thoroughly coat the chicken.

Remove the chicken pieces from the container one at a time, giving each 
piece a small shake to remove excess flour.  As you do this, place each 
piece in the skillet.  Once all pieces are in the skillet, put the lid 
on the skillet.  The vent in the lid should be open.

Turn the pieces every 4 - 7 minutes.  Total cooking time will be 25 - 30 
minutes, depending on the size of the chicken.  As the chicken cooks, it 
should be tuned more frequently.  You will start out turning it every 7 
minutes the first 2 times you turn it and you will end up turning it 
every 4 minutes.

Remove the pieces from the skillet and drain.

>From: deon@zeno.informatik.uni-kl.de (Ramsey Deon)
Date: 27 Jun 90 12:48:42 GMT


>From: hkahn@pacifico.mips.com (Harriet S. Kahn)

This is a recipe for KFC that comes from The Junk Food Junkie's Book
of Haute Cuisine:

2-8 cups vegetable oil for frying
3-4 pieces of chicken 
1 egg white
3/4 C Bisquick
1/2 t double acting baking powder
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1   t Lawry's seasoned salt
4   shakes cayenne pepper

Put enough oil in deep-fat fryer to cover chicken well.  Heat fat over
medium high heat until thermometer reaches 360l degrees.

On shallow dish beat egg white slightly with fork.  Dump Bisquick, 
baking powder, and seasonings into bag and shake to mix.  Tear off a square
of waxed paper and pour about 1/4 of Bisquick mixture onto the paper.  Dry
chicken with paper towels, roll in Bisquick mixture and dip in egg white,
drop in bag and shake to coat thickly.  If coating seems too thin pat on
more with your hands.

When fat reaches 360, drop in chicken and fry 18 minutes for legs and thighs,
12 minutes for wings and breasts.  FI you're not using an electric fryer, you 
will have to watch thermometer and adjust heat periodically.

When done, remove with tongs and drain on paper towels.

Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes