Ask George: Fried chicken is so popular now. Can you explain the different preparations? Dani T., St. Louis
There are basically three ways to fry chicken—pan frying, deep frying, and broasting—and nuances associated with each. And then there’s chicken fried steak that contains no chicken at all.
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The least common is broasting (a portmanteau of broiling and roasting) also known as pressure frying or pressure cooking, in this case in liquid or solid vegetable oil. Broasting has been around since the 1950s (it’s likely grandma owned a pressure cooker) and until the recent fried chicken boom was a cooking method used predominantly by fast food and convenience store chicken joints. (The term broast may also refer to a Pakistani cooking method for spicy airfried chicken, a method that cooks using hot air as well as a lot less oil.) The upside of broasting is the moistness of the final product (the pressure seals in the natural juices), there’s less oil transfer (which can mean fewer off-flavors), plus faster and more even cooking. The downside is that a broaster costs more than a deep fryer and is less convenient to use. There’s also the longstanding fear that cooking with hot oil under pressure is unsafe. One could argue that cooking with hot oil in general is unsafe. Local restaurants that serve broasted chicken are Frank & Helen’s and Ravanelli’s. Old Standard broasted its chicken before it closed earlier this year.
The most common, convenient, and cost effective method is deep frying, where a wire basket is used to submerge chicken pieces in hot cooking oil, usually 325-375 degrees. (Chicken wings and Korean-style chicken are often “twice fried,” for extra crispness.) Gas-fired fryers tend to recover (return to temp) more quickly, which limits oil absorption. The downside of deep frying is what I call “operator error,” instances when cooks try to stretch old oil or fail to keep it clean, resulting in off tastes, odors, and the most unintended and dreaded result: greasy chicken.
Pan frying is a shallow fry method that traditionally combined a heavy, cast iron skillet with hot vegetable oil (liquid or solid, like Crisco) or lard. To this day, the best fried chicken I ever tasted had been pan fried in lard (it was also the best smelling fried chicken). As with deep frying, the choice of oil and respective cooking temperature can greatly affect the finished product.
The taste of fried chicken is affected by the cooking method, sure, but even more so by the spices used (before and after cooking); whether the chicken has been brined or marinated; if it’s been battered, dredged in flour, or simply rubbed with spices. Nashville Hot Chicken is a good example of how several methods get combined: chicken pieces are first lightly marinated, lightly dredged in a seasoned cake flour, fried (using any of the above methods), and finally tossed in a spice paste (with heat levels ranging from mild to nuclear). Rick Lewis’ Southern restaurant in Midtown specializes in the style. Many think it’s the best chicken in town. And the great chicken debate continues…
In December of 2014, as part of a Classic Comforts cover story, SLM tasted some buzzworthy birds and in a follow-up article, evaluated several of the city’s long-standing chicken institutions. All but one are still in business.
If you have a question for George, email him at [email protected].
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