How to keep fried chicken crispy?

Don’t you just love the feeling of sinking your teeth into a crispy, juicy piece of chicken? I know so, which is why I always make sure when I make a batch of fried chicken that the skin should always stay as crisp as it was fresh out of the pan, even after an hour of cooking.

If you’re having trouble with soggy chicken skin when you’re saving your fried chicken for later, I’d like to tell you about this simple technique to keep your fried chicken crispy at all times. Keep reading to know more!

Fried Chicken Mistakes to Avoid

Before I get into how to keep chicken crispy after cooking, I think it would be very beneficial for you to go over these easy mistakes to avoid when cooking up a batch of fried chicken.

• Do not use chicken breasts. Unless you buy your chicken piece by piece, you shouldn’t waste any part of a whole chicken just to fry the wings or thighs. Other parts of a whole chicken can also be great when fried. A large chicken breast can easily be turned into crispy chicken fingers with the simple help of a sharp knife.
• Do not prepare chicken at room temperature. A common mistake by home cooks is to fry cold chicken right out of the fridge. If you fry a piece of cold chicken, the chicken will tend to cook unevenly, and it will tend to have burnt or soggy skin on one side.

• Do not use brine. Another procedure that home cooks often overlook when cooking up a batch of fried chicken is the use of brine. If you have eaten a piece of chicken that has a dry inside, it is because it was not cooked with brine. Before frying chicken in very hot oil, you should at least soak it in brine for a couple of hours before cooking to get a juicy center.

• Do not use the breading. Sure you can get crispy chicken without the need for breading, but don’t expect your chicken to have moist meat. In addition to adding an extra crunch to your chicken, breading helps to lock in the moisture in the meat.

What’s more, the breading also brings many flavors that the chicken skin alone will not be able to contain. Simply put, breading makes chicken crispy, moist, and so flavorful that people can’t get enough of it.

• Using the wrong type of oil. If you want to get crispy food, you should use oils like canola, peanut, or vegetable. What’s special about these types of oils is their low smoke point that will maintain a constant temperature so your chicken cooks evenly.

• Rest the chicken on paper towels. You might think you’re doing a good job of resting your fried chicken on paper towels because paper towels remove excess fat and oil from your chicken—wrong!

Although paper towels really help cut down on excess fat, they will also rob you of the crunchy feeling you get when you bite into the chicken because it will make the skin of the chicken soggy.

Keeping your chicken crisp

It’s funny how I used to think that there is no way for chicken to stay crispy for an hour or so after cooking, but it turns out that there is a simple way to do it using or using very simple materials that you can find in your kitchen:

• cooling rack
• baking sheet

Once you have gathered the materials you will need, all you will need to do is:

• Put the oven on low heat, preferably 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place the cooling rack on a baking sheet…
• Put your freshly fried chicken on the cooling rack. But before placing the chicken pieces on the cooling rack, you need to remove any excess oil from the chicken first. You can do this by lightly rubbing the chicken with paper towels.
• Place the baking sheet and cooling rack in the oven.
• Before serving the chicken, turn on the oven broiler for about 2 minutes for extra crispiness.

A quick summary

Fried chicken is a great dish that can be served for large parties or family gatherings. It’s simple to cook and most people love it. However, to create a great batch of chicken that people will keep asking for, you need to be aware of the common mistakes home cooks make when cooking fried chicken. I hope this article has been a great help in letting you know how to make fried chicken the right way and how to keep it nice and crispy for you or your guests.

If you liked this article, and would like to know more about cooking, please leave us your comments in the box below. Until next time, enjoy!