tankasnowgod
Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2014
- Messages
- 8,131
Hey All,
A little while ago, I got a bit hungry for fried chicken. Obviously, most of the fried chicken that you can get isn't so compatible with Peat's ideas, due to it being fried in high PUFA oils, and covered in wheat flour (likely fortified with iron).
However, I found it doesn't take that much tweaking to make it much better for our standards. For ease, I simply did Chicken Fingers. I loosely followed this Youtube video-
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDgLY_ttvCI
First, and most obvious, the oil. I had some tallow I rendered from extra beef fat, so I used that. However, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil should work great, too (I use that for frying, and it's fantastic). When it's time to get rid of the tallow, I might switch it up to HCO. (It's already running low, and I've added extra Stearic Acid and HCO to mix in the most recent use).
Next up, the breading. Wanting to get away from flour, I got some Maseca Masa Harina Flour. I basically just use an equivalent amount of Maseca Flour when the recipe calls for normal flour.
As far as the Marinade, I use an egg, regular milk instead of buttermilk, coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, Ketchup made with real sugar. I skip most of the other spices (including salt) and add about a half tsp of Larry's seasoning salt (which doesn't look to bad from an ingredients perspective), and half tsp of pepper. I'm not as concerned with spices as Peat is, but feel free to skip anything.
When seasoning the flour, I also skip the salt, using Larry's instead.
Last note, I buy frozen chicken. I let it defrost in the fridge overnight, and use salt like a "dry brine" the next day. About two hours before cooking, I've been adding water and a teaspoon of sugar. This is the reason I've been skipping the salt in the seasoning, I did it once that way with the "dry brine," and the final product was too salty.
I took a little trial and error for temperature, but the oil heats up to the right temp on my stovetop at dot just above "med" on the burner, and the chicken fries really well at that temp. This might be like a "6" out of 10 setting on another stove. So, medium/high heat. Your stovetop may be different.
The final verdict it that its AWESOME. The Masa Harina might be even better and tastier than flour, it sure fries up nice, real crispy. I read at least one review online that uses masa harina for frying because they prefer the taste. With the brining, the chicken is still really juicy after frying, and I get a hint of sweetness from the sugar.
A little while ago, I got a bit hungry for fried chicken. Obviously, most of the fried chicken that you can get isn't so compatible with Peat's ideas, due to it being fried in high PUFA oils, and covered in wheat flour (likely fortified with iron).
However, I found it doesn't take that much tweaking to make it much better for our standards. For ease, I simply did Chicken Fingers. I loosely followed this Youtube video-
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDgLY_ttvCI
First, and most obvious, the oil. I had some tallow I rendered from extra beef fat, so I used that. However, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil should work great, too (I use that for frying, and it's fantastic). When it's time to get rid of the tallow, I might switch it up to HCO. (It's already running low, and I've added extra Stearic Acid and HCO to mix in the most recent use).
Next up, the breading. Wanting to get away from flour, I got some Maseca Masa Harina Flour. I basically just use an equivalent amount of Maseca Flour when the recipe calls for normal flour.
As far as the Marinade, I use an egg, regular milk instead of buttermilk, coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, Ketchup made with real sugar. I skip most of the other spices (including salt) and add about a half tsp of Larry's seasoning salt (which doesn't look to bad from an ingredients perspective), and half tsp of pepper. I'm not as concerned with spices as Peat is, but feel free to skip anything.
When seasoning the flour, I also skip the salt, using Larry's instead.
Last note, I buy frozen chicken. I let it defrost in the fridge overnight, and use salt like a "dry brine" the next day. About two hours before cooking, I've been adding water and a teaspoon of sugar. This is the reason I've been skipping the salt in the seasoning, I did it once that way with the "dry brine," and the final product was too salty.
I took a little trial and error for temperature, but the oil heats up to the right temp on my stovetop at dot just above "med" on the burner, and the chicken fries really well at that temp. This might be like a "6" out of 10 setting on another stove. So, medium/high heat. Your stovetop may be different.
The final verdict it that its AWESOME. The Masa Harina might be even better and tastier than flour, it sure fries up nice, real crispy. I read at least one review online that uses masa harina for frying because they prefer the taste. With the brining, the chicken is still really juicy after frying, and I get a hint of sweetness from the sugar.
