My Foolproof, Quick Technique to Crispy, Juicy “Fried” Hen (With out Deep Frying)

I grew up primarily in North Carolina and just a little bit in Louisiana, and though I’ve lived within the Northeast for almost 30 years, I nonetheless miss the actually wonderful fried hen you get within the South—completely juicy, additional crispy, flavorful-in-every-bite fried hen is simply too exhausting to come back by up right here. And, positive, I might make my very own, however deep frying in my studio condominium was a one-and-done occasion for me. When your kitchen doubles as your lounge and bed room, the cost-benefit evaluation would not typically fall on the “deep fry it!” facet.

Fortunate for me—and all fried hen lovers—you may make an important model of fried hen in your air fryer, no vat of oil required, due to this air-fryer fried hen recipe created by our Birmingham, Alabama-based take a look at kitchen colleague Marianne Williams. Learn on to find out how, by way of quite a few exams and tweaks, Williams made a recipe that delivers air-fryer “fried” hen that is juicy and filled with taste on the within and super-crispy on the skin, then use our suggestions and the total recipe beneath to create it in your individual kitchen.

Whereas the recipe is written for a mix of bone-in and skin-on breasts and thighs, you may make this recipe with no matter hen items you favor: skin-on or skinless, bone-in or boneless, breasts, thighs, or different elements. (Although if you’re going with boneless and skinless meat, we suggest selecting thighs, which keep juicier than breasts.) This recipe is written to serve six folks and have to be cooked in two batches; nevertheless, it may be simply halved for those who solely wish to serve two or three folks. I prefer it with Southern sides like cornbread or buttermilk biscuits, stewed inexperienced beans or okra, and mac and cheese.

5 Suggestions for Marking the Greatest Southern Fried Hen within the Air Fryer

1. Lock in taste and juiciness with a buttermilk-pickle brine. Soaking the hen in a mix of egg, buttermilk, and pickle juice, together with sizzling sauce for just a little kick and honey for a contact of sweetness, ensures the meat is seasoned all through with each salt and a contact of acidity. The salt and acid not solely add taste but additionally lock in juiciness—due to salt’s capacity to forestall proteins from releasing an excessive amount of water throughout cooking and acid’s pure tenderizing results. We usually do not suggest marinating for quite a lot of hours (most flavors exterior of salt and acid do not penetrate far into the meat, and most acids can flip meat mushy if left on it for too lengthy), however this marinade may be allowed to work its magic as much as in a single day, because the lactic acid within the brine is gentler on meat than different acids. 
2. Pat the hen dry after marinating. Whilst you usually don’t pat hen dry after a buttermilk brine and earlier than dredging, because the wetness might help the dredge to stick, however on this case drying the hen helps a ton with getting a crispy crunchy exterior within the air fryer. An excessive amount of moisture can result in soggy fried hen. 
3. Add rice flour to the dry dredge. Slicing the wheat flour with rice flour improves the crispness and texture of the ultimate coating. It is because wheat flour comprises gluten-forming proteins, which may result in extreme toughness. A extra pure starch like rice flour blended in reduces the whole quantity of these gluten-forming proteins, whereas nonetheless offering starch to soak up moisture. The ultimate result’s a lightweight, crunchy coating that resists sogginess. (Baking powder can also be added to the dredge for comparable toughness-fighting advantages.)
4. Generously season the dry dredge. One grievance I’ve about plenty of the fried hen you get exterior of the South is that even when the coating is satisfactorily crispy (an enormous if), it is typically bland and underseasoned. Williams solves this by spiking the dry dredge with not solely satisfactory salt but additionally onion powder, granulated garlic, and smoked paprika, which give the crunchy exterior a strong taste. 
5. Use oil well. Whilst you want considerably much less oil within the air fryer than for deep frying, some oil continues to be needed for reaching a crispy “fried” hen texture. Step one is including oil to the air-fryer basket (you may line it with foil first), which our testing revealed is a vital step to make sure the hen crisps the place it is in touch with the basket. Then you definitely’ll use cooking spray to coat the hen throughout earlier than frying, creating one thing like a micro-layer of oil wherein the hen can “fry.” Do not maintain again right here: You wish to spray the oil everywhere in the hen items till no dry flour is seen.
6. Prepare dinner it on the proper temperature. Williams examined air frying the hen at varied temperatures to reach on the “Goldilocks” spot of 380°F (193°C). Any cooler, and the hen is not going to be crispy sufficient; nevertheless, going hotter will seemingly end in overbrowning and burning earlier than the meat is absolutely cooked by way of. 

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