cooked all the way through without burning the outside. This can take practice.
Extra-virgin olive oil sure is tasty, but it’s not the best oil for deep frying and you shouldn’t use it on your fried chicken. Not only is it a waste of money given the volume you’ll use, it’ll result in a bitter-tasting bird due to its low smoke point.
Go for a neutral-tasting oil with a high smoke point, like canola, vegetable, or peanut oil. And don’t leave things up to fate: Use a thermometer to track and maintain the temperature of the oil—you’re looking for a steady 350 degrees.
Chicken Temperature
You shouldn’t start putting the batter on chicken immediately from the fridge. If you try to fry it straight from a cold refrigerator, the temperature of the oil will drop significantly and your chicken won’t cook evenly. Instead, it may take longer, but let the meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Now you may proceed!
Don’t be afraid to break the chicken’s crust to take the meat’s internal temperature; it should read 165 degrees. A broken crust is vastly preferable to undercooked chicken.
Plan on the whole process taking around 15–18 minutes, keeping in mind that white meat will cook faster than dark.
Also majorly important: Crowding the pan with chicken will lower the oil’s temperature, up the cooking time, and make the breading greasy.
Paula ended her response to all the commenters, saying “And I’ll take suggestions. I’ll make a new kind of fried chicken, but I’m gonna always make my mom’s chicken the way she did it,” she added.
‘We put the seasoning in the oil and all that. It’s just the way we do it.”