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Friday Fun Thread for December 16, 2022

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Bleh, mediocre fried chicken tonight, feel bad for serving it. Nice and craggy, but the batter was way too think in both senses and got overcooked on the 1st fry. Maybe I should just get some damn buttermilk instead of always using a random sour cream and milk mix.

Anyone have tips on this? I feel unamerican for not being able to get it right.

Sour cream and milk should work just fine, as long as you get them to the right consistency. Heck, I've got dairy allergies in the family to watch out for and my 'oat milk and tofu-based sour cream substitute' even works just fine.

Sounds like you just need to master how thick the batter should be. Start thick, test a wing, if ends badly add a bit more liquid, repeat.

But I prefer a seasoned flour anyways, and if your 'buttermilk' consistency is right you don't need to worry about it. Save the batter for fish.

I use half flour, half corn or potato starch, with a bunch of spices. Roughly in order of amount:

-Salt

-Paprika

-Smoked paprika

-Black Pepper

-Garlic powder

-Onion powder

-White pepper

-Mustard powder

-Celery seed

-Ginger powder

-Dried basil

-Dried oregano

-Dried thyme

-MSG

You can eyeball it and taste a pinch of flour to adjust once you get the hang of it. I like to smoke them for an hour, marinate in buttermilk for a bit, dredge in flour mix, fry at 325F. Still good if no smoker, replace normal paprika with smoked.

Same recipe can be used with chicken thighs, except I brine them in pickle brine overnight instead of smoking first. Great for sandwiches with lettuce, sauce of choice, pickled red onions.

Of note, I've noticed that cheaper water-plumped wings tend to turn out noticeably less flavorful when making fried wings. Usually doesn't make much difference in recipes, but it seems it prevents flavor formation in this case.

You can sub buttermilk with 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice that’s sat for 30 minutes. I do this for baking. There’s also powdered buttermilk you can buy to avoid having extra buttermilk taking up space in the fridge until you decide to make pancakes.

Yeah, I used the same milk, sour cream, and lemon substitute I use for pancakes, going way too heavy on the sour cream. Powdered sounds like a good option, I wasn't aware of it--thanks!

I make it with double breading- one of seasoned flour and one of breadcrumbs, pan fry it to cook the breading, and then put it in the oven. Without a deep fat fryer you're not going to get a consistent cook outside the oven.

Buttermilk doesn't have anything to do with the batter. Its job is to brine/tenderize the chicken. As long as there is sufficient lactic acid, buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt; all work.

You probably went too heavy-handed with the batter.