Go to the Recipe: Foolproof Sous Vide Fried Chicken
Am I wrong? Don't seal the bags, just clip to the edge of the pot.
I kind of hate you right now. That looks so so so good.
You are not wrong, Carol. You can fold the open edge of the bag over the side of the pot and clip!
I knew it was coming!!! Oh lordy we're changing our dinner plans!
How cool is this! I can't wait to get this device.
Wait wait wait. In the video it says you want a high protein flour, and that cake flour is going to give you like a doughnut on the outside. In the recipe though, it says pastry flour. Wouldn't you want something like bread flour for the crunchier texture?
Any chance you tested something like potato flour or a GF blend for the no-gluten population? It would be MUCH appreciated.
Hi TJ: You'll be good with bread flour or pastry flour. Cake flour is engineered to absorb oil and fat so that's maybe a less-good choice if you want a crispy or crunchy coating.
Why not poach the chicken sous vide in salted buttermilk instead of just a quick dip at the end? Yes? No?
I'm wondering what would happen if you did a buttermilk soak for a time before vacuum sealing it for sous vide. Would that improve the finished flavor?
I dredge my hot wings in a rice flour mixture and am very happy with the crisp bite that gives the coating, so it might work just as well here.
Instead of creating the salt brine, how about cooking in buttermilk sous vide?
We keep kosher, which means we can't mix dairy products with meat. Does anybody know of a non-dairy substitute for the buttermilk? Would something like soy milk and a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice work?
There is a product called "Trisol", which is pure wheat dextrin, which, when substituted for about 25% or 30% (no more) of the flour in a coating mixture or batter yields an amazingly crunchy result. It's available from modernistpantry.com
If I want to print out this recipe it's 8 PAGES?? Am I missing a setting that will allow me to print a recipe on no more than two pages?
You guys knock it out of the park for most of all your recipe, I have to differ though with you on the fried chicken, though it looks really good, I make the best fried chicken handed down many generations, I'm african american, and the best way to make the best chicken, cut it up all parts keep in cold water in the fridge, get a nice size heavy black treated skillet with a top fill with wesson oil start heating, take part flour, bread crumbs, and yellow cornmeal, salt, pepper, celery salt, garlic, onion, some sugar and paprika, no need for a batter, mix the dry ingredients and flour up each piece, set each piece in hot oil with top off for about 5 minutes, turn it over put the top on turn the flame on low, now be patient and don't peek just set your timer for about 20 minutes, the chicken cooks and boast unbelievable crunch too good to be true all the flavor's soak deeply into that chicken and it is juicy and well done to the point you want to eat the bones. ok all else if you're in a rush I guess this way will work but I love everything you guys do but this one NOT.
It would be better if the dude said "Oh my gosh" rather than "Oh, my God" as some of your fans live between the coasts and value the commandamente numero dos.
I hear you -- it's tough to mess with tradition. BUT I've been doing meat and fowl with my sous vide machine and it's unbelievably wonderful! NEVER overdone or underdone, always cooked to perfection -- just sear in a cast iron skillet or under a broiler for the best steak, turkey breast roll or chicken pieces EVER! Sounds to me like the deep frying for a few minutes after sous vide-ing the chiken parts are well worth a try.
In regard to my comment about keeping kosher and buttermilk, fyi I found on an other cooking chat site that using one tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk substitute (unflavored soy, almond, rice or coconut) and letting sit for about 10 minutes works fine -- take note lactose intolerant, kosher, celiac patients, etc.
Its ok, as those that value and understand the commandments know the one referenced is to not use the Lord's Name in vain ... And recognize that 'God' is a title, not a name ... Even more so that vain means 'empty and without meaning', which shows that since so many people think 'God' is the name, that the commandment is more often broken by its complete absence of use.
I think you missed his question. Pastry flour has less protein than All-Purpose flour, so why would you use that over AP or Bread? Doesn't make sense.
I'm intrigued by your comment but need a little more explanation to be able to understand it. Could you expand on things like, "God is a title, not a name," and how that translates to "so many people" breaking the first commandments? Thanks.
First of all I have been using my sous vide a ton because of you guys, so thank you. I have read from you that you have said not to add salt to the protein being sous vided, why for this recipe? One the video you mentioned that it would brine the chicken, so why not do that with say a pork roast, or other proteins?
i'm surprised that you cook the white meat beyond 140F, where it is perfect.
OYFG! Politically correct much?!?! I just want to cook!
I always wonder on this sous-vide driven recipes if theres a way that I can store the cooked meet and re-heat it just when the time is needed. It doesn need to last super long (like yours braised pork-belly) or keep 100% of the super juicy special taste, I just prefere to make these things ahead and pop it out of the fridge/whatever to finish'em in something like a 20 mins service.
So, is there a way for this to work?
Where did the dude say OMG?
Redox. It's a bit of a pain but I print to a pdf file first. Reformat(takes 2min), Print to paper. Doing this I can get detail but I also do sort of a checklist at a very high level for recipes I'm very familiar with.
Michael. I use chickpea flower. Beautiful color and gluten free.
not for the deep frying though..,😘
I've transferred sousvide cooked pork tenderloin to an ice bath before freezing. then reheating at original temperature until hot with success. Extremely fast cooling is essential. I've also ice shocked hamburger paddies for fridge storage. I'm no chef though so if you want expert sources on food safety you'll have to ask someone else
Try it out, come back and post your results. I'd be happy to read all about it. As long as you haven't tried this method you cannot compare anything
Where I live I can't find buttermilk. What can I use instead ? milk mix with butter ?
Great recipe!
But I've got two questions:
Why cook the breast at 68? Wouldn't it be better to turn down the temp to 60 after two hours and then put in the breast?
Secondly, why leave the skin on? Doesn't it go mushy under the coating?
Breading and frying cooked chicken will not allow the breading to stick to the chicken. As the protein in raw chicken denatures while cooking, it helps provide the glue that keeps the breading stuck to the chicken. Sous vide does have some great uses, I feel that this is not one of them. Focusing on how to keep the breading on is the real art of fried chicken.
No, no. Do not do that! Simply mix half and half yogurt and milk. That's a very good substitute. You want something that is runny but just a bit thick.
I've been making sous-vide fried chicken for a couple of years. It's fantastic that you can make several birds for dinner & not spend an hour over the stove. However, the skin doesn't render & get crispy under the breading like it will with a long fry. Any tips or ideas to get that crunchy skin with sous vide meat?
Correcto mundo! Sous Vide doers not render the chicken fat (or any fat for that matter) and for me that takes away the taste of "fried" in the fried chicken. 3 to 4hrs (30 min active) can be better used just pan frying in a $29.95 electric skillet. We can use the buttermilk and other ingredients and I don't think we will fudge up either it we start with the dark meat.
Nice!
I hate us too, every time I check for new comments I see the pictures and get hungry.
That would definitely work, I like your style Rob.
Sorry Redox, we are hoping to fix that soon.
Thanks for sharing your process Marsha, it sounds awesome! When we set out on this recipe, the main problem we were shooting to alleviate was over and under cooking the chicken by incorporating precision cooking. I definitely want to try your breading it sounds crazy crunchy!
That would work great, I still would season the buttermilk first though.
To be honest I don't think it would change the flavor but it would be more tender, maybe too tender. Instead of the traditional pre soak to tenderize the chicken we us sous vide to get our desired texture. A side by side would still be cool to try!
Good catch, we went with 68°c in the recipe because 60°c dark meat can be too pink for some. We wanted to find a good middle ground that didn't involve cooking at two temps or put people off with the color of the meat. I totally agree though, 60°c white meat is perfect!
Totally we do it all the time. All you need to do is ice it down after cooking and reheat just under the original cooking temp to prevent over cooking when reheating.
What are your thoughts about frying with shortening rather than canola oil?
Thats a great tip Tim, I'll give that a try next time we make it for family meal. We like to leave the skin on because we love the texture of it still. I have never minded the texture of chicken skin that wasn't crispy, but I would assume some others may feel differently....
My comment was intended to be — well ... snide, but accurate. Given the title of the article, the comment on someone using OMG seemed a bit over sensitive and short on accurate understanding. Now though, since you ask. You are a person, human, homosapien, male or female, etc. but none are your name. In the same sense 'God' is not a name but a title or noun used similarly. 'LORD' in all caps was used in place of 'the name' in translation to English. If you are interested further, just google it. Examples I saw are http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/call.html or http://www.bibleanswerstand.org/God.htm, though I didn't read them fully or to determine their point, it does explain this further. As for the second part of your question, this misunderstanding has in effect made the name 'vain' meaning, 'without real significance, value, or importance'.
As for this recipe, I am so looking forward to trying it. Proteins are excelent sous vide and I have not yet tried combo cooking with sous vide combined with frying. Ahh, now I'm hungry! This site improves my cooking but is not so good for my dieting.
I always have crust adhesion issues trying to bread cooked proteins (see 3:29 in the video for example). Dave Arnold has repeatedly suggested to let the hot chicken flash off before breading, and this definitely helps, but I still can't achieve crust adhesion as good as breading raw chicken.
Any ideas?
Thanks!!
Could probably just do egg instead of buttermilk. Whisk an egg with a pinch of salt until homogeneous, then dip chicken in egg and then dry mix.
The second commandment includes any title that refers to God and vain includes trivial uses.
I always have crust adhesion issues, I've tried your recipe and i follow step by step but i still can't achieve the crust texture. thanks
Actually I've seen several Chinese chefs use cornstarch to give things like prawns a really crisp coating. As well, rice flour to give things like Calamari the same thing with a pit of puffiness and the chickpea flour, as Joe said sounds interesting so perhaps try a blend of those things?
Also, if you have time you could add a bit of vinegar to some milk, let that sit for a few hours to overnight and strain off a little bit of the whey through a cheese cloth or coffee filter to the desired thickness.
I have always squeezed the flour on when I dredge it it seems to hold better and If the oil isnt hot enough it will not set and fall off when its in the oil. I havent tried it this way but will and see how it works for me. I hope I have helped
Every time you guys post a recipe using your Joule, I'm wishing time away until May. Cant't wait to get that little number in my kitchen.
I do seal the bags as I like to cool the chicken in an ice bath and hold until ready to dredge and fry. I have never been able to hold a finished fried item and keep it crispy, much better right from the fryer to the plate IMO.
Noted above some folks had trouble getting the breading to adhere to the warm chicken. Have not tried using warm chicken, cold chicken holds the breading very well.
Whenever I bread raw chicken, the crust adheres nicely, but breading already cooked chicken (sous vide), the breading crisps up and tastes delicious, but falls off just like you see at the 3:29 mark in the video.
Let me know how yours comes out!
Hi Guys, well I gave it a go and this is the first time I have sous vide'd chicken. I have to say it came out outstanding; very succulent and moist. Now on to the breading. I patted them down to remove any excess moisture, rolled in the flour mixture, on to buttermilk and back into the flour. I use fresh Canola oil at 400 and popped 4 drum sticks in first. I have to say at about 2.5 minutes they started to look VERY brown so I pulled them. I did want to outer crust to burn and it was on the line, I thought. As others have said, the skin did not render; it was pretty disgusting under to crust. So here are a few questions:
(1) Any ideas on why my crust was browning so fast? I was using a thermometer.
(2) Could you fry the bare chicken (after Sous Vide) for a minute before coating in order to render the skin down some? ... and then on the the coating, fry again?
Overall, I learned a lot and I appreciate all you do. You guys Rock! ~ Thanks
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Made this tonight and it came out perfect. Best Fried Chicken ever.
would anything like time or temp change if you used boneless breasts ?
What is the gravy recipe?
Hi Kevin! Chef Nick let me know that you can use our Turkey Gravy and just sub chicken for turkey!
Hi Tim, nope! We actually used all boneless breasts for this recipe and time and temp should all be the same.
Fantastic! We're so glad to hear it!
Hi Karim, the crust does naturally want to pull away so we hear you on this. Try removing the skin ahead of time and double breading. Let us know how it turns out!
Hi Keith! As we mentioned above, the crust does naturally want to pull away so we hear you on this. Try removing the skin ahead of time and double breading. Let us know how it turns out!
Hi David, we haven't given that a try but there shouldn't be any issues that we know of - it should act fairly similar to lard. The smoke point is pretty high with it which bodes well!
Hi Tom, great question! We don't always recommend salting red meat like steak or tenderloin because it can pull moisture and dry out the meat, but at times we like it with poultry and pork because it can firm up the meat and season it. It's very recipe dependent.
I removed the skin after the sous-vide stage and before coating. Fried it until crispy and served with the chicken, it worked well.
@nicholas gavin Could you also please re-implement hRecipe so recipes can be exported to apps like Paprika or ChefTap? Currently, I can't save any of these without retyping them.
This might be way off, but guessing by your name and your lack of buttermilk do you have yo? It's a little thinner but has much the same taste.
I find that if you let the chicken sit for 10 minutes or so after you dip it, the crust holds much better and it produces a much better crunch. try that and see. I think removing the skin removes flavor, by the way. If your crust is getting too brown too fast at 400 degrees, try frying at 375 for a bit longer.
Wait, that doesn't answer the question though. If Grant says in the video that you want high-protein flour, why does the recipe recommend pastry over bread or AP flour? On the spectrum of common wheat flours, that's totally closer to low than high gluten.
What if you were to "dirty" the fryer oil with the skin and remove it and then fry the bird....You would have the flavour but not the soggy skin problem....
