Go to the Recipe: Extra-Crispy KFC-Style Fried Turkey
Is the air fryer method described by the Fried Chicken technique usable?
What are your opinions on batter bind and/or crisp coat? Good additions to this process, not worth it? If it is worth it, any suggested how-to's?
Any options to replace the trisol with something that works similarly but is gluten free? I'd love to do this for Thanksgiving, but my daughter has celiac.
Cool to see my comment in the instagram screen cap.
Hi Peter, if you take a deep dive into what trisol is you will find it is just Benefiber, less some ingredients. Benefiber is certified to be low enough in gluten PPM that they state it is gluten free. You could use unflavored benefiber if you feel safer that way.
We found with the process in this activity it did not make our crust any better. This breading is pretty spot on. It was helpful at their recommended percentages when just using flour and doing a quick breading with out resting between steps.
It would work same as the chicken.
Trisol is pretty expansive in italy but i can find cluster dextrin or cyclic dextrin (branched), is it okay anyway? Or corn dextrin?
I haven't used any of those as a substitute. search for benefiber, or just wheat dextrin
Kyle, with a combi oven, what temp/relative humidity would you hold this at before serving, and how long could you keep it crispy?
Good deal. Thanks for the info. I'll do some research. I appreciate the reply.
Hi Kyl,
I already own Crisp Coat. Is the trisol better than the Crisp Coat, or should I just use what I have?
For this application the trisol is going to be better than the crisp coat. crisp coat is more tapioca and corn dextrin were trisol is wheat.
Thats a good question, I know that Winston cvap ovens were designed for KFC and holding their chicken hotter and keeping them crisp. In a restaurant setting they are needing to keep the internal over 140°f while holding for safety standards. But I'm not sure what those precise settings would be. For this one I would recommend to stick with the time and temp we tested keeping it a dry heat with fan at 120f or less for an hour to two hours.
Hi Kyl, would you be able to comment briefly on the size/direction you cut the thighs into strips. Pedantic as it may be I'm struggling to envision how I replicate it. Thank you
Yep, so with the bone out thigh I ended up with one side from the thigh that was thicker. That side I split in 2, and the thinner I left whole. It should naturally have a thin spot there from where the bone is. But ultimately as long as your pieces have a thickness of 1 inch you are good with any length.
This is just what I was waiting for! I've done a ChefSteps turkey every Thanksgiving for the past 7-8 years: the roulade+crown, the "better way to turkey", and even the turkey yakitori last year. Can't wait to try this KFC-style fried turkey this year!
Heyo, do you know the difference between evercrisp and trisol? Both are wheat dextrans
Same thing, trisol is just modernest pantries branded product. Evercrisp is just a different brand for the same product.
If subbing chicken, would you still recommend the temp and cook times in your other fried chicken recipes, or is a lower temp/longer cook time an important aspect of this recipe no matter the poultry.
Go with the times and temps for chicken from the joule app or other recipes, just stick with the same 1 in sizing of the pieces, as well as the frying temp and time.
Have you found that using a smaller pot/smaller quantity for the oil comes back to temperature quicker when you drop in the meat?
Thanks Kyl, Just to confirm, the method in this turkey recipe would overcook the chicken, or is it just not necessary?
Thanks.
Chicken is much more tender than the turkey and just doesn't need as much time to break down, we treat turkey as a tough cut. And 131 is just too low for chicken.
It really depends on the source of heat, your stove and how much heat it can pump into the pan.
KFC scented fire log for ambience?https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/enviro-log-kfc-11-herbs-spices-firelog-3999809p.html?_br_psugg_q=kfc+fire+log
Did legs for a test run tonight. Did a wet batter with stove top dressing, corn starch and topo chico. Stupid good!
Why the lower temp here for legs/thighs vs. in the turkey confit recipe? Is the idea that higher temp leaves them too tender/fragile to deep fry? Or just to try to make things simpler? (I'm interested in trying some parts like the confit and others like this.)
We just liked the texture better for frying at 131°f, the confit was great but just didn't feel like "fried chicken" to us.
i should have looked closer at the picture before i went ahead and "removed" all the skin. the wings were a real pain.
But what a learning experience!! It shouldn't hurt anything with the cook.
If using heritage breed should I break it down and brine before sv? If yes, wet brine? And what %?
I figure the picture in this recipe was more for ease of use. There is a similar recipe in Modernist Cuisine at Home for skinless chicken wings which are then fried in a tempura like batter....if you think getting the skin off turkey wings sucks, try chicken wings! Anyways, I have made the chicken wings skinless and not skinless, and skinless really was worth the extra effort.
You will find everything you should need for that here! https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/brining-poultry
Is it ok that the center of the breast and thighs are still pink after the sous vide process?
This is completely normal, do not be alarmed.
Just made this for Thanksgiving and something very strange happened. We don’t have any leftover turkey. Everyone ate the turkey and barely touched any sides. I heard a few “Best I’ve ever had” comments.
Awesome recipe. Thanks ChefSteps crew!
Hi from the U.K.! My wife is a yank so we just gave this a whirl for thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is a bloody revelation! Bit of effort, sure. But so worth it for the result. By far the best homemade fried poultry I’ve ever had, and it easily rivals restaurant fried chicken. I knew I was onto something good when I pulled the turkey breast out of the sous vide after 18 hours. I wasn’t able to find Trisol in the U.K. so I just subbed in extra cornflour which seemed to work really well.
Thanks guys!
KFC pales in comparison to this delectable fried bird. As someone with a newborn I was looking for a way to make my turkey day a little bit easier to manage, while still doing what I love, cooking. The end result was delicious deep fried goodness which had our small gathering oohing and ahhing. The recipe was easy to follow, the butchering video helped me out a bunch, and it was (pretty much) stress free. I ended up with a 20 pound bird so the hardest time I had was fitting 2 half sheets in my fridge. Butchering took me about an hour, then seasoning and dropping into water bath (which I had to do 2 of) took me about 45 minutes. With a small gathering (and larger bird) I ended up not frying a breast, thigh and leg and still had plenty of fried leftovers. Thanks to the CS team for making my Thanksgiving easy and delicious!
Would a wheaten cornflour work better than gf cornflour ? Going to also attempt to use benefiber
WOW! Best turkey ever. Guests could not believe how good. I did half with the double fry and those were my favorites. Put KFC to shame.
Hey folks, any alternative to trisol / wheat dextrin / benefiber common in the UK? So far I found either food supplements or brands shipped from the States, and both seem to be too expensive. If I can't source some, would a 1:1 replacement with high protein flour result in anything bearable? Also wondering if there is anything I need to tweak if using chicken instead of turkey?
I would recommend trying to find a neutral wheat dextrin, they are sold as dietary supplements. When it comes to the chicken question I would recommend following the Can't fk it up chicken activity and use the breading from this activity.
Hey Kyl, sorry, not sure if it's a local issue but seems like the comment is not visible (I've checked in Chrome and Safari).
Sorry we have a bug in the forum. Working on fixing it asap.
Question! I can't wait to try this recipe, but have a prep question because I'm unclear from the directions. If I want to finish sous videing the turkey the night before, then cut/portion the next day, should I: 1) put in fridge uncovered and let sit overnight OR 2) put in fridge uncovered for a couple of hours, then put in ziplock until ready to cut, dredge, etc? Not sure why I would keep in sous vide bag and refrigerate rather than take out to dry/chill.
Hi Jason, after removing from the bag and letting them fully cool while uncovered you can then bag them back up to use when ever you are ready. Really it is to help it cool faster and get the excess moisture to evaporate. But I wouldn't want to leave it uncovered in the fridge for more time since it could pick up flavors, smells, and dry out too much.
In the video, Grant says that he wants to save the resulting liquid from the sous vide bag for gravy- but the gravy recipe here doesn't really take a nod from THIS recipe (eg. no mention of sous vide liquid). What's the best gravy recipe using the sous vide liquid?
Bring the liquid to a boil and give it a strain. Then use it as stock for your gravy.
I'm currently planning out Thanksgiving, unfortunately my sister is allergic to dairy (not just lactose intolerant). Does the buttermilk do anything besides work as a seasoning? If I were to make an alternative 'buttermilk' does anyone have any recommendations? I'm currently thinking just lemon juice and soy milk, but wanted to see if anyone had any experience first.
I would go with an egg and water mixture.
I may have missed it, but what's the biscuit recipe for the biscuit used in the video (Recipe name is fine, if it's on chefsteps). They looked incredible and I want to try them out, both to go with this, and just to have as biscuits in general.
The buttermilk Biscuit recipe using this method to layer https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turn-any-biscuit-into-a-flaky-one
This recipe was used, https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/rich-as-f-k-biscuits , with this method, https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turn-any-biscuit-into-a-flaky-one.
Can’t wait to make this again the second year in a row. It is PERFECT. In working out my timeline this year, had a Qs that I’m hoping you can answer…
I will butcher my bird on Wednesday before thanksgiving to start the sous vide. If I want to save the bones to make the gravy on Thursday, I’d it ok to put all of them back in the fridge after butchering while they wait another day for me to use them?
One day is no biggie as long as you get them into the fridge as soon as you can after butchery, if more than 2 days I would freeze them.
I plan on cooking the turkey sous vide Tuesday night into Wednsday. Then I will store the turkey in the fridge and fry Thursday morning. I do not want to leave the cooked Turkey uncovered the entire night. How long would you recommend leaving it in the fridge uncovered before I store it in bags overnight?
I would recommend uncovering it in the fridge for 2 hours before you bread it. Its all about getting the surface dry before breading. If you dry before you bag it up for the night it will become a little moist on the surface.
Is there a reason you guys opted for butterball? Would brining myself be better? Or waste of time
It will all be up to your personal preference. But if you choose a bird that has not been pre-brined, it would be worth doing that yourself. It will be noticeably juicier.
Cool, that’s what I’m going to try, thanks for getting back!
