What makes batter more crispy?

Rice flour and cornstarch work particularly well because they fry up crispier than wheat flour. They also absorb less moisture and fat during the frying process, making the products less greasy. This is why rice flour is often used when making tempura because it produces a very thin and crispy, dry crust.

Do I dip chicken in egg or flour first?

The trick to getting the batter to stick to the chicken pieces properly is to dip the chicken into the seasoned flour, before dipping into the egg mixture . The flour helps the egg mixture adhere to the chicken. Then dip the chicken back into the flour mixture.

Why does my batter keep falling off my chicken?

Meat is not properly dry If the meat is wet, it will make the flour soggy. In that case, breading will not stick properly and may fall off when deep frying. Therefore, you must take some paper towels and pat dry the meat on all sides.

Does egg make batter stick?

Structure. Whole eggs, egg yolks and egg whites are all used to add structure to batters . The yolk's elevated fat content helps it bind fats and liquids together through what's called an emulsion. Emulsion is just a fancy word for two liquids that don't usually blend together on their own, like oil and water.

Can you coat chicken with just flour?

Fried chicken tastes fantastic with a batter or a flour coating . It's simply a matter of preference. Flour coatings like the one used in this fried chicken recipe combine flour with spices, and they sometimes add cornstarch or baking powder to the mix.

Does egg wash make chicken crispy?

The egg wash acts as a binder for the bread crumbs, since the moisture from the chicken alone isn't enough. From there, you can pop the chicken in the deep fryer or air fryer, and it will come out perfectly crisp .

Is it better to dredge chicken in flour or cornstarch?

Cornstarch will make your fried chicken better . A 50-50 split of all-purpose flour and cornstarch in your batter will leave you with an audibly crunchy, beautiful browned exterior. The corn adds a bit of golden color that all-purpose flour can't quite get to.

How does KFC get their chicken so crispy?

KFC deep fries its chicken for 15 minutes and then drains the oil off for another five minutes – 20 minutes in total . If you don't have a deep fryer, heat up plenty of oil in a large saucepan and do it that way.

Should you poke holes in chicken before frying?

Chicken thigh meat - poking holes with a fork Skin shrinks when cooked. Use a fork to poke holes in the skin to prevent shrinkage and to further permeate the flavors of seasonings .

Why is my batter not sticking when frying?

First, if the fryer oil temperature isn't at the right level , it won't keep the batter adhered to the food. That's because the batter is at a lower temperature than the oil in the fryer, which causes the batter to ooze off and not stick. When the oil is hot enough, it helps keep everything contained better.

How do you keep batter from falling off chicken fried steak?

Another important tip is to place the breaded meat onto a sheet pan, cover and place back in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frying . This will firmly adhere the breading onto the meat and help keep it from falling of when frying.

How do you make seasoning stick to chicken when frying?

Drizzle a light layer of olive oil onto the chicken if you want the rub to stick better . Olive oil helps the dry rub adhere to the meat so it's less likely to fall off while you're cooking it. Put a coin-sized amount of olive oil on the chicken and spread it evenly across the sides of the chicken.

Batter-Fried Chicken (2024)

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Fried Chicken

Potato starch gives this straightforward method the edge.

Tim Chin

Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who started contributing to Serious Eats in early 2020. He holds a degree in Classic Pastry Arts at The International Culinary Center.

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Updated March 11, 2024

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Why It Works

A blend of potato starch and wheat flour enhances the batter’s crispiness, inhibits gluten formation, and limits oil absorption.
Baking powder enhances the crispiness of the crust and encourages browning.

Batter-fried chicken is something of a rarity. Due to tradition or cultural preference, battering isn't the go-to method, and dry-dredged Southern fried chicken reigns supreme.

The Case for Batter-Fried

And yet, while you can't go wrong with the classic dry-dredge, I'd argue that batter-fried chicken is cleaner, faster, and requires less effort to make. Batter also has another benefit, which is it creates a thin, crispy shell, which you see in the double-fried crust of Korean fried chicken, and in the light and puffy shell of tempura. But what if you could have a batter-fried chicken with a light and crispy crust and also some of dry-dredged fried chicken's heft? That was the question I set out to answer with this recipe.

Many recipes for batter-fried chicken recommend using wheat flour or a combination of wheat flour and cornstarch. In side-by-side testing, I found that recipes with wheat flour tended to produce a dense, tough coating that was all too reminiscent of bad tempura batter. In contrast, recipes that used a blend of wheat flour and cornstarch were much better, but the coatings were either too delicate or too brittle.

The Perks of Potato Starch

I turned to potato starch. In a wheat flour-based batter, potato starch and cornstarch perform a similar function. They both inhibit gluten formation, limit oil absorption, and produce a crispier texture. But because of its larger granule size, batters with potato starch can form a rigid, semi-brittle network when fried that’s crunchier and more robust than a batter made with cornstarch.

Given potato starch's properties, you might wonder why I include any wheat flour at all in this recipe. Early on in my recipe testing, I tried mixing batters of mostly potato starch, but these batters produced coatings that were glass-like and excessively crunchy, and they didn't brown that much, even after lengthy frying. I got the best results when using a 50-50 blend of potato starch and wheat flour by weight. The wheat flour facilitates browning, while the potato starch provides structure, cohesion, and that all important crunch factor. What comes out of the fryer is super crispy fried chicken that's easier to make than your go-to dry-dredge method, but with a similarly substantial crust.

September 2021

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