Fried Chicken on the Grill

[TripleB]

I tried Meathead's fried chicken on the grill. It came out good, but too much breading for me. I'll try this again, but just coat with flour (no egg wash or second flour dusting) and season the chicken a bit differently. I think I also like bacon fat as my primary oil, instead of crisco.

However the process was great. No mess in the kitchen and the frying temp was perfect.

Sorry, but no finished pics. I always forget to take those. Chicken did come out very moist. Family loved it.

[Troutman]

Those look amazing.

[Ground Chuck]

Is this method only meant for an offset? I feel like it be risky cooking with grease over a flame like in a kamado. Too paranoid?

[jfmorris]

That is not an offset - he is doing it on a gas grill, an older Weber Genesis if I am not mistaken. People have cooked with cast iron over open fires for centuries, so I would think you will be ok on your Kamado. You just won't have as much control over oil temp, since the kamado will be wide open. On the gasser, you just turn the knobs to control heat to the skillet.

[jfmorris]

My wife is a big fan of KFC extra crunchy/crispy/whatever - she would probably like a bunch of thick crispy breading. I'll have to try this at some point, just to mix things up.

I've been meaning to do some frying on the grill like this, and I have a 12" Lodge Skillet. Keep thinking I really need to buy a dutch oven to do it right though, and help contain the oil a little better.

[TripleB]

This is a 14" or 16" skillet. I found this skillet in the trash at a campsite like 15- 20 years ago. Finally found a task to use it.

[Spinaker]

Great pics! Ever since I got the RV Works Fryer, I have not tried this. I use to do it with my Lodge Wok, and that worked great.

I use peanut oil when I fry. Does the bacon grease make all the food taste like bacon?

As for the breading, I bet HouseHomey would recommend Panko. He should chime in here, as far as I am concerned he is the frying master. I go to him for any thing I need to know about frying!

[TripleB]

No, the bacon fat does not over power the chicken. Adds salt and flavor. Of course it helps that I LOVE bacon.

[Spinaker]

Interesting. I will have to try that. I fry plenty of bacon! TripleB

[FireMan]

If you fry plenty of bacon, you better be keepin the grease my boy. There is nothin that beats bacon grease when it comes to fryin.

[HouseHomey]

Nice pics. You got the hard part right which is the consistent temp. I have not reviewed the recipe from meathead.

i would shy away from bacon grease as that smoke point, flavor profile and the propensity to leave you with raw interiors and burned exteriors is a recipe for disaster.

Since your open to bacon grease I would use lard or a lard/oil combo.

a proper breading station of flour, egg wash and coating in essential IMHO for a proper fry. I also refrigerate prior to frying.

i sure would have loved to see the finished pics.
What IT did you take the thighs too?

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[FireMan]

Oooh my, I forgot about lard. Yes, lard is even better than BG sometimes & when it’s other times it’s BG! 🕶
Then there is butter, the big three, bacon grease, lard & butter. You’ll never go wrong.

[TripleB]

Good point on the smoke point. I'll have to use lard and BG next time.

Took the internal temp up to 190 d. Fried to about 170 d, then in oven @ 350 d to finish. Did not want the exterior too dark.

I refrigerated too, but too much breading for me. They did look great though.

[texastweeter]

lard is my #2 go to. I prefer tallow.

[hubmacfan]

I tried frying on my grill. I could never get the oil hot enough if I used the grates. I had to remove them and put the pan on the flavorizer bars.

[texastweeter]

Try tallow. Makes the best fries and onion rings too!

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the great photos and nice writeup, TripleB .

FWIW, I posted my results for frying sous-vided chicken on the gasser in this post , for anyone who is interested.

Quick, easy, with a delicious result. I did not use panko or egg wash. Those will be used in a future experiment on my new Camp Chef Somerset IV Outdoor Gas Range.

Kathryn

P.S. No more links. I promise.

[TripleB]

Thanks Kathryn. I did read your post before I did mine, but wanted to do Meatheads recipe. Never done an egg wash before and wanted to give it a try. Next time I'll do it with out the egg wash.

[fzxdoc]

I really liked your post, TripleB because I too was curious about using an egg wash. It's good to know you blazed that particular trail for us and are now heading off in an eggless direction. Your post is one of the many reasons why I like this site so much. Good info thoughtfully presented.

Thanks again,
Kathryn

[Polarbear777]

On charcoal I control the heat by sliding the vessel away or toward the coals. Can you make enough room for a two zone fire on a Kamado?

ive been using my wok burner lately for convenience.

Does a standard gasser get the oil hot quickly?

[TripleB]

I was very surprised how fast my old Genesis got the oil hot. I did not time it, but it was hot in about 15 minutes. My pic with the frying chicken is in a 14" cast iron pan, with 5 pieces of chicken bubbling away. Those were all added one after the other.

[fzxdoc]

TripleB and Polarbear777
When I used a CI 8 qt Dutch Oven (just under half full of peanut oil) on my Summit S650 gasser, it took 15 minutes for the oil to reach 390°F .

Kathryn