Here’s a question that has always vexed me: many
existing recipes for fried chicken advise you to let
the chicken rest for a half hour or so after breading
it before frying it. But very few offer an explanation
as to why, which led me to question the very
practice. Is fried chicken really better when you let it
rest? I cooked a few batches of chicken side by side
to find out.
Materials
See the recipe for Extra-Crunchy Southern Fried
Chicken (here).
Procedure
Follow the recipe as directed through step 3, but do
not heat the oil yet. In step 4, dredge half the chicken
pieces in the seasoned flour, place them on a rack set
on a rimmed baking sheet and let sit undisturbed for
at least 30 minutes, and up to 1 hour. Heat up the oil
as directed in step 3. Dredge the remaining chicken
pieces and immediately fry and finish baking all the
chicken as directed, being careful to keep track of
which batch is which.
Taste both batches of chicken and note their
texture.
Results and Analysis
While neither batch will be bad, the chicken that was
allowed to rest before frying should end up
significantly tougher with a hard, brittle crust