I Had To Try It And It Works!!!

A few weeks ago, I read a thread here in Q-Talk entitled "Kettle Fried Chicken" and it was one of the more intriguing ideas I have seen in quite some time. The recipe demonstrated how to get crispy, crunchy "fried" chicken without actually frying it and instead cooking it on the grill. We decided to give it a try for ourselves.

We started off with a collection of bone-in, skin on thighs, breasts and drumsticks. We determined we had enough space on the trusty Weber OTG for 4 thighs, 4 drums and 2 breasts. We didn't do anything to the raw pieces except trim a bit of the excess skin from the thighs and square them up a bit.




We mixed up a quick batter and began dipping the pieces one by one...




And then rolling the dipped pieces in a dry coating.





After dipping and coating all the pieces, we let them rest for about 30 minutes.




While the chicken rested, I fired up a full chimney of charcoal and made sure it was totally lit before adding it to the kettle which I had set up for indirect grilling. I modified the rotisserie ring for the kettle so that I could place a cooking grate at the top and thought it would be good to use that so as to get the chicken a little bit farther away from the coals.




All that was left to do was to put the chicken onto the grate.




I got the kettle temperature to hold steadily at about 375°F and about 40 minutes later the chicken was "G B & D", Golden Brown & Delicious! (The original thread suggested cooking at 450°F but that seemed too high so we cut it back a bit.)




Just as promised in the original thread, the crust was crunchy, crispy and full of flavor while the meat was tender and juicy. Give this a try sometime and you won't be disappointed. I'm very happy we did!

You won't regret it, guys. We actually did two passes that night as I had purchased a lot of chicken parts. Here are a few extra things we learned from both passes:

• A thicker batter is better than a watery batter. We used a watery batter on the first pass and a thicker batter on the second. We also wisked in some melted butter on the second pass and that helped the flavor.
• Don't waste your seasonings in the dry coating. Put them into the batter. The thicker batter carried a lot more seasoning to the final product.
• The breast meat cooked better when it was off the bone. (We cooked bone-in on the first pass and then tried it boneless on the second pass.)
• You're going to need to moisten the coating about halfway through the cook. The original thread suggested using cooking spray and that worked well for us too. However, I think you could also use a number of other liquids that would allow you to apply them via a spray bottle but you'll have to test that for yourself.
• We didn't use any smoke wood on either pass and there was still plenty of "grilled" flavor in the meat. In fact, it's kind of odd on that first bite because you are expecting to get a fried chicken flavor but what you get is a crunch and then some killer grilled chicken flavor.

MrSmoker said:

I have tried it a couple of times also and like it a lot. Thanks Vince for the post,I like your suggestions.

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Hi Dick! Good to see you!

It really was the second pass that made the difference. The crust on the first run was really hard and I think the thicker batter on the second run made a huge difference. The crust was still crispy and had a crunch to it but it was much more tender than the crust on the first batch.

I also want to emphasize how important I think it is to heavily season the batter and not the dry coating. And don't get carried away with the cayenne if you are going for a spicy product. I think a little will go a long way on this.

You know, at the end of it all, I just love the novelty of this recipe and really appreciate the people who originally posted it here.

mgcook said:

What mix did you use for the batter and the dry coating?

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The original thread suggested using the Chicken Fry mix from Lousiana Fish Fry Products. I found it at a local grocery store (Alberstons in Phoenix) and decided to start with that. We used the package directions for the first batch and that is why the batter was watery on that run. The second time around, we made the batter about twice as thick as the directions called for and wisked in some melted butter. We also lightened up the dry coating with some Bisquick.

Again, the second batch was, in our opinion, much better than the first so I would recommend that you make those changes on your first run and then go from there based on your results.

Gore said:

Great job! Glad you enjoyed it. I also agree a thicker batter is the way to go and I preferred not dipping the chicken in flour afterward. The flour tended to stay dry and did not integrate as well into the crust as it does when it is fried, so I ended up with dry cooked flour coating the chicken -- this wasn't what I was going for. Also, while cooking spray is good, I still recommend a butter dip and you can brush with butter halfway through the cook too.

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I guess I missed the part about not using the dry coating at all. I can see how that would improve the end result but maybe something like Panko would work instead of flour, etc. Or maybe just some corn meal. I also like the idea of using a melted butter baste or even a garlic or herb infused melted butter baste.