When you’re frying a chicken, you might be dreaming of that perfect crispiness. However, frying a chicken can be complicated, as one wrong step might lead to a soggy fried chicken. Believe it or not, your choice of oil can affect the crispiness of your chicken. So, what is the best fry oil for chicken that you should use to get the crispiest result?
Why Oil Choice Matters When Frying Chicken
Your oil choice plays a big part in how your fried chicken will turn out. There are a few reasons why oil can affect the result of fried chicken significantly.
Smoke Point
Smoke point refers to the critical temperature at which the oil stops shimmering and starts smoking. This was followed by a foul, burnt flavor, and the oil began to break down.
An oil smoke point is crucial for fried chicken, because chicken needs relatively high heat. Therefore, you need to choose an oil that can reach that smoke point effortlessly.
Flavor
Some oils carry a distinct taste that can be delicious on its own. However, fried chicken calls for cleaner, neutral-tasting oil. This ensures the oil taste doesn’t ruin your chicken seasoning and instead embodies the oil’s distinct taste.
Stability and Cost
Stability means how well the oil resists oxidising when it’s exposed to air and reaches a high smoke point. Stable oil can last longer, and it’s important because frying requires a lot of oil. Cost can be crucial as well, as you’ll have to buy a lot of oil to deep-fry chicken.
How Olive Oil Affects Frying Results
It’s no secret that olive oil is many people’s top choice due to many reasons. Some love it for the taste; some love it for the health benefits.
When it comes to deep-frying chicken, olive oil might not be a very popular option. However, olive oil is more than capable of delivering a perfect breaded chicken. Many even say that olive oil might be the best fry oil for chicken.
Although olive oils are known to have a lower smoke point, most of the olive oil types can reach a high enough smoke point to fry chicken. Regular olive oil’s smoke point ranges from 390 – 470 F. EVOO offers a smoke point of 350 – 430 F. Meanwhile, the ideal smoke point for frying chicken is between 325 and 350 F. This debunks the myth that olive oil can’t deep fry chickens.
Another plus point you can get from frying with olive oil is its taste. Heating olive oil can take most of its flavor profile, but it’ll still add a degree of richness to the result. In addition, olive oil’s natural taste is neutral enough to complement your chicken’s breading and complex spices.
Many people also avoid consuming fried chicken due to the amount of unhealthy oil they need to eat. Olive oil is still the healthiest oil for frying chicken, even when compared to other frying oils branded as healthy, which is detrimental to your heart health.
Its Heat Stability makes it the Healthiest oil for Frying Chicken
Olive oil for deep frying hasn’t been talked about enough. However, Australian researchers had done a study on EVOO’s (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) stability during high temperatures, and found EVOO to be the most stable and safest option.
EVOO might not offer the highest smoke point, but this research confirmed that olive oil is still the healthiest option when it comes to oil options. Compared to other cooking oils, EVOO produces the least harmful polar compounds under high heat. This makes olive oil a healthy oil for frying chicken.
So, contrary to popular belief, olive oil is one of the best and healthiest oil for frying chicken. Some olive oil types can reach a high smoke point for frying chicken. In fact, many Mediterranean traditional foods, like calamari, falafel, and keftedes, are known to be deep-fried in olive oil.
How to Make a Good Fried Crispy Chicken with Olive Oil
Frying with olive oil offers multiple benefits that you can’t enjoy from other frying oils. If you’re looking for a healthy oil for frying chicken, olive oil can be your best choice. However, before you dunk your chicken in olive oil, there are steps you can follow to fry your chicken in olive oil:
- Preheat your oven to 200 F (or use your regular warm setting).
- Prepare a baking tray alongside a cooling rack. You can also prepare some plates and paper towels.
- Cut your chicken into uniform pieces. Pat them dry to avoid the oil splattering.
- Mix your favorite breading and seasoning.
- Fill up your frying pan with ½ inch of olive oil and preheat it on medium heat.
- Coat your cut chicken with the breading mix.
- Wait for the oil to heat up for about one to two minutes before testing by sprinkling flour. If you see some sizzles, you can start putting your breaded chicken in.
- Monitor the bubbles produced by your chicken. If you see big bubbles, that’s a sign for you to lower the heat.
- Let your chicken fry for a few minutes, and flip until you reach the ideal golden brown color.
- Put the fried chicken on the prepared baking tray on a paper towel. You can also keep them warm by putting them in your preheated oven.
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