Weber Kettle Fried Chicken (pron)

[Aawa]

UFC 167 was on last night.  I always cook something up for the fights.  I went to the store Friday and picked up a whole fryer chicken and broke it down into parts.  My roommate had some chicken fingers that needed to be cooked also.  I was going to just do bbq chicken, but then it hit me.  Kettle Fried Chicken!

I didn't get any shots of the prep as I was in a rush to take get it broken down and soaking in buttermilk Friday night, and then in a rush to get it breaded and onto the kettle Saturday night after work. 

Here are some shots though of the chicken breaded and raw.  I used corn meal instead of flour since I apparently was out of flour and didn't want to run to the store.  (flour I seasoned with different herbs and spices)





Before I put them on the kettle I brushed them with some melted butter so that the crust would set and brown. I cooked on the kettle indirect setup at 400 degrees w/ a chunk of peach wood.

Here are some finished shot.






And my plate to eat during the fights.




The breading on it would fall off on chunks at some spots because the breading was dry.  I think there might be 2 ways to fix this.  Either brush with more fat (butter, oil, etc). Or make a batter and do a dredge, eggwash dip, batter.  The flavor was there but the breading was a little disappointing.  I will definitely be doing this again to try to perfect it.

[jcnaz]

That looks great! Keep us posted on any changes that you make. My son loves fried (breaded) chicken, this could really work for me!

[Aawa]

That looks great! Keep us posted on any changes that you make. My son loves fried (breaded) chicken, this could really work for me!

Next time I do this again I'll definitely post it and the changes I had made.  The thing I liked about the faux fried chicken is that it doesn't have anywhere close to the calories/fat content of real fried chicken but still satisfied the hunger for fried chicken.   And i love me some fried chicken!

[MacEggs]

Very nice ... Looks delicious!  Too bad no pics of them pieces on the Weber .... Not sure I believe you ...

Just kidding, dude!  Kettle cooked chicken is far better than fried ... IMHO.      You had the best of both! 

[OoPEZoO]

That looks fantastic!

I cooked home made buffalo chicken fingers last night using sliced boneless chicken breasts and had the same issue with the breading.  It looked and tasted great, but it is a little soft and falls off in chunks.  The only time I have ever been able to get it the way I wanted was to either deep fry or pan fry them (which tastes awesome, but is always a huge mess).  Cooking in the oven or on the kettle gets me good results, but the breading always comes off when I toss them in the bucket to sauce them.  I used an egg wash, flour, egg wash, then bread crumbs.  I like the idea of using a covering of butter/oil to crispen up the outside.  I'll have to give that a whirl next time.  Maybe some olive oil or butter in a spray bottle would be a good way to get it on  nice and even without making a bigger mess.

[gunner]

Good looking chicken!!! Not sure if you did this or not, but once you dredge your chicken, put it back on the wire rack and let it "set up" for 15 minutes or so by just letting it sit before you throw it on the grill. This usually helps with the breading falling off. Also, did you first dip your chicken in flour then into your dredge? This also helps the batter stay on...if you did both of those things, then I got nothin' else! Still looks like you did a great job and probably tasted amazing....the soaking in buttermilk over night is key!

[Mmmmm]

Good looking chicken!!! Not sure if you did this or not, but once you dredge your chicken, put it back on the wire rack and let it "set up" for 15 minutes or so by just letting it sit before you throw it on the grill. This usually helps with the breading falling off. Also, did you first dip your chicken in flour then into your dredge? This also helps the batter stay on...if you did both of those things, then I got nothin' else! Still looks like you did a great job and probably tasted amazing....the soaking in buttermilk over night is key!

Sounds like you've done this with success. For the sake of us who haven't tried it, could you post a recipe including your batter?

Thanks in advance.

[Mmmmm]

Whoops! Posted here before reading the other thread.

Thanks for the link, Troy.

[Aawa]

Good looking chicken!!! Not sure if you did this or not, but once you dredge your chicken, put it back on the wire rack and let it "set up" for 15 minutes or so by just letting it sit before you throw it on the grill. This usually helps with the breading falling off. Also, did you first dip your chicken in flour then into your dredge? This also helps the batter stay on...if you did both of those things, then I got nothin' else! Still looks like you did a great job and probably tasted amazing....the soaking in buttermilk over night is key!

My process was marinate in buttermilk.  Pull out of buttermilk and directly into a dredge, then an eggwash, then the breading.  I also let it setup for 30mins on a wire rack, while I setup the kettle and got the coal started.

The taste was awesome but the crust fell off.  That was my only complaint.  From the sounds of it the big thing is getting the crust moistened with some sort of fat (oil or butter) more so than I did. 

Thanks for the information and giving me some direction where to go from where I started!