KFC, CI CB, etc.

[G$]

Empty refrigerator and empty wallet sent me to the store for dinner materials.  Leq quarters are cheap:  $0.79 a pound.

So I cooked some Kettle Breaded Chicken last night and wanted to share some of the process with you. 

First though, I made a small pan of cornbread, suprisingly something I have never baked in CI on the grill.  I warmed the Cast Iron and poured in the batter:




About twenty minutes later this was the result:




Popped right out:




It went so well, I made another since the iron was hot (and since the pantry revealed another box of corn muffin mix) ... Yes, I admit, this was Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (spiked with creamed corn) so it was a little dry but it looked and tasted fantastic and the creamed corn helped with the authenticity a little.





For the chicken, I split up the leg quarters in to thighs and drums.  Darn these quarters have backbones attached to the quarters. No wonder they are 79 cents a pound. And I swore off trimming chicken thighs when I stopped doing competitions.  Where did my life go wrong!?  Anyway, I then soaked them in Milk and Hot Sauce for a couple hours.  Buttermilk would be better, but in keeping with sentance one of this post I was not spending the extra two bucks for it.  I think the milk and hot sauce did the trick.

I removed the pieces from the milk mixture and dredged them through some fish fry breading I had on hand.  It was a corn meal base and I added soem seasoned flour to it so that I would not run out.  Here the pieces are breaded, and ready to go on the grill:




I cooked them indirect, and after about an hour, I nudged the chicken toward the coals to spend just a couple minutes crisping the parts that were not yet crisp.  The dome read about 400 for most of the cook (and the grate temp was probably a tad lower) but was falling at the end so I finished them close to the fire.   Here they are approaching the flames.  You can see that some, but not much, of the breading was sacrificed to the webergods.  I have not yet decided if the screen is a good way to move/cook these or if they are just as easy right on the grate.




Threw em on the plate and brought them in:



Served with smoked-mashed potatoes* and gravy, cole slaw, and the corn bread.








* I often grill a couple russets until very soft, chop them up skins and all, add butter, and then add instant potato mix and water as directed on the instant potato package, and mix.  It makes for a really quick and simple mashed potato dish with a hint of smoke and authentic potato lumps.  Try it.   

[1buckie]

I count at least three great ideas there......excellent cookup & additions, VERY well done !!!!

[G$]

You get it, Buck.  You always do. 

I hope one of the lessons learned is to spend 20 more cents for split thighs and drums. 

[Jeff]

Thank you for this post.  A few things there I'd like to try out!

[toddmog]

Great post. I'm doing KFC for the first time tonight...hope it turns out half as good as yours!

[G$]

Great post. I'm doing KFC for the first time tonight...hope it turns out half as good as yours!

There are KFC experts here, and I am not one of them, but I think indirect but HIGH heat is the way to go if it will get you all the way to your goal.  if you need to get closer to the flames, do it at the end.    I had no burning or blackening at all and would not hesitate bumping my indirect heat up even more.   Every time I cook it is a learning experience.  Enjoy your cook!

[AZ_MIKEY]

The cheap but creative meals are always a safe bet and you sir nailed it on this one! Fabulous looking food and way to think outside the box.

[1911Ron]

Good looking chicken and cornbread!  I too am a fan of doing baked potato's on the grill.

[toddmog]

Figured I'd just add to this thread instead of starting another one.  Here's my first attempt at KFC.  Sorry no plated pics, we just had some corn on the cob seasoned with butter and some Plowboy's Yard Bird.  The legs were brined for around three hours, rinsed, dried, and then coated with Louisiana Spicy chicken breading.  It had good flavor and wasn't overly spicy...could have been a little spicier for my liking, but was perfect for my 5 & 11 year old boys.  After about 40 mins on, I brushed a little olive oil to moisten up the breading.  Next time, I'll probably brush a little sooner to see if they will darken up a little more.  They cooked indirect for right at an hour with the dome therm reading 400 the whole time.  One thing to note, the top left leg was dredged in the wet coating and dry coating a second time as an experiment.  While crispier, it was the only one that the coating was coming off...glad I didn't experiment with all of them!  I'll be doing KFC again soon.

Anywhoo...here they are fresh off the grill.

[1buckie]

Nice !!!!



Maybe a misting from a spray bottle?
Or if you have brushing down to a fine science, looks like you do.....then stick w/ that.....real even cooking there !!!!

[jcnaz]

Both if these cookups look great! I will be trying KFC soon.

[G$]

Anywhoo...here they are fresh off the grill.

Todd, they look super!  You mention wanting them darker.  They look literally PERFECT to me! 

Did your "Louisiana Spicy Chicken Breading" have corn meal as an ingredient?

[toddmog]

Todd, they look super!  You mention wanting them darker.  They look literally PERFECT to me! 

Did your "Louisiana Spicy Chicken Breading" have corn meal as an ingredient?

Thanks G$, the more I look at them, the better they look!  I guess they have that "fried in fresh oil" look.  Yes, it had yellow corn meal listed as an ingredient.

[Ethang]

They look just fine to me too.


My Weber makes it hard to screw up dinner

[Idahawk]

I did some KFC last night also , I've been trying different breading mixes . This was a Kentucky Chicken seasoned Flour mix the wife got , dip in melted butter or margarine and then the dredge , I used butter. The chicken came out slightly darker with the added fat , had great flavor , used cherry chunk wood for smoke

I started at 450 indirect and fished at about 400 , the breast and drumsticks were done in about 40 minutes the thighs took and about an hour .