There have been several cases where kitchens faced fire hazards during the cooking process. One of the common reasons is frying something associated with water or maybe frozen! If you are a meat lover, you might have asked yourself many times that Can you deep fry Frozen Chicken? This might be a simple question, but it has many consequences associated to it.
Any meat item like chicken needs to be preserved in the freezer to keep it fresh for a couple of days. In our busy lifestyles, it is quite common that we don’t have much time to defrost our chicken before frying. Also, last minute preparations can lead to a similar situation while attending guests at our home.
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It is possible to deep fry a piece of frozen chicken but it considered to be very dangerous and risky. This activity must be done with proper safety and the risks should be minimised. Today we are going to discuss a few points that will save your from getting possible burns.
What happens while deep frying frozen food?
Before understanding about the scenario of deep frying your frozen food, we need to consider the situation when water droplets meet the boiling oil. If you remember your science classes at school, children are taught about various states of matter.
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The point was that when you mix two or more extreme states of matter, the results could be explosive. When you pour water on boiling oil or the vice-versa, the mixture could catch flames and burst all over the place. Even a small drop can create a huge mess and make the situation un-controllable.
The frozen ice layer on the surface of chicken acts similar to water and when you put it into hot oil, the ice molecules will suddenly turn into vapours. This quick reaction will make oil to spill out and I don’t think anyone would want to stay near at that time. You might get severe skin burns and other casualties.
Safety Measures
The cooking oil has a lot more boiling temperature than water. Whereas vegetable oil stands at a higher smoking point than certain oils. Smoking point is the temperature at which the oil starts to emitting out smoke from the container.
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It is vital that you should fry the frozen chicken in a temperature-controlled environment. If you mistakenly add frozen food into the oil above its smoking temperature, the risk of fire spikes up. The optimal temperature is about 350 degrees Fahrenheit (upto 375 degrees Fahrenheit). This range is enough to deep fry your chicken under the smoking point without playing the risk of flames.
You need to be extra careful when frying in extra virgin olive oil as it has smoking point between 350-410 degrees Fahrenheit. You might need to reduce the oil temperature slightly to avoid getting in the danger zone. I would also recommend to stay away from Canola oil, Sunflower oil or grapeseed oil while frying frozen chicken as they have relatively low smoking points.
Hence, you should fry your chicken at optimal temperature range and make use of certain oils. Vegetable oils should be preferred more to avoid the potential risk of fire.
How to Fry Frozen Chicken Wings ?
We have clearly discussed all the aspects that you need to keep in mind before you deep fry your frozen chicken. Now it is time to know the correct way do it which will make your chicken crunchy on the outside, and thaw from the center.
Almost all the restaurants follow the same technique to fry the chicken. They initially fry it in a vegetable oil at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and when the oil starts to bubbly, the tray is slightly lifted. It takes a few seconds for the oil bubbles to get settled and the chicken tray is put back in again.
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Once the bubbles stop, chicken is fried for 10 mins and then removed to cool down. You can also deep fry it again for 5 minutes to get that crunchy touch on the meat.
Sometimes when you need to deep fry the whole chicken, the approach might be a bit different. It’s preferred that you steam the chicken for about 15-20 minutes in the steamer. More precisely, the chicken should be at 175 degrees at the thickest region (the breast in this case)
Final Thoughts
Can you deep fry frozen chicken? The answer is a big yes! The recommended vegetable oil should be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and don’t neglect other minor details. Just take necessary precautions and you will be all good.
