Fried Food and Fried Chicken question

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I want to eat as healthy as I can within reasonable limits, and I try to work out if I can, too. But I have read both pro's and cons about fried foods. I have taken various advice on here to heart, about no such thing as "bad or good" or "healthy vs unhealthy" foods, again within certain limits. So when it comes to fried foods, and especially fried chicken which I like a lot, are there any "better options" to making it, to make it a little "safer" than deep fried? Like, can one bake the chicken with batter on it instead of frying it, and you get similar taste and nutrition but a bit better for you?

In regards to fried chicken in general, how do you all like to do it, and, what are good side foods that go well with it?

And also check this out: A good friend of mine who really enjoys corn on the cob gave me some insight on how to make it especially good:

1 Peel off all the covering leaves and silk from the corn cob.
2 Soak the corn cob once peeled, in water for about an hour or so, to make sure the water permeates the kernels.
3 Wrap it in aluminum foil or some alternative material and roast it in the oven for an hour at about 400 degrees F.
Supposedly once this is done, the corn kernels will easily pop off the cob when you eat it with or without butter.

has anyone here ever done that or heard of a similar way to do that with the corn before? My friend said the soaking in water for the hour or so is the most important aspect of this recipe.

[OldHoosier62]

I want to eat as healthy as I can within reasonable limits, and I try to work out if I can, too. But I have read both pro's and cons about fried foods. I have taken various advice on here to heart, about no such thing as "bad or good" or "healthy vs unhealthy" foods, again within certain limits. So when it comes to fried foods, and especially fried chicken which I like a lot, are there any "better options" to making it, to make it a little "safer" than deep fried? Like, can one bake the chicken with batter on it instead of frying it, and you get similar taste and nutrition but a bit better for you?

In regards to fried chicken in general, how do you all like to do it, and, what are good side foods that go well with it?

And also check this out: A good friend of mine who really enjoys corn on the cob gave me some insight on how to make it especially good:

1 Peel off all the covering leaves and silk from the corn cob.
2 Soak the corn cob once peeled, in water for about an hour or so, to make sure the water permeates the kernels.
3 Wrap it in aluminum foil or some alternative material and roast it in the oven for an hour at about 400 degrees F.
Supposedly once this is done, the corn kernels will easily pop off the cob when you eat it with or without butter.

has anyone here ever done that or heard of a similar way to do that with the corn before? My friend said the soaking in water for the hour or so is the most important aspect of this recipe.

As far as the chicken goes you can look up "home-made shake and bake" recipes on most of the recipe sites and find alternatives to frying that are quite good and much lower in sodium than the store bought stuff.

As to your friends corn method, the water doesn't saturate the kernels but the cob and then heating steams the kernels loose so they can be easily separated and eaten.

[Evil D]

I do enjoy a bucket of KFC from time to time, but I much prefer baked chicken over fried. It's healthier and less greasy. I like to cut skinless breasts into strips, bread and bake them, then get some Buffalo Wild Wing sauce for dipping.

[bearfacedkiller]

I have done the homemade shake and bake option and it is good. If you are worried about fat then it is lower in fat as well as lower in calories. However, neither of those things are a big issue if you exercise enough.

I am a grill nut. I grill almost all the chicken I eat. I grill multiple times a week regardless of time of year.

I peel back the husks on my corn, remove the silk and rewrap the corn in the husk and grill it in the husk. That is the healthy way. I will also sometimes just shuck the corn completely and just grill it like that and baste it with a mixture of butter and bbq sauce. That is the best corn I have ever had but is a bit less healthy.

I like my fried chicken the southern way with some mac and cheese and collard greens cooked with ham hocks. Man, this just made me hungry.

As far as eating healthy goes I practice the "all things in moderation" approach. Fired chicken is fine as long as you don't eat it all the time. I am a runner and cardio nut and am six foot tall and weigh 150 pounds. I worry less about fat, carbs and calories and more about artificial additives and preservatives. My weight and blood pressure have never really been an issue for me.

[awa54]

again Darby beat me to it... I was going to say grilling corn in the husk is the tastiest way. I've also done the oven method and it's a close second to grilling, though I usually skip the soak for oven roasting and only cook it until the kernels have started to soften and maybe caramelize just a bit around the edges, it comes out a bit drier, but the sweetness is concentrated more.

As far as chicken, I favor breast cut into strips and sauteed in olive oil, I usually marinate in a spice rub and oil before cooking, then drain any excess oil afterward, then put it on salad greens. *technically* that's fried chicken, but not at all what you're talking about...

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thank you, these are some excellent cooking and eating ideas :)

Do you all like?

1 chicken with cheese sandwiches
2 chicken with mashed potatoes or tatertots better?

[awa54]

Thank you, these are some excellent cooking and eating ideas :)

Do you all like?

1 chicken with cheese sandwiches
2 chicken with mashed potatoes or tatertots better?

I eat almost anything that isn't slathered in mayo, though as I get older I've been trying to moderate my carb intake (I really ought to be twenty pounds lighter...). So yes to both though the cheese needs to be "real", here in VT that means Cheddar :D

BTW, home made aioli doesn't count as mayo! especially when it's loaded with herbs and garlic.

[The Deacon]

I've heard that deep frying at a high temperature is (relatively) better for you than pan frying, because the food being fried gets sealed quickly and completely and thus absorbs a minimal amount of the oil. Best done with a "healthy" oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point, like safflower oil. As with most "food science" the chances of it being true are 50-50.

[demoncase]

I've heard that deep frying at a high temperature is (relatively) better for you than pan frying, because the food being fried gets sealed quickly and completely and thus absorbs a minimal amount of the oil. Best done with a "healthy" oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point, like safflower oil. As with most "food science" the chances of it being true are 50-50.

It's false I'm afraid: Food Myth #2 on this link and explaining why lower frying temperatures appear more greasy

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/the- ... myths.html

[remnar]

I just finished a delicious chicken dinner and based on that find it appropriate to give my 2 cents. I love all kinds of chicken cooked all kinds of different ways. A good fried chicken is hard to beat but lately I've been baking mine with great results. I use drumsticks and brush them with a mixture of mayo, mustard, crushed garlic and sesame oil (does that count as aioli awa?) and then coat them with a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Bake on a wire rack at 350 for about an hour. Delicious, and the juiciest baked chicken that I've ever had. I discovered a similar recipe a couple of months ago and I tweak it a little every time that I make it, and it is always enjoyed by the whole family. Probably not the most nutritious method but...meh. :D

[Bloke]

I not overly keen on chicken but, I like it fried best of all and my favourite part is the skin!

I like chicken skin so much I'm currently working on crossing a neighbour’s Sharpei pup with my Road Island Reds. It's a little tricky, but I'll work it out! :confused:

SEF, can you imagine Chicken with Extra Skin? :cool:

Anyhow, hope this helps! :)

[tvenuto]

If you make it for yourself from start to finish, then you'll probably eat fried chicken about as much as you should. This goes for pretty much everything.

Also a general note that fat is an essential nutrient, meaning you will die without it: Rabbit starvation.

[Doc Dan]

Chicken fried in an air fryer cooks out all the fat and there is no added oil. That is my current means of frying a bird.

[MichaelScott]

The question you have to ask is, would life be worth living without fried chicken?

And beer.

[Dr. Snubnose]

ahhhh....why do I always feel like I'm raining on Spyder's Food Threads......Chickens!!!!

Chickens raised for their flesh are often packed by the thousands into massive sheds and fed large amounts of antibiotics and drugs to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them.

Recent documents created by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and made available as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that “none of these [antibiotic feed additives] would likely be approved … for … livestock use if submitted today, under current FDA guidelines. Eighteen of the 30 reviewed feed additives were deemed to pose a ‘high risk’ of exposing humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply.” This reckless use of antibiotics makes drugs less effective for treating humans by speeding up the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

Only seven weeks after they’re born, chickens are crowded onto trucks that transport them to the slaughterhouse. Every year, tens of millions of chickens have their wings and legs broken in the process. They are trucked through all weather extremes, sometimes over hundreds of miles, without any food or water. At slaughter, chickens are hung upside down and have their throats slit, and they’re often scalded to death in de-feathering tanks.

Most chickens spend their entire lives in filthy sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, each getting less space than a sheet of paper, where intense crowding and confinement lead to outbreaks of disease. Adult chickens can have trouble breathing and standing upright and will even topple forward because they’ve been bred to have abnormally large breasts.

If You’re Eating Chicken, You’re Eating Poop!

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study found that more than 99 percent of broiler chicken carcasses sold in stores had detectable levels of E. coli, indicating fecal contamination. That means you are almost guaranteed to be swallowing actual POOP every time you chomp down on a dead chicken. Consumer Reports states that there are “1.1 million or more Americans sickened each year by under cooked, tainted chicken.”

One disgusting example of the damage contaminated chicken can cause involved Foster Farms. Foster Farms was forced to recall chicken products that had been linked to an outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella, which had been making people sick for more than a year. The Washington Post reported, “The [USDA] inspection reports include descriptions of mold growth, cockroaches, an instance of pooling caused by a skin-clogged floor drain, fecal matter and ‘Unidentified Foreign Material’ (which has its own acronym, UFM) on chicken carcasses, failure to implement required tests and sampling, metal pieces found in carcasses, and many more.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, slaughterhouse workers are more than three times more likely to sustain injuries while working than workers in other manufacturing jobs. They are also 30 times more likely to suffer from a repetitive stress injury than workers in other manufacturing jobs. The industry refuses to make working conditions safer by slowing line speeds or buying appropriate safety gear, which amounts to what Human Rights Watch calls “systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment.” Workers are often forced to work 10 or more hours a day, and in order not to slow down, they have even been reported to defecate in their pants.

Chickens on today’s factory farms almost always become crippled because their legs cannot support the weight of their bodies. In fact, by the age of 6 weeks, 90 percent of “broiler chickens” are so obese that they can no longer walk. Many crippled chickens on factory farms die when they can no longer reach the water nozzles

Companies want you to believe that labels like “free-range” and “organic” mean chickens were raised without cruelty. Regardless of what the egg cartons say, most hens raised for their eggs are subjected to cramped, filthy conditions until their egg production begins to wane—when they’re about 2 years old—and then they’re typically slaughtered. More than 100 million “spent” hens are killed in slaughterhouses every year. Every year, millions of male chicks are killed—usually in a high-speed grinder called a “macerator”—because they’re worthless to the egg industry.

In a natural setting, a hen will cluck to her chicks before they even hatch while sitting on the eggs in her nest. They peep back to her and to each other through their shells. On factory farms, eggs are taken from the mother as soon as they are laid and placed in large incubators—a chick will never meet his or her parents. Hens prefer to have private nests hidden from predators and will often go without food or water in order to obtain a private nest. This demonstrates the fact that hens will sacrifice their own comfort if it means protecting their chicks. On factory farms, hens are forced to lay their eggs in barren metal cages, crammed together with five to 11 other birds.

Raising 9 billion chickens for meat on factory farms each year produces enormous amounts of excrement. which leads to widespread fecal land and water pollution. Because chickens are often fed massive amounts of antibiotics and additives, these chemicals are also found in high concentrations in their feces, which means that fecal pollution from chicken farms is especially disastrous for the environment. In Maryland and West Virginia, scientists discovered that male fish are growing ovaries, and they suspect that this freakish deformity is the result of factory-farm runoff from drug-laden chicken feces.

Now we even send our chickens directly from America to be processed in China and then sent back to us for re-sale.....and consumption...The government says the packaging need not reflect the chicken's journey to the far east....

Sooooo, I like corn on the cob.....hold the chicken....better yet help the chickens!!!!...Doc:)
FWIW: KFC is owned and operated by the Yum Yum Corp. which is a China Based Firm.

[remnar]

And then there's this. Lol

Corn, It's What's Bad for You

Instead of “Beef, It's What's for Dinner,” I thought my title might be better. Today, the American diet is not balanced. It's heavily weighted with grain, grain-based food products (foods and drinks laced with high fructose corn syrup and other grain-type additives), and grain-fed livestock products. Back in the late-1970s scientists started discovering that grain, grain-based foods, and grain-fed livestock products are the root cause for most if not all of today's major chronic diseases (body failings): Cancer, depression, obesity, allergies, autoimmune diseases such as lupus and arthritis, diabetes, asthma, and the list seems endless. (For additional articles documenting the reasons why grains are damaging to animal body function go to OMEGA-3 ESSAYS.)

Amazingly, the worst grain is corn! And wouldn't you know it, corn is the most abundant grain produced in America! Not only does it have the worst fatty acid profile (Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio) of nearly all grains (which skews the fat balance in the membranes of all animal body cells negatively impacting cell function), but it is also a fungal host to 22 different fungi including Aspergillus. Some of these fungi put out body debilitating mycotoxins that can literally kill animals and people. This is why the US Government tests corn for aflatoxin, one of the most deadly and highly carcinogenic toxins on the planet. Many condemned corn supplies end up in animal feeds (not only for livestock in feedlots but family pets too.)

One would think that everyone would be lit up like downtown lights in their attempt to eat right. Therefore, getting the word out on modern fatty acid research, which started coming out in the mid-1970s, should be a snap, right? Wrong! American business is Big Business. That means it is entrenched with huge capital investments in fixed assets and magnificent cash flows from daily sales. It currently feeds 300,000,000 Americans three meals a day, therefore it is fully committed to the status quo. And worst of all, their customers resist change and continue to vote with their dollars for inexpensive grain-based foods. That makes it nearly impossible for large businesses to promote radical change.

Yet maybe even far more sinister (if that is the right word) is the advice our nation's medical practitioners hand out to their patients. For the most part the medical profession knows next to nothing (mostly what it knows is common knowledge) about nutritional science. For sure they do not understand how the Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency occurs,it's implications, and how to eat naturally in order to have a perfect fatty acid profile which will prevent body failure (chronic disease). Consequently they never cure their patients' chronic diseases, they merely help them live with their health problems (or under the threat of recurrence) courtesy of drugs and operations.

[Dr. Snubnose]

LOL....****!!! I guess nix the corn....guess I'll have a PP&J sandwich ( peanuts are the 2nd most heavily sprayed item with pesticides in the United States....no worries...the ones that go rotten get crushed into peanut butter) I think Jelly might be ok but now I'm not sure....Doc:)

[The Deacon]

I've heard that deep frying at a high temperature is (relatively) better for you than pan frying, because the food being fried gets sealed quickly and completely and thus absorbs a minimal amount of the oil. Best done with a "healthy" oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point, like safflower oil. As with most "food science" the chances of it being true are 50-50.

It's false I'm afraid: Food Myth #2 on this link and explaining why lower frying temperatures appear more greasy

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/the- ... myths.html

Ah well, halfway expected that. I'm more firmly convinced than ever that "food science" is 99 and 44/100 percent BS and a lot of other "medical science" isn't a heck of a lot better. No matter anyway, last time I had anything fried was the night before I closed on my house.

[demoncase]

I've heard that deep frying at a high temperature is (relatively) better for you than pan frying, because the food being fried gets sealed quickly and completely and thus absorbs a minimal amount of the oil. Best done with a "healthy" oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point, like safflower oil. As with most "food science" the chances of it being true are 50-50.

It's false I'm afraid: Food Myth #2 on this link and explaining why lower frying temperatures appear more greasy

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/the- ... myths.html

Ah well, halfway expected that. I'm more firmly convinced than ever that "food science" is 99 and 44/100 percent BS and a lot of other "medical science" isn't a heck of a lot better. No matter anyway, last time I had anything fried was the night before I closed on my house.

Yeah- Trouble is celebrity chefs and cookery shows are run (on the whole) by arts and media graduates for chefs- none of whom are all that scientifically minded. Most cookery is learned via observation and anecdote, which compounds the issue.

The biggest understanding of the science of food actually comes from folks that make all that horrible mass-produced stuff in factories.....You better believe they know the science of what makes a Twinkie rise or how much foam is produced by stirring compared to shaking a set of pasta sauce ingredients- because get it wrong and you're suddenly waist deep in unsaleable product.

Guys like Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal are unusual in approaching food from a scientific perspective to gain understanding.....Both have books and shows which demonstrate that (for example) searing a steak in pan doesn't seal it, and you keep cooking it and water will boil out of it until you end up with shoe-leather.

But turn on any cookery show today and you'll still hear some numpty say "I'm sealing the meat in the pan" as water spits and boils out of it

Here's a good question to test a cook's scientific understanding: Why do we frequently serve lemon wedges with fish and seafood?

(Answer: Because the 'fishy odour' that many of us find unpleasant and easy to detect is an amine. Citric acid in the lemon converts that to an amide, which our nose cannot detect. This can make a fish dish seem fresher than it is)

[Doc Dan]

I take chicken and soak it in very alkaline water for up to 45 minutes, and wash it thoroughly. Then I fry it without oil in my air frier at 400 F for 30 minutes. There is nothing that I know of that will survive such measures.