Air-Fryer Southern Fried Hen Recipe

I grew up principally in North Carolina and a little bit bit in Louisiana, and though I’ve lived within the Northeast for almost 30 years, I nonetheless miss the really wonderful fried rooster you get within the South—completely juicy, further crispy, flavorful-in-every-bite fried rooster is simply too onerous to return by up right here. And, positive, I might make my very own, however deep frying in my studio condo was a one-and-done occasion for me. When your kitchen can be your lounge and bed room, the cost-benefit evaluation does not fall on the “deep fry it!” facet fairly often.

Fortunate for me—and all fried rooster lovers—you may make an ideal model of fried rooster in your air fryer, no vat of oil required, because of this air-fryer fried rooster recipe created by our Birmingham, Alabama-based take a look at kitchen colleague Marianne Williams. Learn on to find out how, by means of quite a few exams and tweaks, Williams created a recipe that delivers air-fryer “fried” rooster that is juicy and filled with taste on the within and super-crispy on the skin, then use our ideas and the complete recipe under to create it in your personal kitchen.

Whereas the recipe is written for a mixture of bone-in and skin-on breasts and thighs, you may make this recipe with no matter rooster items you like: skin-on or skinless, bone-in or boneless, breasts, thighs, or different elements. (Although if you’re going with boneless and skinless meat, we advocate selecting thighs, which keep juicier than breasts.) This recipe is written to serve six individuals and should be cooked in two batches, nevertheless it’s simply halved for those who simply need to serve two or three individuals. I prefer it with Southern sides like cornbread or buttermilk biscuits, stewed inexperienced beans or okra, and mac and cheese.

5 Ideas for Marking the Greatest Southern Fried Hen within the Air Fryer

1. Lock in taste and juiciness with a buttermilk-pickle brine. Soaking the rooster in a mixture of egg, buttermilk, and pickle juice, together with scorching sauce for a little bit kick and honey for a contact of sweetness, ensures the meat is seasoned all through with each salt and a contact of acidity. The salt and acid not solely add taste but additionally lock in juiciness—because of salt’s capacity to stop proteins from releasing an excessive amount of water throughout cooking and acid’s pure tenderizing results. We usually don’t recommend marinating for more than a few hours (most flavors exterior of salt and acid do not penetrate far into the meat, and most acids can flip meat mushy if left on it for too lengthy), however this marinade will be allowed to work its magic as much as in a single day, because the lactic acid in the brine is gentler on meat than other acids. 
2. Pat the rooster dry after marinating. When you usually don’t pat rooster dry after a buttermilk brine and earlier than dredging, because the wetness may help the dredge to stick, however on this case drying the rooster helps a ton with getting a crispy crunchy exterior within the air fryer. An excessive amount of moisture can result in soggy fried rooster. 
3. Add rice flour to the dry dredge. Slicing the wheat flour with rice flour improves the crispness and texture of the ultimate coating. It’s because wheat flour accommodates gluten-forming proteins, which may result in extreme toughness. A extra pure starch like rice flour combined in reduces the overall quantity of these gluten-forming proteins, whereas nonetheless offering starch to soak up moisture. The ultimate result’s a lightweight, crunchy coating that resists sogginess. (Baking powder can be added to the dredge for related toughness-fighting advantages.)
4. Generously season the dry dredge. One grievance I’ve about lots of the fried rooster you get exterior of the South is that even when the coating is sufficiently crispy (an enormous if), it is usually bland and underseasoned. Williams solves this by spiking the dry dredge with not solely ample salt but additionally onion powder, granulated garlic, and smoked paprika, which give the crunchy exterior a sturdy taste. 
5. Use oil neatly. When you want a lot much less oil within the air fryer than for deep frying, some oil remains to be needed for crispy “fried” rooster. Step one is including oil to the air-fryer basket (you will line it with foil first), which our testing revealed is a crucial step to make sure the rooster crisps the place it is in touch with the basket. Then you definitely’ll use cooking spray to coat the rooster throughout earlier than frying, creating one thing like a micro-layer of oil during which the rooster can “fry.” Do not maintain again right here: You need to spray the oil everywhere in the rooster items till no dry flour is seen.
6. Prepare dinner it on the proper temperature. Williams examined air frying the rooster and varied temperatures to reach on the “Goldilocks” spot of 380°F (193°C). Any cooler and the rooster is not going to be crispy sufficient, however go hotter and it is prone to overbrown and burn earlier than the meat is cooked by means of.