If we use an air fryer, grease and an oven to cook chicken will it still become crispy?

Sabria Miles

December 10th, 2019

Background Information

Americans weren't the first people to put chicken in a frying pan, Europeans have a history of frying chicken as far back as the Middle Ages. But it was the Scottish, specifically, who liked to deep-fry their chicken in fat.  They also ate their fried chicken without any type of seasoning, so it's safe to assume Americans would find little similarity between the Scottish fried chicken of the medieval age and the salty, sometimes spicy, golden-brown magnificence.

When making fried chicken, the first step is to have hot enough grease. The first chemical reaction starts happening as soon as the chicken touch the grease. The skin starts to bubble up and there are a million bubbles forming around the chicken creating that crispy skin.

Finally the last reaction is on your face after eating that juicy fried chicken with the crispy skin.

 

Hypothesis

If the frying product is changed that will decrease the crispness of the fried chicken.  

Procedure

The independent variable for this process is the frying product. All the ingredients, spices and temperatures were kept the same throughout the experiment.

Trail One	Trail Two	Trail 3
Air fryer	Oven	Stove/Grease

1. Defrost chicken wings the night before
2. Pour grease into a circular pot and turn the stove knob to medium-high, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees
3. Clean the chicken wings and burn of any feathers that might still be on the chicken.
4. Place the chicken into a medium sized bowl and drain all excess water off of the chicken
5. Season chicken to taste with cayenne pepper, black pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce
6. Take two cups of flour and put it into a medium bowl
7. Season flour with black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder and red pepper flakes
8. Mix in the seasoning on the chicken and stir in the seasoning in the flour
9. Coat all of the chicken in flour
10. Get a sheet pan and place non stick foil on the pan
11. Place the chicken on the rack for the air fryer, place chicken on the pan and, in the grease
12. Wait until golden brown!!

Data/Results

Cooking Utensil	Air Fryer	Oven	Stove/Grease
Cooking Notes	Meat starts to  sizzle  Juices drop through the rack	Takes longer Skin sizzles A little blood	Rapid bubbles forming around the chicken Flour starts to turn brown Skin begins to bubble up and forms a crispy coating
End Results	Crisp skin  Meat was very juicy and not dried out  Well seasoned chicken  A little char	Not as crispy Juicy meat	Juicy meat  Golden brown crispy skin Extremely hot!!
Picture

The end results were tasted by four of my family members, each family member ask to rate the crispness on a scale 1-3. The results are summarized below:

 Analysis/Conclusion

As the results above show that the chicken fried in the grease is more crispy than any of the other cooking techniques. First, let's explore different coatings on the skin. As chicken cooks the outside always cooks faster than the inside (that goes for any meat) so you have to watch it carefully and don't burn the outsides. The skin will start to bubble and form a beautiful golden brown outside, it takes about 3-4 minutes to get golden brown skin. Once the chicken is done on the inside take it out and enjoy it. Oven fried chicken doesn't really get a golden brown look on the outside it has more of a rubbery skin. Air fried chicken has a crispy skin and juicy meat because it's air.

Next, the texture. Fried chicken is typically crunchy and have a nice crust on the outside.

Lastly the taste. Fried chicken can be made in many different ways, it can be salty, bland and or very well seasoned, it all depends on taste. The meat is well seasoned and juicy, the skin has a big crunch in every bite.

In conclusion, changing what you fry chicken in plays a huge roll on if the skin will become crispy.