This Is The Temperature You Should Be Frying Your Chicken At

Ah, fried chicken... the unofficial holy grail of deliciousness. Even though making fried chicken at home is an undertaking prone to mistakes, it's also completely worth the time and effort if you know how to cook it properly. For all the things that can go right, like a massive flavor infusion from a buttermilk and pickle juice brine, or the tasty kick of herbs and spices like the ones in this copycat version of KFC chicken, there's one very important thing that can go wrong. If you don't know the right temperature to fry your chicken at, you may wind up with a total disaster on the plate.

According to Cook's Country, oil that's too cold can result in greasy fried chicken. But, if you lean too far in the other direction and overheat your frying oil, you can end up with chicken that's undercooked in the center. Before risking these fearsome flaws, read on to learn about the correct temperature to fry your chicken at and the trick to getting it there.

While there's a lot of leeway in how to flavor and season your chicken, the correct oil temperature is not up for debate. Cooks Country says the ideal temp is between 300 and 325 degrees. But, in order to get there, you actually want to overshoot the mark a bit. Fill a pot about halfway full with oil and heat it to between 350 and 375 degrees. This higher range takes into account the drop in temperature that will occur once you add the chicken to the pot. Also, remember to fry your chicken in batches – overcrowding the pot will cause your oil temp to dip below the target. And, be prepared to adjust your burner as the chicken cooks if the temp begins to creep below 300 or above 325.

You've probably deduced by now that you need a deep-fry thermometer to accurately measure the temperature of your oil, but ThermoWorks also recommends using a meat thermometer during the frying process. Leaving a probe meat thermometer inserted into the chicken while it cooks will let you know when the meat is done. Take the chicken out of the oil once its internal temp reaches 157 degrees. The carryover cooking will allow the temperature to rise to the FDA-recommended 165 degrees. With these guidelines in mind, there's nothing left to do but fry that fowl!