# Breading falling off chicken tenders.



## kcbarfly (Dec 23, 2014)

I need to know the proper way to hand bread and deep fry chicken tenders. I have tried many different methods with the same result. The breading always falls off the meat when my customers are eating them. Please let me know how everyone accomplishes this in their restaurants. Your advice is greatly appreciated.


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

Let me tell you a BIG secret. Most restaurants buy their chicken tenders frozen and already  breaded.

And the few who do their own breading use the classical Viennese breading which is flour, then beaten whole egg and finally breadcrumbs.


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

Forgot to tell you that you seldom get chicken tenders ;its mostly chicken breasts cut into strips  to resemble chicken tenders


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Flour, eggwash, breadcrumbs.  Then you need to apply pressure.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

What are you currently doing to bread your tenders?


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## peteypete (Oct 4, 2015)

have you tried frying them in a pan? Deep fat frying them might be pulling apart the breadcrumbs. It could also be the breadcrumbs themself try different types. Lastly I would try Coating the chicken tenders twice.


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## kcbarfly (Dec 23, 2014)

We are a small bar & grill so I try to use my product in as many ways possible. We use a raw 6 oz butterflied chicken breast. We use that chicken breast for a grilled chicken platter, grilled chicken sandwich, fried chicken sandwich, chicken nachos and chicken fingers. When we get a order of fingers we pull a butterflied breast then cut it into 4 equal strips. We then bread them and deep fry them in 350 deg oil.

Here are the breading procedures we have used...

flour dredge + egg wash + flour

flour dredge + buttermilk + flour

flour dredge + buttermilk/egg + flour

flour dredge + any of the above + panko

Am I missing a trick here? I have been told I need to put the the flour dredged chicken back in the fridge for awhile to let it form a glue. This is not feasible for us because we pull breast out of the same container in order to do different things with it (grilled or fried) to keep food spoilage down. I am very aware of frozen pre breaded chicken tenders as i have used that method for years. I am trying to step it up and be better then the competition by hand breading. Its working out good other then the breading falling off thing. Thank you all for your help.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Yes, you should be letting it rest. When you go directly from breading to the fryer it has a tendency to slip off. You can do the complete 3 stage breading (not just flour) ahead of time. 

Pre-bread your tenders and you should see a vast improvement. I don't understand why you can't pre make them? Doing them to order during service takes up valuable space (you have room for a 3 tray breading station?), time, and increases the risk of cross contamination.

Just make them every day, then use the ones you don't sell first the next day. I don't see a reason why, if properly stored, they wouldn't last at LEAST 2 days in your lowboy/fridge.


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## kcbarfly (Dec 23, 2014)

So you are saying to do all three steps then store? or just flour dredge then store/ Also I dont exactly have the space for sheet pans so I would have to stack the tenders on top of one another. I am also worried about the inconsistency chicken tender sales. Some days we do 4 or 5 orders other days we do 20.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Press them as you dredge them in breadcrumbs.  To store use a half sheet pan or some suitable container, parchment/chicken/parchment/chicken.


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## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

1/2 gal. milk, 3 eggs beaten, a little Lowrey's.

Dip, drain, flour, dip, flour with a little Lowrey's, fry.  Last time I did this I used cake flour, worked great.

Or do it the simple way.  Get some fried chicken breading and batter dip, (1 cup/gal water for dip).

Breading, knock most off, dip, let drain a second, back into breading (press while breading).  Fry.

Lots of brands of fried chicken breading/dip out there, just play around with it.


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

All good advice and I double thumbs up Someday, let it rest. It will form a crust as the moisture wicks through your breading adhering it. I do the same for regular for bone in fried chicken.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Kcbarfly said:


> So you are saying to do all three steps then store? or just flour dredge then store/ Also I dont exactly have the space for sheet pans so I would have to stack the tenders on top of one another. I am also worried about the inconsistency chicken tender sales. Some days we do 4 or 5 orders other days we do 20.


Yes, all three at once, then store.

There is no reason that you can't save chicken tenders for more than 1 day. If you sell only 5 one day, save the other 15 for the next day. They'll hold up.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

I bread pork and chicken cutlets on occasion. 
Do what someday says, it works. Flour, egg wash with milk, I use buttermilk then into the breeding. I use a mixture of Pabnko and plain breadcrumbs. Make sure each is seasoned. Stack between paper in a third or half pan.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

This hasn't been mentioned yet, but I noticed you said you are pulling your chicken out of the same container you store other chicken in. Your chicken is too wet to start, that's why the breading is falling off. The first flour coat isn't going to get you the dry surface you need to make the egg wash stick. When the egg wash won't stick, the final breading won't stick.

Pre-breading and holding is always going to produce a better breading, but you can get it to stick fine without. You just can't start with really wet chicken. Beyond the frying, you don't want your chicken too wet when it goes on the grill or into a pan either. Wet chicken doesn't sear like it should. Unless it's specifically a marinated chicken, and you have a little sugar in the marinade to caramelize on the heat, your chicken should be dry before it hits any heat. You'll get a better finished product.

I'm with everyone else on how you should be prepping them. Let the chicken drain thoroughly. Press lightly between some paper towels if you don't have time. Then dry, wet, dry bread it and lay it out on wax paper in the fridge. Prep 50% more than you think you need for your shift. If there is some left over, it will be fine the next day, though it may need an extra dip in the last breading before service. You'll have a better product and your speed up service.


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## s-car-go (Dec 1, 2015)

Just had a middle of the night brainstorm.  You are using liquid pasturerized eggs instead of shell eggs?  They don't adhere as well as shell eggs. Please let us know.


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

I just soak the tenders in buttermilk overnight. Get a bag of Krusteaz Western Chicken Breading I have used it for years with great results. All you need to do is take whats needed out of the buttermilk and toss into the breading until they are covered. I do have a chicken breading recipe that I came up with but it was just easier to buy a bags Krusteaz for all my cafes.


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

The most essential step before rubbing, marinating, orbreading bird protein is to dry it. Whether a whole bird, wings, breast, or tenders, dry it first. That way, the first roll in the flour, the flour is sticking to the meat, not the moisture on the meat. And, yes, let the tender sit for a minute before tossing it into the fryer.

Dry

Flour

Egg

Breading

Check it:





  








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redbeerd cantu


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Dec 9, 2015








Chicken breast, no flaking.





  








DSCN0780.JPG




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redbeerd cantu


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Dec 9, 2015








Oven fried, no flaking off.





  








IMAG0092_zpshqygut5m.jpg




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redbeerd cantu


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Dec 9, 2015








Turkey wings, no flaking off.

If you try this, let me know how it goes.

Peace

RedBeerd


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