# Refrigerate before frying?



## murphed (May 4, 2017)

Somewhere I read that refrigerating chicken (after preparing with flour, egg, bread crumbs), for a an hour or so before frying will help prevent it from soaking up oil. Is there any truth to that?


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

No. Chilling the chicken after is has been coated will only serve to ensure that the chicken does not cook evenly. The breading will tend to overcook and turn dark brown while the interior of the chicken remains uncooked. More importantly, however, the cold chicken will reduce the temperature of the oil and impede the cooking process. 

Bring the chicken up to room temperature. Chicken can remain at room temperature safely for up to 30 minutes before cooking. When the chicken is room temperature, coat the pieces as you otherwise do and place them immediately into hot fat. Also, make sure the ingredients you use in your coating mixture are likewise at room temperature. 

Good luck.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

I don't usually chill chicken that has been dredged in a flour based breading. That being said I have two examples of my experience that maybe can help you out.

When having to bread a large amount of fish for frying, we utilized a breading mixture that would be a two step of a wet coat made with the breading followed by a dry coat and placed on parchment. This fish was put in buns and stored in a refrigerator but not for more than an hour or so. They fried up fine straight from the fridge. However, the fish is going to be thinner than your breast presumably and being fish needs a lower internal temperature at finish. Also the breading mix was a premade and may play a part in this.

The second example is using chicken, but I used a panko mixture to finish, not flour. After assembling I would place on parchment lined trays and place in the freezer. The chicken never was frozen, but it helped keep the panko crisp and not get soggy from being in a cooler presumably. I would then fry and finish in the oven on racks over trays if the chicken was thick enough to warrant it.

All that being said if you are doing something like a fried chicken I would think cooking it right away would be your best bet. But if you couldn't for any reason, I wouldn't plan on keeping it under refrigeration for a lengthy time.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

No it does not prevent it from soaking up oil. Meat in fact is incapable of “soaking up” oil, the only thing that soaks up oil is the breading. The more breading there is, there more oil it soaks up. 

When I bread chicken for frying I do a 3 part dredge and then place it on a rack in the fridge. It helps the breading dry up and makes for very crispy chicken. It only needs about 20minutes or so.


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