Perfect Fried Chicken Starts With Baking

It's tough not to love crispy, juicy, bursting-with-flavor fried chicken. Preparing it, however, might muster less enthusiasm. The process can be stressful — the urgency of hot oil, attempting to create and maintain a satisfying crispiness, all while ensuring it stays piping hot for service is a serious test in staying cool. But believe it or not, there's a method that not only makes this effort a lot simpler, but results in an even better finished product.

Celebrity chef, cookbook author, and TV host Tyler Florence described his method during a filmed demonstration at the 2015 Food & Wine Classic event, and it begins not with a pot of oil, but a home oven. While conventional recipes call upon home cooks to fry their chicken from its raw state, this strategy is to par-bake it first. Florence explained that placing a whole chicken into the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit helps lock in all those important juices since moisture doesn't evaporate under 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The idea is to then remove before it's fully cooked, and this way, by the time you break down your poultry and dredge it in tasty batter, the fry time is cut down considerably (to about six minutes, according to Florence's demo).

This pre-baking step is something that can be done in advance, which is how the chef said his restaurant is able to serve around 150 fried chicken dinners per day. But even if you aren't a restaurateur, you can see how it's handy to speed up the process.

The pre-baking method isn't exclusive to Tyler Florence. An alternate, similar suggestion is to fully prepare and completely cook your chicken in the oven (this can also be done in advance and stashed in the fridge). From there, the battering and frying process is really only about developing that crispy crust since you don't have to worry about winding up with raw poultry. With either pre-baking method, a major benefit beyond saving time is the fact that the fast frying means you won't risk overcooking the exterior of your fried chicken (and let's face it, that crust is the heart and soul of your dinner).

These strategies differ from oven-fried chicken, which never actually sees an oil-frying step, or oven-finished fried chicken, in which the cooking process begins with frying but is then completed in the oven, but neither prevent you from customizing your crispy protein to suit your preferences. There are lots of ideas for ingredient swaps to elevate your fried chicken, which you can put to use here, too, and you may even want to use an unexpected oil swap for next level fried chicken. Season with your favorite spices, and serve with a go-to dipping sauce, whether that's buffalo or a drizzle of maple syrup paired with waffles. There are mistakes you need to stop making when cooking fried chicken, but pre-baking yours is definitely not one of them.