Tips for frying chicken steaks in a pan

My turn today to turn to TT for information. I used to be a complete vegetarian. These days I eat chicken for religious reasons. I belong to a sable and sinister sect, with the purpose of imminent world domination(the usual) and of which I am not entitled to speak(the usual). So do not ask. My religion demands of me to eat chicken at least once a day. Which brings me to my problem.

As an ex-vegi I know shit about about meat. I like stuffing chickens and they taste real fine. But once I attempt frying chicken- or turkey steaks it goes horribly wrong. The meat burns on the outside without being completely done. With birdflu and salmonella roaming about, I do not want to risk not frying the meat completely. When I continue frying my chicken steak, the meat turns all chewy and dry. When I pre-fry chicken or turkey in curries this doesn't happen to me because of the other ingredients I use.

Any ideas what I can do? Thanks for helping me.

Sounds like your heat is too high.

The heat is way too high, hence the typical barbecue thing... Turkey is a fairly dry meat anyway so I hate frying it in general...

EDIT: Ah. Showem got there first

Yeah, also keep that bird moving, don't let it stick to the pan. That'll help on high heat. Add more oil (olive or sesame) so it doesn't burn whilst cooking.

I used butter up to now. So I should rather use oil?

Use a deepfryer.

Use cooking oil, olive oil tends to give a distinct taste to meat that is not to everyone's liking but if you were using butter you may like olive oil.

I get better results cooking with oil as opposed to butter, especially on a high heat. You could try it and compare the results. Let us know!

Okey dokey. Will do. Thanks for all the info! I will try using olive oil. I don't think deepfrying would be a good idea. That would be too fatty.

Butter is okay, but it's definitely not for high heat. Nothing worse than the taste of burnt butter. Use both butter and a bit of oil if you want to keep the temperature up.

Lower the heat. What I do is cover the pan for a while to make sure it gets cooked thru, after that I increase heat to make it crispy.
good luck

Go to KFC

She said she wanted to eat chicken!

Do you want crispy, i.e. batter fried chicken or just pan fried chicken. For the former consider peanut oil its the oil of choice for cooks in the deep south. You can also use any other oil that have a high smoke point and/or can withstand high temperatures. Lard is good if you can stomach the thought of it. There are a lot of recipes for batter fried chicken but the key is it shouldn't be turned to frequently, dark and light meat - especially if your dealing with pieces - should be cooked separately as well.

If you want just pan fried chicken olive oil is fine. You could also pound the meat thin, (think schnitzel). People normally put the meat between wax paper and smash it down with a mallet. I usually put mine in a ziploc bag first to keep the mess down to a minimum. If you dont have a mallet a small sized pan will also do the trick. Pounding the meat definitely reduces your cooking time and also makes you look scary which is a bit fun.

if ur doing a breast of chicken without beating it into a schnitzel shape, fry it for a short time on both sides on a high heat to seal in the juices and then grill of oven it...best way...

I am presuming you mean: If you don't have a mallet, pound the chicken with a small sized pan. Just being picky.
If you don't want cripsy pan-fried chicken you might add enough water to cover the bottom of the frying pan after you've seared the chicken on both sides and then cover the pan while the chicken finishes cooking at a fairly low temperature. This gives you broth to stir into your gravy as well. Add finely chopped onions or sliced mushrooms, season - fit for a queen.

i already edited it before your post so there.

Sorry, got distracted by this thing called "work". Loved the edit about looking scary

Here is a good link to help you with your cooking.

Just forgot to mention that I find Olive Oil does tend to overheat and cause the meat to burn when pan frying. (Maybe I am just not a good cook) That is why I use seed based oils which are also cheaper and better for deep fat frying as the food remains crisp and does not hold the oil.

I would fry the onions beforehand mind, or you will just have boiled onion/mushroom broth...

Strain the onions and mushrooms, use the broth for gravy, add onions and mushrooms to the gravy. Frying the onions tends to make them bitter (IMO) and ruins the gravy.

the best way is to always tender the meat first then lightly flour and add to pan. hmmmmm fried chicken

Wow! So many replies! Thank you all. Let's see whether my chicken gets better now. I like the hitting-it-with-a-pan-bit-to-make-me-look-scary. Cheers!

Feedback for those who asked:
1. Tried frying chicken at lower heat. Success - chicken not burned. Drawback - chicken still chewy.
2. Tried frying chicken in olive oil once and a second time in normal oil. Success - chicken not burned. Drawback - chicken also chewy.
3. Marinated chickend (in yogurt, spices etc). Fried chicken in oil at lower heat. Succes - chicken not burned and chicken juicier than normally. Drawback - chicken fatty due to not being able to use kitchen paper to soak up fat because of marinade.
Conclucion: None yet. Still experimenting. Next trial tonight between the football games.

I find that this way the meat stays really tender. First fry it a bit on both sides, on medium heat, then cover it so the meet cooks through and the juice is absorbed gradually.

If your chicken is still tough it may be that it's an old bird. They're never good, always tough...

Get small whole breasts with the skin still on, or even better the leg/thigh pieces. For frying or BBQ it's good to use chicken with skin on to protect and moisturise the meat. Even better to use pieces where the skin hasn't been cut as if the skin is complete it will stop the juices flowing out during cooking. For marinate slide a finger up under the skin and force marinade under the skin too. Magic.

If the meat is cut then heat the pan to a high heat and 'seal' or sear the cut meat ends momentarily on this high heat and then reduce it. Try to fry as much as possible on the skin side. What oil to use is largely a matter of taste, butter is great for low heats, other oils are limitless in variety.

I'm a regular shopper at Wild & Gefluegel Poerrer on Viktualienmarkt for chicken & chicken bits. They have a small stand between the biergarten and the pedestrian road. Fantastic stuff, not cheap mind but not as expensive as you might think and worth it. Try it at least once and tell me if you notice a difference.

Edit: And about marinades - yoghurt, because of its fat content (never buy this low fat chemical substitute yoghurt), will tend to protect the meat and hold the flavour of the other marinade ingredients.

If you are using chicken breast then not quite sure what fat you are trying to get rid of to be honest... It does, however, sound like you are simply over-cooking the chicken, hence the chewiness