Reheating Fried Chicken

[Davwud]

Hey Hounds.

This Saturday during the SEC Championship we've decided that a halftime fried chicken showdown of the two main take away places here will be in order.

KFC vs. Popeyes.

Here lies the dilema. Popeyes isn't close enough to run out to both during half time. No one wants to miss any of the game. So my idea is to pick them up around lunch time and reheat to serve during the break. Thus leveling the playing field instead of one being fresh, the other bought several hours earlier.

Not sure how I'm gonna reheat this stuff. As of right now, I'm thinking of just putting them all on a baking sheet and baking them. At what temp though??

Please don't try to convince me to run out and get it fresh. It aint gonna happen.

Thanks y'all.

DT

[Davwud]

So lets get to the auxilary items before the main showdown.

I put out a tray with some soprasetta, crackers, celery, carrots, ranch dressing and pimento cheese. It was devoured. I also made rotel. Neighbour brought over some home made salsa which was phenomenal.

Sides consisted of home made biscuits, bacon mashed potatoes and sawmill gravy.

The main event, KFC v Popeyes v Mary Browns (http://marybrowns.com/

)

Popeyes was the unanimous winner over all with a few people liking the flavour of MB's better. Popeyes crispy breading is really what put them over the top. We all loved it's flavour as well. It was the saltiest but not in a bad way at all.

The real surprise was how poorly KFC did. No one liked it It finished third in just about every way possible. Extremely disappointing.

As mentioned I made biscuits and used the heat of a 450° oven to heat the chicken. I turned it off and stuck the goodies in and just let them coast. About 20 minutes and it was warmed through, the breadings crisped up nicely and was perfect.

DT

[kengk]

That sounds like a wonderful spread.

We got take out Buffalo wings that were grievously disappointing.

Was a great game, glad your in-laws enjoyed the outcome anyway. : )

[Davwud]

It was a fabulous game regardless of the score. It would've been one of the all time greats had Georgia stuck it in the end zone with no time on the clock.

I made a Chocolate Coca Cola cake for dessert that was very good but very sweet.

DT

[kengk]

Since it is the SEC championship game. Cold fried chicken and pimento cheese sandwiches. Would be like tailgating in the olden days when it was more of a picnic on the tailgate as opposed to what they do now. We used to do that a lot when my brother was at Auburn.

[Davwud]

Love it!!

Toasted or untoasted??

DT

[kengk]

If you were going to be authentic to my family tail gates it would be store bought pimento cheese on un-toasted Colonial (we didn't hold with that Sunbeam brand) white bread.

Honestly, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Thinly sliced Baguette and home made pimento cheese that people could spread on themselves is what I would do. An assortment of crackers would also be nice.

Good god, I'm a 52 year old man and I'm tearing up. My dad used to bring us home fried chicken and pimento cheese for our lunch when I was still living at home and working the night shift. Just the two of us.

[dave_c]

How about buying the chicken at the same time to the buckets have the same amount of time to cool off.

Room temp fried chicken is a fair comparison.

[Violatp]

A friend of mine swears by sprinkling fried chicken with some flour before reheating. I've never tried it though - does anyone know how it might work?

[fourunder]

I suspect your friend is probably doing this to absorb some oil released from the coating and by the heat.....however, the flour is never cooked, so I do not see how this could be a good thing.

[Violatp]

Yeah, that sounds more right.

[fourunder]

I prefer to heat Fried Chicken at the lower setting of 250* ......the reasons are simple. The higher 350 will crisp the crust, but makes it harder and dries out the chicken @ 15 minutes. At 10 minutes, the chicken coating will crisp, but the interior meat will not be hot.

Reheating @225-250* ensures evenly heated food and crisping the coating. It may take longer, but the results are better for me. My local PopEye's has the Monday-Tuesday leg and thigh special....20 pieces for 15.99. ....or 12 pieces mixed chicken for 12.99.. It's a deal I purchase once a month, so I am familiar with reheating chicken this way.

[Uncle Bob]

Not much Fried Chicken gets the opportunity to get re-heated around hear. I do agree with 4under that a lower temperature would be mo-betta however.

And just for the fun of it Davwud.........Love That Chicken From Popeyes . and.... I hope the "Gumps" go down in defeat!! :))) ,,,,but I doubt it.

[Davwud]

"Gumps"??

DT

[ipsedixit]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define...

Run Forest, run!

[Davwud]

I figured as much.

DT

[Uncle Bob]

Ha Ha!! You nailed it!!! :)

Geaux Tigers!!! :)

[MGZ]

I was going to suggest an oven temperature of 235 to 250 myself, fourunder. That's how I reheat the chicken I fry. Reheating in a hotter oven will, as you say, dry out even chain restaurant fried fowl.

And, to the OP, the NCAA really needs the winner of that game to lose to the Irish - then again, it also needs to reformulate its entire structure, start paying players, and cap coaches salaries.

[fldhkybnva]

No advice on reheating but go with the Popeyes!!

[Puffin3]

I'd lay all the pieces out on newspaper and cover with newspaper lightly and leave sit out on the counter. NO DOGS OR CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! within a mile. LOL No way will they need refrigeration. The skin will still be fine. Warm chicken= level playing field. IMO I once forgot half a bucket of KFC in my car for a couple of days. Coolish but not cold weather. Each piece tasted delicious. LOL
I'm wondering how many people, over the years, have bought a KFC meal and forgot the box in the car/truck and a couple of days later discovered a nice thigh and eaten it? I'm betting tens of thousands. Oh and those fries with ketchup on them. LOL

[Davwud]

We have a dog but he won't eat it. We had a party one time and there was plenty of chips, dips and the like on the coffee table. If it was on a plate, he would leave it alone. If something fell onto the coffee table, not to mention the floor, it was fair game.
He's a very intelligent and truly bizzare dog.

DT

[James Cristinian]

Davwud, if you have a dvr, you can watch the game on delay, the wife and I do this every week with the mighty Houston Texans. This will enable a trip to the chicken places, plus the delay allows for bathroom breaks, more chicken, etc., but no looking at hand held devices or phone calls since the outcome of the game can be exposed. The toaster oven is a great place to reheat chicken if you have one, we did it last night with some really good Kroger fried chicken I got yesterday. By the way, if you dvr the game, record the next show as well, I got burned on the lengthy overtime victory the mighty Texans squeezed out over the Lions on Thanksgiving. My recording ended, the wife was not happy, and I had to go on line and declare, "We won!"

[fldhkybnva]

Yes, +1 on the record with additional time for any live program, I have been bummed many times when the program just ended.

[sandylc]

Yeah, our wonderful dog knew what food was fair game and what wasn't. If something dropped on the floor in the kitchen, he raced in and swallowed it.

[jjjrfoodie]

Yep, you're doing it right Davwud.

Once brought home I'd throw them on a cookie sheet and allow them to cool to room temp.

If you refridgerate, condesation will occur and give you a soggy crust.

When ready, pop into a 350 oven til warm and skin is crispy again. I do it all the time in both a std and toaster oven. Works perfectly.

While not quite as good as fresh, it will leach a little oil and chicken fat out of the skin as it reheats but that's not quite a bad thing as better in the pan than in the tummy.

Just make sure you don't over warm and dry out the insides of the pieces.

Other than that, it's a pretty straight forward process.

Good luck.

[kengk]

I would rather have it room temp or cold myself.
I think the sheet pan at 325-350 is your best bet for reheating.
Hope you are not pulling for UGA because they are going to be processed.

[Davwud]

I married into a 'Bama family and despise the team. So yes, I will be pulling for them. I'm not covinced they'll get clobbered but think they'll lose.

Then all we need is the Tide to (Steam) Roll over ND. As you can tell, I hate ND more than life itself!!

DT

[hazelhurst]

I'd by both early and ice them down: there is nothing in the world better than cold fried chicken. We always have a pile of it at tailgates.

[foodieX2]

if you have convection oven that is by far the best way to go. Skin will stay crisp and chicken will remain moist. 325 for about 15 minutes,

Other wise preheat your oven at a really high heat-450/500. Put chicken in and turn heat down to 325 for about 20-25 minutes.