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Need advice about baking batter-coated "fried" chicken without burning batter.


MickinMD

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This chicken was made by coating it with a raw egg/water solution then dipping in a batter of Bisquick, Ranch Seasoning, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper. It was baked following a Betty Crocker Bisquick site recipe (at bottom) on a spray-oiled pan at 425°F for 25 min. on one side (Betty actually called for 35 min), turned over for 20 min on the other side (Betty said 15 min). The temperature and time are needed to get crispy skin - dark meat with skin stays juicy even with a 200°F internal temperature). It tasted great but looked burnt, especially on the side down for the first 25 min.

Should my next attempt put it on a rack above the pan bottom and spray the chicken lightly with spray olive oil?  Or is there a better trick for baking "fried" chicken?

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When I bake dark-meat chicken pieces, I tend to drizzle a little olive on them, rub the oil all over, bake it at 425°F for 45 min (gets the skin crispy and may be 200°F internally but dark meat with skin is still juicy) in a metal pan lined with aluminum foil, then sprinkle a dry BBQ rub or Ranch seasoning on it afterward. If I've got a liquid BBQ sauce, I brush it on for the last 10-15 minutes.

But if you have a recipe where you're dipping each piece in an eggwash then coating it with batter, you have to have the seasoning on the chicken for the whole time.  I didn't like the fact that McCormick's 3-in-1 Ranch seasoning (3 tbsp is essentially the same as a packet of "Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning") doesn't stick well to chicken fresh from the oven.

So I found a recipe on the Betty Crocker Bisquick site and modified it.  Here, cut-and-pasted from the recipe file I made, is my modified version and the original recipe:

Ranch & Bisquick Coated Baked Chicken Legs - Mick’s Version

 

Variation of: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/oven-fried-ranch-drumsticks/39c677ed-a25c-460a-9184-761bcea3fb96

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup Original Bisquick™ mix

3 tbsp McCormick 3 in 1 Ranch Seasoning or 1 packet (1 oz) ranch dressing and seasoning mix (“Hidden Valley,” etc.)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt (or less?)

1/2 tsp pepper (or more?)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

2 - 2 1/2 lb chicken drumsticks (5-7 pieces) or thighs (4 pieces)

Optional: 1 teaspoon paprika

Optional: 1 cup ranch dressing

 

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil. USE RACK NEXT TIME MAYBE AND LIGHTLY SPRAY OIL CHICKEN - chicken skin black where it touched foil but didn’t taste burnt. Generously spray with cooking spray. 

2. In shallow dish (or plastic bag), mix Bisquick, dry seasoning mix, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and optional paprika. In another shallow dish, lightly scramble egg and water. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat with Bisquick mixture. Place chicken in pan.

3. Bake 25 minutes. Turn; bake about 20 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (165°F minimum, around 200°F is ok). Optional: Serve with prepared ranch dressing.

 

Expert Tips from orig. Betty Crocker Recipe

For an easy appetizer, use 2 lb chicken drummettes instead of the drumsticks. Drummettes are chicken wings that are trimmed to resemble small chicken legs, and they make perfect bite-size appetizers.

 

Original Betty Crocker website recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/oven-fried-ranch-drumsticks/39c677ed-a25c-460a-9184-761bcea3fb96

Ingredients

3/4 cup Original Bisquick™ mix

1 package (1 oz) ranch dressing and seasoning mix

1 teaspoon paprika

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

2 1/2 to 3 lb chicken drumsticks (12 to 15 pieces [more like 7 pieces - Mick])

1 cup ranch dressing, if desired

Steps

1 Heat oven to 425°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil. Generously spray with cooking spray.

2 In shallow dish, mix Bisquick mix, dressing mix (dry) and paprika. In another shallow dish, mix egg and water. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat with Bisquick mixture. Place chicken in pan.

3 Bake 35 minutes. Turn; bake about 15 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (180°F). Serve with prepared ranch dressing.

Expert Tips

For an easy appetizer, use 2 lb chicken drummettes instead of the drumsticks. Drummettes are chicken wings that are trimmed to resemble small chicken legs, and they make perfect bite-size appetizers.

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I sometimes do an oven fried chicken that my family likes.  I take skinless legs & thighs, dip it in ranch dressing and then dredge it in bread crumbs.  Panko is also a good choice.  Not sure if there are better choices of bread crumbs for diabetics but you could go light on the dredge. 

I then bake it in the oven instead of frying it. 

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1 hour ago, Airehead said:

Shiny or dark pan?

Dark pan with a lining of shiny aluminum foil. I just ran across a recipe where it recommended different temperatures for a light or dark oven pan - never noticed that before.

I've experimented with this pan & foil lining when baking chicken thighs rubbed with oil and the same 425° called for in the Betty Crocker recipe is what I need to get a crspy skin - 400° works but nuked leftovers the next day arent crisp enough.

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1 hour ago, BuffJim said:

Never occurred to me to follow a recipe to cook chicken. Just cook till it’s ready. Breading is not my thing, BuffCarla does breading and frying etc. 

I often rub chicken thighs with oil, bake them until ready, then sprinkle bbq rub on them at the table.  The McCormick 3-in-1 Ranch Seasoning doesn't hold as well when sprinkled so I decided to coat the pieces with a ranch batter.

I also cooked my first chicken as a teenager making KFC chicken in large, 18-piece, deep-fry/pressure cooked batches.  When that first comes out of the pot it tastes SO good.  I've gotten away from frying in a lot of oil and have tried to coach with things like crushed corn flakes (great out of the oven, soggy leftovers) but if I can perfect this bisquick recipe, I could use it with a BBQ rub, too.

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