 When a chef tells you you’re missing out on something, it’s time to pay attention. I was recently interviewing Michelle Bernstein, owner of Michy’s and Sra. Martinez in Miami, Florida, for an article on luxury airline meals when the conversation steered toward fried chicken. Cold fried chicken, to be exact.
Bernstein, who serves as a consulting chef for Delta Airlines, mentioned that she is planning to start offering this dish to premium class passengers next year and she sounded ready to dig into a heaping plate of the stuff as she described it. “What’s better than a really great buttermilk tarragon mustard infused fried chicken that was made beautifully the day before and then chilled with a cold potato salad for lunch when you’re traveling?” Bernstein said. “The texture is a little different when you eat cold fried chicken and it’s one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.” Now I’ve nibbled on plenty of hot fried chicken, lured by the hunger-inducing aroma, the satisfying crunch of the skin and the salty, spicy flavor it gives the succulent meat. But I’ve never had cold fried chicken. Would it keep its appeal after a few hours in the fridge? Aren’t fried foods at their best straight out of the bubbling frying pan? There was stunned silence on the other end of the line when I admitted this. “It’s delicious,” Bernstein said. “You are missing out.” OK, you learn something new everyday. For all of you fried chicken aficionados, do you like it best hot or cold? What’s the allure of the cold version? |
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Ironically, I'm eating cold pork tenderloin right now. :3
Cold Fired Chicken .. yuk ! But I would like to taste the recipe mentioned above. I think this will be very successful as airline food. I am going to try the recipe but serve it hot .
There is nothing like Hot homemade Fried Chicken. Anyone who mentions fast food chciken chains like KFC, Churches, Popey's has no cooking skills...
To me, it's best to eat hot chicken one day, then turn around and not bother to heat it up the next. Sometimes, quality goes down when you reheat, i dunno why. Just look at mcdonalds fries. extremely bland if you reheat them.
My wife is good to me, she cooks the dark pieces first and places them in the freezer and then cooks for the rest of the family. Fried chicken (dark meat) in the fridge over night, cole slaw, hot buttery buttermilk biscuit and sweet tea, the best southern food there is besides turnip/collard greens with cornbread and pepper sauce.
Seems like some folks don't know their wings from their nether regions! Hot, crispy and crunchy with them juices runnin' down your chin is the only way to fly! Soft and scummy is just a sin!
Think about an airplane meal though. It would be way better cold than reheated in a microwave where it will be very rubbery.
Cold friend chicken is excellent by it's self. But it's also quite good added into a salad. The flavors of the chicken
mixed with veggies and some light dressing (like poppyseed) is great.
Cold is way better than hot.
Fried chicken is very good cold. Then again so is roast beef, ham, bacon, turkey and all those other unidentifiable lunch meats. Even cold fish is good. That's why we eat tuna sandwiches, sushi, etc. So basically meat is tasty whether it's cold or hot. Why is this a new discovery? Heck, even a cold meatloaf sandwich is good. I suppose the only thing that might not be very good cold is pot roast because gravy tastes best when it's hot.
26 years ago I had the second date with the man who I eventually married. It was for a Grateful Dead concert here in Austin. He's from Pittsburgh and I'm a Texas girl (b9rn and raised). It was an all day thing where you could bring in a cooler. I fried some chicken, sliced up some veggies (cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, etc) made a peach pie and off we went.
What a wonderful day! Lasted until about 2 am. First time he had ever had cold chicken and he loved it. Ever since then he asks for it once a month. I always make enough for leftovers. In the summer cold fried chicken is the best. Can't ever have a picnic without. I found the secret is to fry it in less oil and then drain it well. Also, leave it out to get more to room temp if you don't like the fat that is left. I don't like it either but fried right there will be little fat left on the chicken.
I ate a ton of cold fried chicken at church and school picnics as a kid. It was a very common picnic food in the rural areas of Texasin the 1940s and 1950s.. I liked and I will still enjoy it as leftovers.
It's probably the most popular picnic food in the whole country.
Anybody who hasn't tasted it- particularly if you're an adult- must have been raised on the planet Pluto. I can't BELIEVE the author has never encountered it.
Besides picnics, it's a potluck staple. Her parents must have kept her in a cocoon.
As a mostly lifelong resident of the Deep South (I live in TX now and no, that's not the Deep South), I can offer the following thoughts of a fried chicken connoisseur:
White meat is best hot, or room temp if it is particularly moist, which is dependent on preparation. Don't forget that there are so many variations on prep before you put it in the fryer. Marinades are especially important for white meat. A 24hr marinade is the minimum. There's also no law against smoking white meat pieces before battering and dunking them, which provides for a real sensory overload.
Wings are wings. If you really want to fry them, gob them up with a thick and maybe spicy batter because that's all you're going to get from them in the eating. I know people are used to getting their fair share of wings from KFC and other outlets, but we southerners don't bother that much with them. Gone are the days of going out in the yard and twisting the necks of yardbirds. We buy packs of legs and thighs and packs of breasts nowadays.
The legs and thighs are where its at. That's the flavor! These, unlike breasts, are best eaten room temp and sometimes cold. Room temp is really the best though. You do need to trim fat well if you dont want jellied stuff on the final product. To do this, you need to skin the chicken, trim it, and then use a thick batter. It doesn't stick as well and provide that awesome taste of fried chicken skin, but it does get rid of the fat that people don't like encountering in cold chicken. I take it as a small sacrifice to pay for one of the best complex flavors and amazing textures around. I say leave the skin on and just pick off the fatty parts.
If you haven't had a well-prepared, fried chicken leg served room temp or cold, you need to trade favors with a skilled southern friend.
Or go find a Popeyes and get the low-priced all-dark-meat box and let it sit out all day on the counter. Spicy, of course.
The allure is that the grease balls up in painful lumps in your stomach instead of rolling down your chin.
Used to love cold KFC as a kid – even imagined as an adult I'd buy buckets and put them in the fridge! Never really did though...
If you're in the south, Publix Deli chicken is the best, hands down. It's great hot or cold.
Cold fried chicken with some Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce (or ketchup, in a pinch), and man you're eatin' good! I can still do cold fried chicken, but cold pizza doesn't sit as well with me as I've gotten older.
Cold Fried Chicken like Cold French Fries should be placed in one receptacle: The Waste Basket. Cold Fried Chicken tastes like cold grease. The same is not true of Cold Roasted Chicken or Cold Broiled Chicken which tastes great in a tossed salad.
Eww... sounds like an excuse to move away from even serving any hot meals on planes, if you ask me.
Fried chicken are like fast food fries. ONLY good within 30 minutes, straight out of the fryer. Once they go cold it takes a certain level of desperation... or lack of caring whatsoever (hello college students)... to put it in your mouth.
I would only eat cold fried chicken if I were starving and it was the only food available. It is awful and leaves a terrible after-taste. Ew. And that goes for every type of fried chicken I've tried. Hot from the fryer only pluh-leeeeze.
I prefer no chicken.
Anyone who thinks that cold fried chicken isn't great is out of their mind. Try a cold fried chicken breast, some 'tater salad and a piece of corn bread for lunch sometime and then look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't just visit culinary nirvana. That's one meal I couldn't imagine living without in my life.
'Put on a few eggs, there's a good fellow!` Gandalf called after him, as the hobbit stumped off to the pantries. 'And just bring out the cold chicken and pickles!`
From The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien – if it is good enough for Gandalf and Bilbo, it is good enough for me :-).
nice one!
Saturday supper just got set: fried chicken (w/lotsa leftover to eat COLD the next day!), deviled eggs, and something green.
Now, let's move on to the recipes, shall we?
I like cold fried chicken, but I love it warm. Same for pierogies, pizza, etc. If they want to serve it cold on the airline it's because they want to save money, not display a new taste sensation.
I prefer hot fried chicken, but a good, crunchy cold piece of chicken can be great. White meat over dark any day.
Cold fried chicken, cold pizza, and cold spaghetti are the best.
And how much money will Delta save by not reheating the chicken ?
I love me some cold fried chicken. I'll buy a box of it from Whole Foods and stick it in the fridge to let it cool down overnight. In fact, I can't remember the last time I ate it hot. (Too greasy.)
michelle bernstein is a awesome chef and if she tells u fried chicken served either way is good just eat it!!!! That woman knows food!!!
Come on! Are you really a US citizen? Everyone has had KFC cold the next morning out of the bucket.
If you havent then show me your green card now!
I agree!
that is disgusting
You never had cold fried chicken? Next you will tell me you have never had cold pizza for breakfast
gay
one word answer? Cant come up with anything better?
You done lost yo fragernackle mind!
Loooooove cold fried chicken. I prefer it hot when it's fresh, but I haven't found a good way to reheat it and keeping the skin crispy after it's been in the fridge, so I developed a taste for just eating it cold. Can't do cold pizza though.
Cold in the summer, hot in the winter. That's how I like my fried chicken.
I've loved cold fried chicken since I was a kid 50 yrs ago.
Cold fried chicken–if the chicken was fried properly, is not greasy–the flavor is unique, the texture perfect. Good hot or cold but different. And anyone who doesn't like cold pizza?? I cannot comprehend–the maturing of the flavors overnight in the fridge (not on the coffee table, please) makes it a masterpiece.
Love Fried Chicken.. hot or cold as long as its not too greasy.
Hot pizza great, cold pizza not as good. Hot fried chicken great, cold fried chicken, not as good.
if it's free, I'll take it...
I prefer it cold, but will eat it hot and then I hide a piece or 2 under my napkin to slip into the frig asap.
It's best fresh out of the oil, but it's also very good cold or room temp.
Cold is delicious as long as its not bone-in. Wat it plain or put it on a sandwich.. yum.
Ooooh! Cold fried chicken is one of my favorite things in the world! However, I do not see how people can eat cold pizza. BLEH!
Ewwwwwwww cold congealed fat and almost as bad – it's on the bone. That is disgusting.
Bring on the pretzels.
There is nothing worse than the taste and texture of cold rubbery chicken skin with the congealed fat underneath it hiding under the soggy crust of fried chicken. I'd much prefer a bag of peanuts than that.
i like cold chicken i dont like it at 35 degrees but 50 or 60 aint bad. To be honest its not really that great to re heat fried chicken anyways.
I agree that fried chicken shouldn't be reheated. It's really soggy.
Oh man...I love cold fried chicken. I've been enjoying it since I was a kid. Sometimes I'll buy a freshly made hot 12 piece and put it in the refrigerator and eat it later. Of course I eat it hot too but cold is always a great treat for me. I think the best piece I had was from KFC in Houston, TX at my aunt's place, it was a breast, original recipe, back in like 1987.
Are you referring to your Aunt's Breastessess?
Ew...no...I'm referring to KFCs breasts...
Exactly Virginian.. add some baked mac and cheese, potato salad and some home made buttermilk busquits and there's not a finer southern meal to be had.
Hot or cold... but what makes for good hot fried chicken isn't necessarily what makes for good cold fried chicken. I haven't mastered the art of making exceptional fried chicken, unfortunately, but my great-aunt Hilda could fry up a batch that would make your mouth sing when you ate it. If she was planning on serving it cold (as she often did when she and my great-uncle Chris would take me along for a day or a weekend trip to see the fall foliage in the Berkshires, with a HUGE ice chest full of food and film – Uncle Chris was a photographer – in the trunk of their '59 Ford) she used less pepper and more strong herbs, and probably other differences as well – I wish I had learned more about making it when I had the chance.
Back in the old days – cold chicken was a staple for many poor folks taking the Greyhound from south to north, because it held up so well. I like chicken of any kind – and when we roast chicken on Sunday afternoon, I have cold chicken for BREAKFAST on Monday morning! Good stuff. Chicken probably is – beside fish, probably the most-eaten food on the planet.
BTW – I despise cold pizza!
Cold fried chicken, a slice of cheddar cheese, some deviled eggs with mustard and sweet relish, and Iced Tea – perfect summer meal! Perfect meal anytime!
PS Publix makes superb fried Chicken. But also sells packages of it cold. (guess the Laws changed?) It actually taates better.
Agreed! I enjoy Publix fried chicken better when cold. Sometimes their chicken seems a bit salty to me though.
Michelle Berstein is HOT! Would love to lick her herbs and spices in a "Special" Kentucky Way!
She takes a Lickin' and Keeps on Tickin'! May I join you Kernal Sanders?
centuries ago, KFC used to sell day old cold fried chicken, half price. Delicious. Then laws changed that, and said anything not sold by end of day, had to be tossed. Fie.
There is nothing better than yesterday's chicken straight out of the fridge.
Yup!
Wow – the writer of this article never had cold fried chcken?? I'm kinda shocked...
I actually prefer my fried chicken cold. I bring it home hot and refrigerate it before eating. It's because there's a LOT of fried chicken out there and most of it is not fabulous. Most of the breading I find on fried chicken is tasteless, like barely salty flour and if it's spiced, it's done so timidly that it's virtually nonexistent. And then it's greasy. My personal taste is not for greasy meat. Refrigeration congeals the grease, making it easier to peel off (and share with a pet), it also DOES alter the texture of the meat to a degree, but only in good ways – most importantly being that the cold meat is not is tasty, not overwhelmed by bland breading and grease.
Only the BEST fried chicken is really good hot.
I like fried chicken, hot or cold.
I understand that it's too greasy for some, and totally get you on the chilling it so you can remove the grease. PLEASE don't feed the chicken skin/fat to your dog, though. Having worked in a veterinarian's office, I can tell you stories of the dogs who got the chicken skin and ended up with pancreatitis because of the excess fat. As the owner of a dog who has had several bouts of acute pancreatitis, (not from table scraps; even dog food has too much food for his sensitive system) I can tell you that you don't want to clean up the symptoms.
(He's the reason I had the part-time job at the vet's office; access to the doctor and extra cash to pay her. LOL.)
To Um –
Thanks for the warning. My pets are cats who get all the meat bits I don't want mostly. I don't eat a lot of fried chicken, and I give just on occasion to family dogs, but the only ones who get fatty skin are the really svelte ones. My mother does a well enough job of spoiling them fat (esp. the Shelty) refuse to contribute to anyones fat problem, even a pets. I just like my cheekin on the somewhat to very dry side and the pets get anything that doesn't fit into that catrgory.
Cold Fried Chicken. Nothing better.
I just like chicken. Whether it's hot or cold. I'm also known for being to lazy to actually warm anything up so i adjust to eating whatever it is I'm eating cold. Also I really enjoy cold pizza.
http://akindafoodblog.wordpress.com
cold chicken,deviled eggs and ice tea was what you lined up for at every family gathering of my youth
I'm from the South so I love fried chicken hot or cold but there's really not much better for lunch on Monday than Sunday's fried chicken.
Hot or cold either one for me. I do love it hot for Sunday dinner but I also do love the cold leftovers. And I'll make it specifically to have cold for a picnic.
For me, leftover chicken has a very short shelf life. I can relate to Jenn's comment; something about the chicken fat starts to turn rancid after about 24 hours. Warming it seems to make it worse. But within its time frame, well-cooked fried chicken, cold or hot, is always welcome on my plate.
Never!!!!
Never cold that is! ;>)
Are you from New England? My hubby's from Boston and he, too, refuses to eat cold chicken.
Being from the South, I like it both ways, of course– pulled off the bone, though.
My mom used to make fried chicken on Sundays and then pack the leftovers in my school lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays (never had enough left over for Wednesdays!). Ranks right up there with PB&J.
Never had cold fried chicken??? Never made fried chicken so delicious that you can't bother waiting for it to heat up the next day?
OMG NOM NOM NOM NOM
There is nothing better than a friend who likes to remove the chicken skin when you go out to eat. You get twice as much when they don't want theirs. :P
Yesssssssssssssssss! The skin is the best part!
I seem to remember that fried chicken that is meant to be served cold (Picnic Chicken) is traditionally cooked and breaded differently than that which is meant to be eaten hot. I love good fried chicken hot or cold.
OMG, I LOVE cold fried chicken. Everybody thinks I'm nuts, but I buy a chicken bucket and straight into the fridge it goes. I think it calls back to the days of family reunions when Granny would cook up the chicken and then we'd put it in the cooler for the drive. It's so much better cold!
Me too! It really seems to taste better! I love cold fried chicken! I think I'll have some tonight! LOL!
There's nothing better than a cold fried chicken sandwich with cheese...mmm, MMM!
The skin is the best part!
I know it's not good for us, but you're right- the skin *is* the best part. Best-tasting that is.
Cold fried chicken is great, as long as the skin is removed. but i remove the skin from hot chicken, too.
In communist russia fried chicken eats you cold.
Y'all really need to git outta Siberia and come on down here to the South so we can fix you up right! You ain't lived 'til you've had pan fried chicken REFRIGERATOR cold!
Love cold fried chicken as well as pork chops and fried cubed steak.... YUMMMM...
ummm – no thnx
lets not even bring KFC and the likes into this conversation...if you are choosing one of those varieties as your fried chicken, thats your first mistake. personally i love cold fried chicken the next day...but i don't think i would want it served to me cold rather than hot. fantastic at tailgates, picnics, or cut up on a sandwich with some mayo, lettuce, tomatoe.........sorry, had to wipe the drool off my keyboard
Amen! It is almost a crime to consider what's sold at KFC and the like as fried chicken. Not the same.
Publix's fried chicken is great hot or cold. Usually I buy it, then put it in the freezer (away from the already frozen items) for about 2 hours and it's cold all the way thru – not frozen. THAT'S the best way to have ANY fried chicken.
I have to admit, it's kindof an acquired taste... The chicken has to have been REALLY GOOD before it was chilled in the first place.
Cold Shake N Bake was my favorite as a kid.
If you haven't eaten cold fried chicken, you have SERIOUSLY missed out. It is a different dish entirely from hot fried chicken. Texture and flavor are distinctly changed after a night in the fridge. It's one of the best lunch foods (and sometimes a breakfast food) of all time.
Prefer hot out of the fryer, but on a warm day at the race track it's perfect with cold barley sodas.
BARLEY soda?!?!? Are you kidding? Where does one acquire barley soda? I'm the first one to dive into something new, but this is a new one on me.
You've never heard of beer???
If that's what he meant, that's a new term for me.
It depends on the chicken, Fast food fried chicken like KFC tastes horrible when cold, real fried chicken that you make yourself will usually taste better.
Fried chicken should be eaten HOT. Cold fried chicken always tastes greasy, and has an unpleasant mouth-feel.
Not if it's cooked properly.
Dark meat has more flavor, and thus tastes better than white meat when cold. Unless it's super-crunchy, I peel the skin off before eating it regardless of the temperature.
...sinful. Truly.
If this isn't a southern thing I don't know what is. Next you'll hear that KFC has new "Kentucky cold chickens" on the menu.
I think "Cold Clucks" would work
You people are evil, now I want fried chicken (hot or cold)
Me too!!
A picnic of cold fried chicken and potato salad is one of life's marvels, I can't beleive there are people that don't know this, next you'll be telling me that sweet pickles don't belong in the potato salad, brother, some people.
Definitely hot...and if re-heating, do NOT use a microwave, as it makes the chicken soggy. Use the regular oven at about 350 or so.
At a sit-down dinner it should be piping hot. For a picnic, or as a football game snack, it's really yummy cold, so long as it is crispy and not soggy with congealed fat globs on it.
I LOVE cold fried chicken!
White meat bears up better to cold than dark meat. KFC for example. But I just had some cold drumsticks that had I had mesquite grilled the day before and they were fine. Any chain fried or roto-grilled or roasted etc. that has that nasty undertone some have when hot will not improve with cooling.
Cold fried chicken hits the spot the morning after a bit too much partying has gone one
I would never opt to serve cold chicken but i'd rather eat it cold than re-heat it. YUCK! I hate re-heated meat of any variety!
Cold Chicken is awesome! I love it as it is good that way! It does make it easier to get rrid of any fatiier parts of pieces. I would have to agree with the chef on this one!
Just like cold pizza, yummy!
Cold fried chicken, cold pizza, cold chinese food...all good!
cold chicken parm from night before, cold american chop suey, cold meat loaf its all good babay babayyyyyyyy
My family used to enjoy cold leftover spaghetti for breakfast.
Depends on my mood, I suppose. I'm willing to try just about anything, and cold chicken can be very good on a hot day. However, fresh, hot, homemade fried chicken is probably my preference.
The appeal, by the way, of cold chicken is that you have the flavors, but it's a lighter dish somehow. Eat it with some nice cold watermelon, a chilled salad and fresh lemonade and you have a delicious summer meal. With hot fried chicken, you tend to eat it with heavy carbs, so it makes for a heavier meal. Either way is delicious.
I perfer hot chicken. Cold chicken is too thick for me to swallow!
you are supposed to chew it!!
I have the same problem. White meat especially! It dries out quickly. (Turkey too.)
It's not as easy to eat cold, but I won't say that it tastes bad. That's why it's a popular picnic food, right?
Excellent review. I have a fondness for KFC Chicken after being in the refridgerator for a few hours.
Ditto. With the original recipe of course.
What size fridge do you have?
I can't stand cold bone-in chicken, fried or otherwise. The fat gets a terrible mouthfeel and a not-good taste, and I don't care for the texture of the chicken, either. The only thing I like about cold chicken is taking it off the bone (and removing any visible fat) for chicken salad.
You heard me chickens!! i don't care if you're hot or cold, get in MAAHHH BELLLLYYYYY!!!
LOL Fat Bastard Off Of Austin Powers (;
Chicken in the Kitchen, Chicken in the Kitchen, I love Chicken when Chicken's in the Kitchen.
Cold fried chicken and a glass of cold chocolate milk. Maybe a few good potato chips on the side.
OMG!!!
What are you? A Vegan?
For the best tast ever, try cold fried chicken with pineapple sandwiches.
Is it better on wholemeal or white. Or even a seeded batch. Letrs not for get the bllomer. Or too be safe would you use hovis best of both.?