How do you correctly brown chicken?

[slag]

I've been making chicken cacciatore and the recipe says to brown the chicken. It says to take the defrosted chicken, season it with salt/pepper, coat liberally with flour, then put in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and brown the chicken.

I use a natural gas stove, on med high heat, more high than med, with a cast iron pan that is seasoned properly, and what tends to happen is the chicken loses its covering instead of browning like it should. I've tried a little more heat to where the oil almost started smoking a bit, to a little less heat (which was a major failure), and just cant get the brown crusted look I'm wanting on the chicken. I've tried bone in chicken, boneless, skin on, skin off, and the coating just doesn't brown up like I think it should and get crispy hard like I want. I even tried a little more oil but it didn't help out.

What am I doing wrong? Usually some of the flour sticks to the pan, yet its seasoned correctly as I cook eggs in it regularly and they dont stick and neither does anything else.

 

[SunnyD]

2 terabytes of oil? Wow.

I think problem #1 is you're using the wrong system of measurement.

 

[torpid]

I would skip the flour. And make sure the surface is dry (pat the chicken a lot with paper towels).

 

[DesiPower]

2 terabytes of oil? Wow.

........

damn, beat me to it...

btw, I feel, go to store, but rotisserie chicken would be a win?

 

[spidey07]

You need more oil than that. Enough oil so that all around the edges of the chicken you're getting nice rapid bubbles. That means you have enough oil and enough heat. Don't touch it, let it brown for about 3-4 minutes then flip. It should release easily from the pan, some flour (aka tasty browny bits) will be left on the pan.

Without the flour you can get by with less oil, but with the flour you need enough to cover the pan. It's a very shallow fry is what it is.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

 

[slayer202]

I would skip the flour. And make sure the surface is dry (pat the chicken a lot with paper towels).

don't skip the flour, but make sure the chicken is as dry as possible. more oil, less oil, won't matter that much except that liquid will ruin the browning very quickly

 

[pelov]

The oil needs to be very hot before you add the chicken.

The chicken should be dry when you're adding the seasoning as well. Patting it with paper towels will do, but make sure that it's dry enough such that when you poke it it doesn't release water.

If the chicken isn't dry, you're going to have trouble getting it to brown.

 

[Fritzo]

Actually, I'm going to suggest you use LESS oil.

Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then get it hot (if you're using olive oil, don't burn it). The trick is to leave the chicken down long enough. People get impatient and start flipping it. If the chicken is sticking to the pan, it's a good indication it's not ready to flip yet.