Frying Oil. And the Centrifuge.

I recently went to a new upscale restaurant in Houston that specializes in Southern comfort food. They make a very good fried chicken. But there was a pool of oil on the plate. And the underside of the chicken had retained some of the frying oil too. My theory is that they are pre-frying the chicken at an earlier time and then flash frying it just before serving. This results in an incredibly crunchy crust. But it has the potential for making the chicken more oily. By the time of the second frying, the crust acts like a sponge.

One fix would be to let the chicken sit on a rack for a few minutes. Or do a better job of shaking off the excess oil. Back in the day, I remember that fried chicken was always served on top of toast, which did a great last minute job of grabbing the oil. When I was growing up, Crisco oil had a TV ad in which they claimed that you only used a tablespoon of "lighter tasting Crisco oil" for pan frying, ignoring all of the other variables that affect the amount of oil that can be absorbed.

It occurred to me that a centrifuge would be a better option. If there were a salad spinner whose internal components wouldn't fall apart if you put  hot fried chicken into it. Now, Oxo makes one with a stainless steel exterior. But I don't know if the plastic basket will handle heat. I plan to give it a "spin" the next time that I make fried chicken.