My FIL puts a lid on his cast iron cauldron when he deep fries. The reason he gave me for doing it is just to prevent splashing but I can imagine it must have an effect on the process. For one, the cover condenses moisture and drops it back in. Wouldn’t this lower the temperature of the oil? Or is this offset by the lid keeping the hot air in?
Any reasons for or against doing this?
Moist, yummy chicken 'n pork chops. 
Mmm mm mm.
never had chicken chops. They must be quite thin.
In addition to mucking with your oil (adding water to oil means you can’t use your oil again, as it’s more likely to grow bacteria.), it should lead to a less crispy product by letting water drip back onto the food. That’s why classic KFC, cooked in a lidded pressure cooker, was never as crispy as Brown’s back in the day. (I have no idea what the current status of the fried chicken wars is.)
In ideal deep frying, the water in your food expands so quickly that it pushes against the oil at the edge of the food, keeping the oil from getting into your food. At the perfect temperature, a well deep fried food will not be much higher fat than before it started - Alton Brown did a whole huge mess of fish and chips and only lost like 1/2 a teaspoon of oil into the food. Because of this, deep frying is technically considered a dry method of cooking!
Changing the pressure (which a heavy cast iron lid will definitely do) is likely to mess up this fine balance, allowing more oil to get into your food, making it greasy and high fat.
Not to mention that oil “sizzles” and splatters when it comes into contact with water. It’s not really the oil popping - the water heats quickly and boils, carrying the surrounding oil with it. Because he’s keeping the water trapped inside to recondense and fall back into the oil, he’s making more dangerous oil splattering than there would be without the lid.
My advice: ditch the lid. Use a vessel large enough that you only need to fill it halfway with oil, then slide your food into it with your spider or tongs, don’t drop it from above, and you won’t have a hot splattery mess to deal with.
Also, if possible, remove everything within a 2 foot radius of the pan. Makes cleaning a lot easier when it’s all surfaces.
Would it help faster drying cuts (such as leaner pork chops) to keep moist if you fry them with a lid?
Buy FIL a splatter screen. Allows for steam to escape. Another option is to cover, but not completely, to reduce splatter.
Splatter screen is the way to go (or an electric deep fat fryer) it can also be used to help drain the oil off the fried food afterwards.
If you deep fry, try making plantan chips, far nicer than any potato chip I ever made. (using American definition of chips here)
No. You’re not going to get that water all the way back in the meat, only on the breading to make it soggy.
If they’re drying out, they’re cooking too long. Heat the oil hotter before cooking.
I haven’t had Brown’s, but original recipe KFC isn’t very crispy. They must have to change the cooking procedure for Extra Crispy??
Yum. In the City, these weren’t cut real thin, but after the first fry they were taken out, smashed flatter with a spatula, and fried again. Yummy!
Check out my location, I have *tostones * (twice fried green plantains) at least twice a week 
(and they are starting to show)
My mom had a splatter screen. I was just thinking about that. I haven’t seen them here, but I haven’t been looking for it, either.
Or they’ve found some horrid chemicalized process that crisps in a pressure cooker, I dunno. My wild assed guess is that they don’t cook the chicken at the store anymore, but just deep fry it a second time to heat it up. I know they don’t make the coleslaw or anything from scratch at each store like they used to.
Brown’s was my family’s chicken of choice growing up. It’s got a thinner, much much crispier breading that’s very firmly adhered to the skin - it’s pretty much like a shell. Dee-lish! I’ve not figured out how to do it at home.
Wow, that’s great info, WhyNot! What is the ideal temp for frying chicken Southern style? (Sweet cornmeal based batter, no seasonings besides salt and ample black pepper). Do different oils withstand heat better? Also, are those splatter screens mentioned by Bippy okay to use?
Southern style is sort of “half deep fried” - more oil than a sautee or pan fry, but the chicken is not fully submerged and has to be turned at least once. Your oil should be 325, no more. And keep a thermometer handy, 'cause oil can be a tricky bastard to keep steady. If it gets too hot, stick a potato in it - it’ll absorb the excess heat. Then bring it back up to, but not over, 325. A heavy cast iron pan will make this easier to keep steady, and remember to only fill it half full with oil.
Another trick - put the thighs in the center, the breasts and drumsticks around the edge of the pan. The longer-to-cook thighs will get more heat, and you’re more likely to finish everything about the same time. Chicken should get to 180 internally before removing it from the oil and putting it on a rack over a cookie sheet to sit and drain. Don’t put it on paper towels or newspaper, or it’s just going to sit in that puddle of grease draining off it. Don’t try to keep fried chicken warm in the oven, it will get soggy. If a last minute disaster happens and you have to wait, just put a bit of foil over it. Room temperature fried chicken is still yummy anyway!
Yes, different oils react very differently to heat. Poly and mono unsaturated oils are more likely to pick up stray molecules that make them funky or smelly, and are more likely to do this the hotter they get. Saturated fats are very stable even when heated. How do you know which is which? The more saturated a fat is, the more solid it is at room temperature. I do chicken in Crisco or other vegetable shortening if my family is around, or in coconut oil if they’re not (they don’t like the smell of hot coconut oil, but there is no coconutty taste left behind). Those are very heat tolerant, and take multiple heatings and coolings well if you strain it before rebottling for reuse. And again, if you keep your heat high enough, very little of that nasty artery clogging saturated evil is going to be in your food.
Peanut oil is the only thing for plantains, though!
I’ve never needed a splatter guard for deep frying, as I’m careful about the oil halfway and sliding things in instead of dropping them in. My guess is that there’s still a substantial amount of condensation still happening on the wire mesh, and that it’s not as good as an open top, but not as bad as a lid. I save my splatter guard for red sauce and chili!
This is only the fourth thread I’ve bookmarked in my whole history here. Thank you for that fantastic information. I will now go out and earn my hero status with the locals.
Everything I know I learned from Alton Brown, hand to God. (Well, and my mom.)
Seriously, if you have a DVR, set it to record Good Eats on the Food Network and watch at your leisure. He’s not always right, but 99.9% of the time, he’s close enough. And he’s educating, not just a recipe sharer.
This mac ‘n’ cheese recipe would make a great belly bustin’ side dish for your chicken.
WhyNot, you are the source of all knowledge. hat off
I would like to add that quality of oil matters: there is a substantial difference between chicken fried with store brand oil (OK) and chicken fried with Wesson/Mazola (awesome).
Anybody here do country fried steak? I made some for my father the other night: fried up some cube steaks (I use a milk and flour batter: not a big fan of corn-based batters, myself), made about 4-6 cups of white gravy and put the cooked meat in the gravy, letting it simmer for about 3 hours. If you like brown gravy, same recipie, just use brown gravy. 
Even better, deep fry on the back patio in the turkey Fryer.
We do Tempura occasionally is it’s always been a PITA, with one person making small batches all night long till everybody’s stuffed.
Use the turkey fryer (like the week after thanksgiving) and it’s:
1 take all food
2. dip in BIG bowl of batter
3. TurkeyFRY
4. pull all food out at once and everybody eats!
Since oil for the fryer’s so expensive, we typically deep fry the turkey…have tempura a few days later, then make killer french fries after that…then strain and keep some, but mostly pitch the rest.
True, but my impression from the OP was of somebody frying chicken in a deep skillet placed on top of a range/burner. I could be wrong however.