# Southern fried chicken - egg wash before or after flour coating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846 "2009-08-18T15:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/21 "2009-08-18T17:10:39Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Use an eggwash. Trust me. Flour alone will not stick to boneless skinless chicken breasts. This stuff about what’s really authentic southern chicken is nonsense. Frying chicken in flour alone was born of poverty and scarcity, not culinary superiority. And so was using cuts of meat like ribs. Just because something is economical doesn’t make it worthless. As I said earlier, the two techniques are simply _different_ and will result in different types of crust. Neither is “better” than the other. Unless you’re a snob. And why is trying to find out an authentic regional technique “nonsense?” I agree that some people can be way too pendantic about the topic, but that doesn’t mean any and all discussion is silly. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/22 "2009-08-18T21:37:13Z")
I appreciate everybody’s contributions. I’ve decided to use the plain flour, then egg bath, then flour/corn meal/seasonings after first seasoning the chicken. I’m going to forego the buttermilk because the chicken has already been injected with chicken stock. (I’m thinking that’s what it means by “Containing up to 10% of a Solution”.) And there’ll only be two. It’s just the wife and I. Again, thanks everyone. (My seasonings, besides salt and pepper, in the final covering include a pinch of sugar, paprika, dried rosemary from our own garden, and a rather generous amount of sage.) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/23 "2009-08-18T23:10:02Z")
Damn, that was some goooooood chicken! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/24 "2009-08-19T12:40:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Flour-eggwash-flour again. > > You can skip the _first_ flouring if you want, but you still flour _last_. Flouring twice willl give you a thicker, crispier breading. > > For boneless breasts, pound them flat and soak them in buttermilk first (at least 1/2 and hour if you can, a couple of hours is better). I always flour first. It helps the egg stick to the chicken better. ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/25 "2009-08-19T14:53:50Z")
Nuther Georgian here. Salt & pepper. Flour. Hot, hot, hot oil. Turn once, lower heat and cover til done. Put the b’milk in the biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/26 "2009-08-19T15:03:04Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > And so was using cuts of meat like ribs. Just because something is economical doesn’t make it worthless. As I said earlier, the two techniques are simply _different_ and will result in different types of crust. Neither is “better” than the other. Unless you’re a snob. > > And why is trying to find out an authentic regional technique “nonsense?” I agree that some people can be way too pedantic about the topic, but that doesn’t mean any and all discussion is silly. Please. To be fair, **Dio** didn’t start either of those arguments. Also, now I’m really hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/27 "2009-08-19T16:47:32Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I always flour first. It helps the egg stick to the chicken better. nodnod Flour first helps your wet binder stick to the meat. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/28 "2009-08-19T17:30:55Z")
Huh. I’m a buttermilk soak/shake in seasoned flour chicken person. I submerge the chick in buttermilk and sliced onions for an hour or two, then shake off the excess buttermilk and toss the pieces in a paper bag with flour seasoned with salt, lots of black pepper, and a good pinch of cayenne pepper. I’ve no right to claim anything like authenticity; I think I got the recipe from one of Alton Brown’s motorcycle road trip shows. All I know is that it tastes damned fine. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/29 "2009-08-19T18:59:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Use an eggwash. Trust me. Flour alone will not stick to boneless skinless chicken breasts. This stuff about what’s really authentic southern chicken is nonsense. Frying chicken in flour alone was born of poverty and scarcity, not culinary superiority. Bullshit. I’ve been eating fried chicken down here for many years, and it is quite rare to run across whole pieces of fried chicken that have been fried using any kind of an egg wash. An informal review of every Southern cookbook I could get my hands on confirms that egg wash is most definitely not a popular way to fry chicken in the South. Maybe one book in 10 or 15 had a recipe that called for an egg wash, and in many of those instances it was listed as an alternative recipe. I do think it’s hysterical that you’d deem yourself the arbiter of what is or isn’t culinary superior, especially when people like James Beard disagree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/30 "2009-08-19T19:09:24Z")
I’m not calling myself an arbiter, YOU guys are. I never said “only X is authentic.” YOU guys are. That’s what’s bullshit. You definitely WILL find eggwash as an “authentic” regional variation, as you will batter fried, as you will buttermilk. I’m saying there IS no one true “authentic” southern fried chicken. And just FYI, we weren’t really talking about fried chicken recipes, but country fried chicken, i.e. chicken fried steak done with chicken breasts. Try frying some skinless chicken breasts in nothing but flour sometime and let me know how that works out for you. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/31 "2009-08-19T19:15:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I’m not calling myself an arbiter, YOU guys are. I never said “only X is authentic.” YOU guys are. That’s what’s bullshit. You definitely WILL find eggwash as an “authentic” regional variation, as you will batter fried, as you will buttermilk. I’m saying there IS no one true “authentic” southern fried chicken. > > And just FYI, we weren’t really talking about fried chicken recipes, but country fried chicken, i.e. chicken fried steak done with chicken breasts. Try frying some skinless chicken breasts in nothing but flour sometime and let me know how that works out for you. I was specifically referring to your comment that “Frying chicken in flour alone was born of poverty and scarcity, not culinary superiority.” That is bullshit. I never said anything about never finding and egg wash, nor did I mention authenticity. You can find BBQ joints in the South that make their products in a crock pot. I just pointed out that it isn’t as popular. Your attempt to make my argument for me failed miserably. Finally, I never said one should fry boneless, skinless chicken in flour only. Once again, I was only responding to your ridiculous assertion about the origins and inferiority of fried chicken sans egg wash. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/32 "2009-08-19T20:41:00Z")
I didn’t say it was inferior, I just said it wasn’t superior. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/33 "2009-08-19T20:52:48Z")
Christ, people take it easy. Don’t you know that the Civil War was more about fried chicken recipes than slavery? Now I’ve fried chicken every which way, including a stint at the ma and pa place renowned for their fried chicken, but my only chicken tip is to purchase your chickens whole and learn to butcher them into pieces. This is almost always cheaper than pre-cut, and frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts always seemed like such chump-sauce to me. ---
**Author:** ![TCLucas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@TCLucas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCLucas)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/34 "2012-09-26T02:45:15Z")
The lady you’re trying to remember is Rachel Ray. Look her up. No _formal_ chef training but a great cook ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/35 "2012-09-26T03:20:25Z")
That chicken is spoiled by now. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/36 "2012-09-26T05:12:36Z")
Being once a fry cook and made plenty of fried foods in a restaurant. And after trying all sorts of recipes at home… There’s a reason I buy Popeyes/Bojangles/KFC/Churches/PoFolks when I want Fried Chicken. I want it like _that_ and not like some half ass homemade stuff. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846/37 "2012-09-26T08:26:18Z")
I normally don’t do this but **Zombie Chicken** sounds like an awesome screen name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-fried-chicken-egg-wash-before-or-after-flour-coating/506846.md?page=1)