The Unique Step Bobby Flay Takes For Better Fried Chicken

Bobby Flay previously taught us a hack for perfectly dressing a salad, proving he's a celeb chef we can trust with dinner prep. This expert avoids one of the common mistakes people make when cooking fried chicken – not cooking the poultry all the way through. He does this by pre-baking it in a generous coating of buttermilk, according to an episode of "Beat Bobby Flay." On the competition Food Network show in which everyday chefs compete with Flay to out-cook him using their best dishes, fried chicken was the choice of one of his competitors. Soaking the chicken in buttermilk first wasn't surprising, as the treatment adds both tang and tenderness thanks to the lactic acid in the dairy product, but the fact that Flay immediately stuck his pan in the oven under a foil covering astonished the guest judges.

Flay explained that, by partially cooking the chicken about three-quarters of the way through, he could focus on making sure that the breading was as light and crispy as possible without having to concern himself with bringing the chicken thighs and drums up to temp beneath the coating. While we wonder if Flay's buttermilk-baking technique was meant to address time constraints while filming his TV show — given the fact that his traditional fried chicken recipe takes a conventional approach that adds up to five hours of prep and cook time — we can't deny that the finished product looked succulent and delicious.

On his podcast, "Always Hungry," Bobby Flay notes that the oil in which you cook your fried foods is super important. Flay doesn't approve of olive oil, he says, because the smoke point is too low and the oil can impart a bitter flavor. We've heard that a bit of bacon grease is the secret ingredient in the best fried chicken if you want to add smoke and golden color. For his own frying, Flay espouses the use of light oils like canola, vegetable, peanut, or sunflower. He chose chicken thighs and drums to fry up, opting not to serve the judges a white-meat option. Flay, like all proficient cooks, also makes sure to season his flour well before dredging his chicken. On "Beat Bobby Flay," his dredge of choice included seasoning with onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika, along with the addition of cornstarch to his flour.

And, of course, what good is a delicious fried chicken dinner without sauces and at least one down-home delicious side? Flay chose to accompany his chicken with a duet of Fresco chile hot sauce and a horseradish honey mustard, and to dish up a heap of mashed potatoes drowned in poblano chile queso. Serving up fare like this, it's little wonder that Flay boasts a 63% win rate on "Beat Bobby Flay" — no matter what challenges his competitors throw at him, he has the culinary knowledge to find effective shortcuts to delicious food.