The Only Pan You Should Use To Fry Chicken

Crispy fried chicken is a classic comfort food with a long history that manages to stay incredibly relevant. Since 2019, fast food chains have been famously battling it out in the "chicken sandwich wars" (per Restaurant Business) and there doesn't seem to be any signs of it slowing down. Fried chicken products have also overall seen a surge of popularity in recent years, with QSR magazine reporting that chicken sales at fast casual and quick service restaurants increased 42.1% between 2011 and 2016, and US. Foods reports that fried chicken is "all the rage on trendy menus."

Fried chicken dishes are so versatile and widely popular all over the world. They include the likes of Southern buttermilk recipes, Nashville hot chicken, Korean, Thai, and Chinese styles, and, of course, the next big sandwich drop. Who can resist the salty, crunchy taste of perfectly seasoned fried chicken?

You don't need to go out to eat to get in on the chicken trend, however. It's really not very hard to make any style of fried chicken at home as long as you have a good recipe, a little patience, and the right tools — most importantly, the right pan for the job.

A good fried chicken recipe needs more than just the ingredients and proper cooking temperatures to make it crunchy. Some of the most important steps for making fried chicken include breading it, turning the pieces at the right time when frying, and resting the chicken after it's cooked to lock in the juices. Also important in the cooking process is the type of oil and the kind of pan you use. Oh yes, the pan matters.

Fried chicken has been around a lot longer than modern oil fryers, and definitely longer than gadgets like air fryers, so if you're cooking up a batch of chicken, reach for a classic, good-quality cast-iron skillet. Modern inventions have not been able to improve on the versatility of a skillet, which has sides that are deep enough to hold the right volume of oil for frying your chicken while also being shallow enough so that you can easily turn the pieces over for even cooking. Good, thick cast iron will also keep your heat steady without big fluctuations in temperature, and those aforementioned sides are also perfect for clipping on a deep frying or candy thermometer. In fact, Southern Living says that using anything other than a skillet to fry chicken is a mistake, so don't overthink it.

If you don't already own a cast-iron skillet, making fried chicken is the perfect excuse to pick one up. These pans are super versatile for making a surprising number of recipes. They can also go from stovetop to oven, which opens you up to a world of one-pan meals such as chicken, olive, and orzo bake.

When shopping for a fried chicken-friendly skillet, look for a pan that can handle the volume of both the chicken and the oil you plan to fry. If you're planning to cook for just one or two people, which would be about a half chicken, you can go for an eight- or nine-inch pan and cook two pieces at a time. If you're cooking chicken for three to five people, go a little bigger with a 10- to 12-inch pan so that you can comfortably fit four or so pieces in the pan at a time.

If you're leery of buying a cast-iron pan because you've heard that they are hard to take care of, don't listen to the rumors. It's true that they can't go through the dishwasher, but these pans are fairly indestructible as long as you don't put a hot pan in cold water. Follow a few simple rules, and if you take good care of your cast iron, it can last a lifetime!