Breaded chicken...what Am I Doing Wrong?

I put it on a rack on the baking sheet. The fat and oils can drip down and don't make the stuff soggy.

First...do dry-wet-day. Dredge in seasoned flour first, then beaten egg, then the breading. Then if you want to just bake it, put it on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Or, sear it first in a little oil in a skillet on both sides and then finish baking it in the oven on a rack.

Too much moisture going on. Egg is sooo inconsistant as a dredge. I suggest you beat them well so the whites are well broken - maybe add a touch of milk/buttermilk to the mix. In addition you will want to have them raised on a rack on the cookie sheet OR turn them (still could end up a touch mushy though). And are your pieces of chicken really big? You might want to use smaller peices - less weight, less pressure on the "bottom" more potential to crisp up.

When I oven fry chicken, I put a cookie cooling rack on the pan and then put the chicken on top. It lets the moisture drip away and more air circulates around it. I also try to flip it about half way through.

From the internet:

"I think your problem lies completely in that you are baking them. It is possible to get crispy breaded chicken by baking, but you'll have to fiddle with it a bit. Spraying with oil will help, and I would also suggest placing the chicken onto a rack over a sheet pan so that liquid could drip away and not sit in contact with the breading, especially with thighs and anything with the skin on.

I would also make sure that you follow the breading suggestions of thin coat flour, followed by egg, followed by bread crumbs. This causes the breading the adhere much better to the surface of the chicken.

Also as another suggestion, one of the recipes on this site is for baked onion rings where the breading is made from potato chips and saltines (if I remember correctly). This is similar to a recipe I've seen in Cook's Country a few times, and it always turns out excellent and super crispy. I haven't tried this on baked chicken (I fry my chicken, arteries be darned* ), but it seems like it could work out very well.

*: Correctly fried chicken isn't actually much worse for you than baked as the goal is to actually soak up as little oil as possible."

http://www.cookingforengineers.com

I've never tried that of what you speak. But you might need to turn the chicken half way thru to solve the mush problem I suspect.

I fry mine in grapeseed oil.. and dont have that problem.

Couple of ideas I stole from Alton Brown...

1. Make sure that you are flipping the chicken half-way through
2. As the oven is preheating, place the baking dish in the oven with a combo of oil and butter IN the oven so that the fat is HOT when you put the raw chicken in the dish (cold oil soaks in)
3. When you take them out of the oven, immediately cool them on a baking rack so the air can circulate and you avoid having them sit in the oil or letting steam (water) build up on the bottom.

I have had wonderfully crispy chicken tenders since watching that episode!

Yes do not use Krafts oven fry Chicken breading. Buy Italian Breadcrumbs, egg/mlk mixture, olive oil. Dip your chicken in the egg Mixture then the breadcrumbs and lightly fry it in a medium Hot pan. OR I wrap bacon around the breaded chicken and bake it until done....Much yummier.

I dip in flour, then the breading, then the egg, then the breading again. I get a nice layer of breading. Also, like everyone else says, I put it on a cooling rack on top of my cookie sheet. Also, you may want to try adding Panko bread crumbs to the seasoning. Panko is great for adding crunch. I use it all the time in lieu of regular bread crumbs.

Pry just your basic answer to things being soggy on one side. Flip half way or three fourths the way through the cooking process. That almost always solves the one side soggy dilemma.

Second don't let it sit in a pan or on a plate. Once you are done put them straight on a cooling rack till you are ready to eat just like you do cookies. That allows the air to circulate and excess moisture to get away and not get trapped under the food and cause it to get mushy.

Good luck!

About half way through the baking time, turn the chicken pieces over so the bottom side can crisp.

Are you pre-heating the oven? Try letting it get hot before you put them in the oven.

I get a crispy crust on our pizza by pre-heating the oven.

I think you have some great suggestions however I would also add that a good stoneware pan is also great. Everything I bake on it comes out crispy without flipping. I had a friend recommend a good quality one but I chose to buy a cheap one from walmart. It didn't work at all so I tried a friend's Pampered Chef stoneware pan and it worked so I splurged. i'll never go back to metal pans. The Pampered Chef pans are less than approx $30 and worth every penny. Let me know if you need more info. Good luck. You've made me hungry for chicken. I think I'll make some for dinner.