Frying with a pressure cooker?

[DrB]

So, kfc and some other fast food fried chicken outlets use pressure cookers to fry chicken, and I'm wondering if this is practical at home (specifically for squirrel). I have no idea if they are of a special design, use a particular technique, or if there might be any unexpected hazard involved.

Anyone ever try this?

[Mooseman]

Yes , I have done it and it works great. Get your Oil about 4 inches deep and get it hot while battering your chicken...350 to 375 degrees.
I put chicken pieces in spiced flour, dip in egg and milk mix, and back in the spiced flour to coat it good. Set on floured plate.Then when the oil is hot...
Put all the chicken pieces in fairly fast and put the lid on, when it hits 5 pounds of pressure set timer for 7 minutes.Let pressure rise up to 10 pounds if it goes that high.
At 7 minutes, remove from heat and open the steam exhaust, when no pressure, open it up and drain chicken...it will be ready to eat.
Same as KFC does it...never fried a squirrel though...
Rich

[DrB]

Thanks, mm.

[Mk42gunner]

Wow, that is a heck of a lot faster than frying regular chicken.

DrB, When you try squirrel the first time, I would cut the time down, squirrel pieces are a lot smaller than chicken parts and should take a shorter time to cook.

Robert

[markinalpine]

My sister in law from Mississippi always soaked her chicken pieces in buttermilk overnight before regular frying. Might give that a try.
Mark [smilie=s:

[Love Life]

My sister in law from Mississippi always soaked her chicken pieces in buttermilk overnight before regular frying. Might give that a try.
Mark [smilie=s:

As it should be!!

[Old Goat Keeper]

The acid in the buttermilk tenderizes the chicken or what ever meat you are soaking. Same as wine or lemon juice.

T-o-m

[frankenfab]

The buttermilk is great, but the first time I used it, I didn't pat the chicken or squeeze the excess out. The buttermilk scorches easily. It was still quite edible, though.

[Moonie]

please note that you cannot pressure fry with a regular pressure cooker. They are not designed for it and have warnings against doing so. Pressure fryers are specifically designed for this and have locking bars to prevent explosions. Please do NOT attempt to pressure fry in a regular pressure cooker. I have looked into this quite a bit. As the warnings say, pressure frying in a standard pressure cooker creates a bomb.

[DrB]

Can you explain the hazard, moonie?

Any pressure cooker can be a bomb (or high pressure green bean ceiling sprayer, as happened to my grandmother once when a relief plug blew :) ). What makes the fryer different? I am not following what you are saying about the locking bars either. How are they different from the usual locking provisions on a pressure cooker?

I am curious why there is a difference in hazard other than that temperature would be higher (not a problem for steel, but maybe for plug or safety valve components?), and the flammability of the oil.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Best regards, DrB

[Moonie]

Sure, pressure cookers operate at 250F, pressure fryers operate at 400F, the seals in a normal pressure cooker are not designed for that. Please read the owners manual that came with your pressure cooker, it explains this.

Also: http://missvickie.com/howto/fry/frying.html

I seriously would not like anyone on this forum to be the recipient of a Darwin Award.

[Jeffrey]

The Colonel's original is done in a pressure fryer. At least it was in the '70s.

[zxcvbob]

I really don't think it's dangerous, but the oil will quickly ruin the seals. Those rubber seals are expensive. It might work in an All American pressure cooker, but those things are awfully expensive (and you'll probably ruin the gauge)

You want a "Broaster" or a pressure fryer.

[willie_pete]

How about blowing a seal with 400 degree oil at 10 psi with a flame or hot coil underneath. The atomized oil fire would probably be very impressive.

WP
( industrial fire fighter for 25 years)

[Reload3006]

ok here is the deal and i was as surprised by it as you all may be. I used to cook pot roasts in my pressure cooker all the time. the problem with that is especially in the jiggler type is that food particles plug up the relief and raise pressures in the cooker. Now when this happens the relief plug pops and you have one hell of a mess. One would think that if you are in the area instant 3rd degree burns right? Wrong. the sudden release of pressure causes the temp to drop to almost freezing and you will have one big mess to clean up off your walls ceiling stove etc but it will be freezing cold. Not hot. This principle my friends is how your refrigerator and air conditioner works.