breaded chicken cutlets: whats the secret?

im here!

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 8:49 am

Whenever I make breaded cutlets the breading never sticks to cutlets. While frying most comes off. What's the secret to having the breading become part of the cutlets? What am I doing wrong?
I coat it in egg & then crumbs & fry.

yo'ma

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 8:51 am

hot oil

fiddle

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 8:57 am

ive done it in not such hot oil, so that doesnt make a difference. maybe your are watering your egg down too much? I stick in crumbs first then egg then crumbs again. dont know if that helps...

Tamiri

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 9:09 am

im here! wrote:

Take your cutlets. Wash off any juices and pat them dry with a paper towel. Put them in a container of flour or potato starch, seasoned with some salt and garlic power. Make sure they are coated on all sides and in all crevasses with the flour/starch, but that the coating is not gloppy. If it's gloppy, it means your cutlets were too wet to begin with.
Take your eggs and beat them. Slightly thin the beaten eggs with a bit of water. They should still be thick, not watery.
Moisten coated cutlets in the eggs. Make sure all the coating is moistened. Immediately transfer to a plate with breadcrumbs/matza meal and make sure they are totally coated.
Heat oil in a pan. You need enough oil so that it comes ~3/4 of the way up the cutlet. Make sure the oil is hot, but not smoking. You may need to play around a bit with the flame to get the oil the correct temperature. Put a tiny bit of matza meal/bread crumb+egg mixture (make a tiny ball) into the oil. The oil should sizzle and bubble around the tiny ball.
Gently place breaded cutlets into the hot oil. Let them fry until golden on the bottom side. The breading should be solidified and sticking to the chicken. Turn over and fry until golden on the bottom side. Remove from pan and transfer to an absorbant surface. Eat and enjoy.

canadamom

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 9:09 am

dip cutlets first in flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. the flour somehow helps it stick. and its yum!

PinkFridge

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 9:59 am

Do you marinate them in anything first?

Tamiri

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:07 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Do you marinate them in anything first?

I don't. If I marinated them, they wouldn't be shnitzel, they'd be something else.

Lefty

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:14 am

Depends on which frying pan u use as well! Check if there's still teflon inside or is it scratched off like my old one, and it used to stick to the pot big time even if the oil was verrry hot. It never sticked in the new pan.

chica

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:21 am

the flour gives the egg something to stick to. if you don't flour the chicken first the egg and the breading won't stick to the chicken.

Tamiri

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:23 am

Lefty wrote:

It's not the teflon. People have been making shnitzel for hundreds of years without teflon. I do that too.

nylon

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:29 am

It's the flour. My mother used to skip the flour and the breading would come off in patches. I learnt about the flour (and frying in enough oil, rather than a bare slick--fattening, but they come out crispy!) and I got perfect schnitzels every time.

im here!

Wed, Jul 07 2010, 10:36 am

Thanks to all of yous!!! Will try next with flour & see if its better!! Thanks again!!!

Rosegarden

Thu, Jul 08 2010, 3:44 am

Flour, eggs then seasoned crumbs as suggested before. Found that if you refrigerate for a while helps coating from flaking off.

Merrymom

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 5:15 pm

Any breading that you use before dipping in the egg will work, it doesn't have to be flour. The main thing is to use something that will dry up the moisture on the chicken first. Try to use panko bread crumbs btw, you will get the crispiest cutlets ever.

4ofus

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 7:24 pm

I coat it in corn flakes crumbs, egg, then corn flakes crumbs again. Soooooo good!

boymom

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 7:37 pm

Banana wrote: I coat it in corn flakes crumbs, egg, then corn flakes crumbs again. Soooooo good!

I do the same and I never have problems, even if the oil isn't hot yet or if the pan isn' t teflon. the trick is to put Crumbs first, then eggs without water and then crumbs again. be generous with all layers. bon appetit

de_goldy

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 7:48 pm

I just coat the chicken straight in corn flake crumbs - no eggs necessary.

Motheroftwins

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 8:12 pm

I coat my chicken in egg, then in billy bee honey mustard, then corn flake crumbs.

I also pile it on a plate as I bread it, cover w plastic wrap and refridgerate 1 hr before frying. I find that this helps the breading stick.

Tue, Aug 03 2010, 9:37 pm

My secret is DO NOT TURN THEM OVER.
Place in pan, do not turn until the first side is done, then flip over and do not turn over again. If you flip over and over it causes the steam to separate the coating from the chicken.
Then place on paper plates to drain (uncoated paper plates- the old fashion ones) if you put in on paper towels to drain it traps the steam causing it to loose its crunch.

mc'cutie

Wed, Aug 18 2010, 6:36 pm

Do you use dark chicken?

I never used dark chicken and tried it once this week using the same method I normaly do when using regular cutlets. However the entire crumbs fell off the chicken as I was done frying it. I wonder if it makes a difference which chicken you use?