Cooking can be done in many ways, which includes smoking meat or cooking it on the stovetop.
While cooking on the stovetop is self-explanatory, smoking meat means cooking it over some firewood.
Once you do this, the meat becomes infused with the firewood’s smoky flavor and whatever flavor the firewood gives off. It depends on what type of firewood you use.
Some give off a woody taste, while others give off a fruity and sweet one.
Despite starting off cooking on the stove, grill, or smoker, you may not be able to finish it that way. This is where the oven comes in! In this article, we will go over if you can finish the fried chicken in the oven and how!
Contents
What Is Fried Chicken?
Believe it or not, fried chicken is food that is not only popular in America but also in Japan, Korea, and countries all over the world. It is thought to have originated among the Scottish. It has come a long way since then and is considered a staple of American cuisine.
Fried Chicken refers to chicken that has been fried. The outside is crispy and brown, but when you bite into it, you get into that tender chicken meat.
Depending on what type of fried chicken you are eating, there might be some differences—like with Korean fried chicken, which is coated in a chili paste called gochujang.
What remains the same, however, is the fact that the chicken is fried, with it being crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Makes you hungry, doesn’t it?
Can You Finish the Fried Chicken in the Oven?
The simpler answer is yes. You can finish the fried chicken in the oven.
It doesn’t matter what kind of fried chicken you are making (wing, leg, drumstick, breast, etc.). All that matters is that you need to know whether you can finish it in your oven. For some, there is a preference for cooking in the oven over the stovetop.
You think of fried chicken, so you might automatically assume it’s already being put in the oven. This is not always the case. Fried chicken can be cooked up on the grill, stovetop, or smoker. Again, it depends on preference.
Sometimes, you may have cooked it completely in the oven, taken it out, and then returned it to the oven sometime later. More on this in the section where we discuss whether it’s really good to finish the fried chicken in the oven.
Is It Good To Finish Fried Chicken in the Oven?
Finishing your fried chicken in the oven is sometimes the best way to finish your cooking.
It’s a good, quick, and quality way to heat your chicken and make sure it’s cooked thoroughly. The reasons for this are:
- The stovetop may not be as hot as you want it, or the temperature is more difficult to control compared to an oven. You can say the same about a grill. Sometimes it’s too hot, and other times it’s not hot enough. Cooking on both these things can be a delicate and difficult process.
- One of the biggest reasons is that the fried chicken might be undercooked. Cooking chicken can be difficult even for the best chef out there, and you need to make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly. This is because undercooked chicken doesn’t taste good and can lead to you and your family getting sick. Heating it in the oven is a good way to do this.
- You just really like oven cooking and prefer to finish your cooking this way. Hey, it’s a legitimate reason! Though being fair, this one counts as more of a personal choice when compared to the other two.
This is why it’s a good idea to use the oven now and then to finish your fried chicken.
How To Finish Fried Chicken in the Oven
Now it’s time to get to the best part: how you can finish your fried chicken in the oven and make sure it’s at its tastiest. To do this, you need to take the following steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Get the fried chicken prepared, breaded, and fried as you usually would, and then cook it on the stovetop. Use whatever recipe you feel comfortable using for this process.
- Place them on a paper towel and then season if desired. Once this is done, you need to put the chicken on a tray and then put it into the oven.
- Next step is more of a waiting game. The chicken should be kept in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 160, which you can easily check with a meat thermometer. This process usually takes 10 to 15 minutes, but sometimes could take longer depending on the size of the chicken. When in doubt, just keep checking! No one likes super burnt chicken.
- The chicken is done, so now you need to take it out of the oven! Let it sit there until it’s no longer so hot that it might melt you. Then serve with your choice of sides and toppings. What is fried chicken, if not without some classic sides and toppings?
See? Finishing fried chicken in the oven is as easy as apple pie. We mean the saying, not the actual process of baking an apple pie because that is by far much more difficult.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it all your barbeque lovers out there! You now know how to finish some good, old-fashioned fried chicken in the oven.
Not as hard as you thought it might be, huh? Besides that, we went into a brief biology lesson about what fried chicken is, if you can even finish the fried chicken in the oven and if it is good to do it as well.
So, what are you waiting for? Go grab your fried chicken out of that smoker or grill and move it to the oven. You might end up preferring that process overall!
You might also be interested in the following:
- How To Finish Pork Chops in the Oven
- How To Finish Steak in the Oven
- How To Finish Ribs in the Oven
- How To Finish Pulled Pork in the Oven
- How To Finish Pork Butt in the Oven
- Finishing Brisket in the Oven Guide
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.