The Breakfast Staple You Should Be Coating Fried Chicken With For A Crunchy Finish

There is no shortage of ingredients that level up fried chicken, but between the work of prepping your station and frying everything perfectly, the last thing you want to do is carefully measure the ratios of your dry ingredients to create the perfect crust. That's why, rather than making your own breading, you should reach for pancake mix, which offers a balance of flour, leavening agents, and additional starches that crisp up beautifully in hot oil.

First, you'll have to make sure your mix doesn't contain a lot of added sugar, as this may not only make your chicken sweet but also burn in the oil and develop an unpleasant taste. Most mixes have some sort of leavening agent, and while standard flour works, mixes featuring baking soda (alongside an acidic dredge) combined with starches — like cornstarch, potato starch, or rice starch — create a far lighter, crispier breading.

If your mix contains dextrose, this can also help impart a beautiful golden-brown color that only enhances the presentation. Since the mix already has everything you need for texture, all you need to do is get the taste right with your own signature blend of herbs and spices.

The point of using pancake mix to bread your chicken is to reduce your workload without sacrificing quality, but adjusting an ingredient or two can really maximize its effectiveness. Considering how baking soda reacts with acid and how you sequence your breading can produce an entirely different result, even if the tricks are quick and easy.

Baking soda reacts quite powerfully with acid, bubbling up and producing tons of carbon dioxide gas. If you want the crispiest fried chicken, taking advantage of this reaction with another fried chicken staple, buttermilk, could be your best bet. Not only does it impart fantastic flavor, but it's acidic enough that you won't need to add extra vinegar or citrus juice to bring out the best in your baking soda. Just be sure to combine the ingredients only once your oil has heated up, since letting the mixture sit too long causes it to quickly lose potency, and you may not end up with quite as delicate a coating.

If you opt for a wet batter, be sure to toss your meat thoroughly. This ensures the batter gets into every nook and cranny and creates an even layer of breading for every bite. If, however, you prefer dipping the meat in dry and then wet ingredients, there's one dredging rule you should always follow: Do it twice. This is always a good rule of thumb, but since your pancake mix breading will be quite delicate and shatteringly crisp, you have to ensure there's enough of it to be delicious.