Baking vs Frying

[Kiyah]

So I have discreetly been trying to get my husband on the fitness kick with me but that man loves him some fried chicken. Lately I have been baking everything but it doesn't seem to matter since my family overeats anyway. Is it really that much healthier if I bake than fry if they are still overeating?

[JohnRi]

Generally baking is better than frying.  Especially deep frying when you batter the chicken and submerge the chicken into oil.  But baking removes so of the vitiums and nutrients in chicken.  So in some ways frying is better.  Stir frying is the good too, it only adds some of the fat that deep frying adds. 

Eating the skin is the biggest source of fat.  Most people eat the skin on Fried chicken, and most do not on baked chicken.

Take a look here...

https://www.caloriecount.com/big-calorie-deal-baked-vs-fried-b582304

But as you say, if they overeat, baking is better. 

[Ukase]

Kiyah, 

  They overeat, eh? Here are a couple of sneaky tricks to curb the appetite, and thus, cut their caloric intake. 

1. Don't make so much. I don't know how many are in the family - but only make enough for one serving of protein and make extra vegetables. Also - large glasses of water may be helpful. It may cause an argument, given fondness of fried chicken, but you simply tell them you ate most of it before they sat down. What are they going to do, besides complain? You couldn't help yourself!

If this trick doesn't work - you could try making the chicken so spicy that they won't want to eat so much - or even sneakier - just burn it or use a different flour/mix so that it doesn't taste as good. 

But, to be serious - baking is superior to frying in that the meat doesn't absorb that cooking oil. It's the cooking oil that's evil. In some cases, not ever sure it's real food. That's why baking is always better. 

Just think of the money you can save only cooking 4-5 pieces of chicken instead of the whole chicken! 

[WendyB]

Have you search for recipes like Unfried Chicken? They are some good ones out there.

here is one I use

UNFRIED CHICKEN

1/4 Cup Fat-free Mayonnaise<BR>
1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard<BR>
2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
4 Drops Hot Pepper Sauce<BR>
3/4 Cup Corn Flakes<BR>
4 (4 OZ) Each Skinless Boneless<BR>
Chicken Breast

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Crush the corn flakes in a
blender and put into a zip lock bag. Preheat oven to 375°. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll the chicken into the mayonnaise mixture, place in the corn flake bag and shake to coat. Place on the cookie sheet. Spray each with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes or until done. Do not turn over.

SERVINGS 4; CALORIES 157; FAT 1 g; PROTEIN 55 g; CARBS 8 g;
FIBER 0 g; CHOL 137 mg SODIUM 418 mg

[emili]

here is how I used to "fry" chicken. And used to because my family is now ok with everything grilled so I don't bother anymore.

smash up any cereal that has no sugar. I used cornflakes.

dip the chicken in ff milk

coat in cereal

line your cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam

put your chicken on and spray the chicken

bake on 400 (dark meat) 350 (light meat)

yummy

[Nomad92]

Hello.

It depends! If you fry stuff, you could use 100% pure coconut-oil since it is highly effective getting your body's metabolism running + your body needs high quality oil and fat.

If you use the oven, just don't overdue on butter and you'll be fine.

But all in all, fried chicken isn't a healthy option anyway. I would rather try some baked chicken ( without skin ). 

Cheers.

[SunsetRunner]

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@Kiyah wrote:

So I have discreetly been trying to get my husband on the fitness kick with me but that man loves him some fried chicken. Lately I have been baking everything but it doesn't seem to matter since my family overeats anyway. Is it really that much healthier if I bake than fry if they are still overeating?

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There are ways to bake chicken wings to come out crispy like fried chicken.    Every now and again I like to eat fried chicken, too.   

[HelenaFitbit]

Hey there! Have you considered an Air fryer? It's an odd investment but if your family is a fried-food lover; it can even out the sides for healthy and yummy. 

An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food.A mechanical fan circulates the hot air around the food at high speed, cooking the food and producing a crispy layer thanks to the Maillard effect. It makes chips, fries (obviously) fish, chicken, pastries and others and they use 1-2 tbsp of oil for a whole batch. 

[USAF-Larry]

We got an Air Fryer last fall, and no longer fry any food in oils - it is all air fried. Air Fried sweet potato fries or squash fries are so simple to make and are both nutritious and very low fat. The only fat in air fried chicken is from the fat on the chicken. Dinner tonight included air fried onion rings - they would compete against any you would find in a restaurant. 

Anyone have some go air fryer recipes to share?

[Daves_Not_Here]

Welcome @Kiyah -- I'll give a point of view that is contrary to the conventional wisdom about fried foods and saturated fats:  in the past 40 years that we've been indoctrinated to avoid saturated fat, the obesity epidemic has exploded.  Eggs used to be demonized for their cholesterol but we now understand the cholesterol in our blood does not come from food in our gut. I believe we are reconsidering the effects of saturated fat consumption in the same way.

My personal experience:  I increased my consumption of saturated fat and fried foods starting 9 months ago.  Based on blood work from 2 months ago, my risk of cardiovascular disease has been halved from what it was for 10 years when I was eating "healthy", according to my doctor.  I am now off statins after 10 years.  I had been pre-diabetic, now I am at almost zero risk of diabetes.  Now, I can't recommend eating fried foods, and other changes I've made may have contributed to my improvement, but I'm suggesting that what we've been taught about fried foods may bear reexamination.