I'm going to try and make some homemade Shake and Bake

[bearfan454]

drumsticks for tonight. I'll mix Progresso Italian bread crumbs with flour, garlic powder, a small amount of cayenne, and a small amount of salt. Put it in a gallon ziplog bag, shake the drumsticks real good and get it to stick to them, and bake them at 325 for about an hour on a tin foiled cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. I have leftover scalloped potatoes that I can microwave to go along with it. It should come out okay I hope.

[The empressof all]

1. I do something similar all the time

Works with both pork and chicken. I dip my meat in a water/egg white wash before coating. I also find popping the meat in the freezer for 15-20 minutes also helps coating to adhere. (I do that for both oven fried and reg. pan fried foods)

[housewolf]

2. Do you freeze before or after breading?

This is an interesting tip, I'd never heard of doing this before.

[The empressof all]

3. Bread then pop in freezer

Even 15-20 minutes in the freezer after breading helps the coating to stay on while cooking. The only time you wouldn't want to do this is if you are using a batter type coating. That just wouldn't work.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I **think** the flour in bearfan's recipe

will create a sort of "batter" just from the latent moisture on chicken. I suspect his recipe will work as written.

I'm not sure, cuz I never did this, but that'd be my guess.

[The empressof all]

7. I still do it with flour

I sometimes just use seasoned flour as a coating and still freeze for a short period of time. I just have found that for me the coating sticks on better if I start off with a colder product. I do this even with vegetables like egg-plant, zuchinni, or green tomatoes-except I put them in the fridge for an hour or so instead of the freezer.

I have a lot of weird quirky kitchen habits though.


Either way, I'm sure his chicken will be just delish!

[eleny]

5. I've oven fried like this for years

But without the flour. Let us know how it turned out. As has been pointed out, it's great with pork chops, too. The It crumbs should have some salt in it already. So check before you sprinkle. I think you're really going to enjoy those drumsticks!

[Warpy]

6. Coat the chicken with mayonnaise

Yeah, I know, it sounds nuts. But it'll help your dry breadcrumbs stick and the fat will crisp them up.

[babylonsister]

8. I do this often, thanks to Mom's recipe.

Coat chicken or pork chops w/milk and mayo, even letting it marinate a bit. Then roll around in Italian breadcrumbs doctored with lots of garlic and onion powder, usually tossing in some wheat germ, and a generous helping of tarragon, because I really like the flavor. Bake at 350 for an hour (or less if chops are thin). Easy and delicious!

[bearfan454]

9. They came out pretty good.

I could have done better by putting them on a higher shelf in the oven. They stuck a little bit to the bottom of the baking dish even with Pam. They tasted good though. I gave the extra crispy part to the dog.

[woofless]

12. Try the AB trick.

Put a cooling rack above a baking sheet and your chicken cooks more evenly and doesn't stick.

[eleny]

13. Can you explain that a little more?

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I use a glass baking dish lined with foil to bake the chicken. Do you mean to place the cooling rack over the chicken? I'm confused. Thanks in advance!

[woofless]

14. I place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet.

That gives the chicken a place to drain so it is not sitting in fat while cooking. It also facilitates heat distribution. The bottom of the chicken pieces are not soggy. Easy to clean too.

Woof

[madinmaryland]

10. I did that with pork chops last night.

My wife hates it, but i love it.

[woofless]

11. I do the same thing all the time

and we love it. I augment the seasoned bread crumbs with Badia's Complete Seasoning and the flavor is wonderful. Badia is a Miami Company specializing in Cuban flavors. The complete seasoning I have used on everyhting I have smoked or 'cued for a few years now. Here's a link, check 'em out. Very reasonable pricing and shipping.

http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CFM&Category_Code=11202

Woof

[demnan]

15. Some really good tips here

I like to add Old Bay when I "oven fry" my chicken, I'll try some of these other tips as well.