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I absolutely love making ‘fried’ chicken on my charcoal grill using the Vortex insert. Yeah, I know it’s not really fried, but that’s the point. You get that same crunchy exterior and moist tender interior, all without the oil. I use this recipe for southern fried chicken using the Vortex the most, sometimes adding a sauce at the end, but often not,. It’s got that perfect crunch, whether you use skin-on or skinless chicken. The batter is spot-on perfect. Your guests will definitely think that it was deep-fried.
Really, It’s Not Deep-Fried!
I usually cook chicken using the Vortex on my 22″ charcoal grill, the Weber Performer. You can buy a smaller Vortex for smaller grills and for grills made from manufacturers other than Weber, which works absolutely fantastic for chicken wings, but for bigger pieces like the split chicken breasts I used for southern fried chicken, I use a bigger grill so that the meat isn’t so close to the fire.
Southern Fried Chicken using the Vortex
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup water
- hot sauce to taste
- 2 cups self-rising flour if you don’t have any, combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 whole chicken cut into pieces (up to 3 pounds). Or use whatever pieces you prefer.
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Set up your grill for cooking with the Vortex insert. Get the coals good and lit before starting.
- In a pie pan, beat the eggs with the water.
- In another pie pan, combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Working in batches, dip the chicken in the egg mixture and coat well.
- Transfer the chicken to the flour mixture and coat well. Shake off any excess flour.
- Transfer chicken to the grill, placing along the edges with the thickest parts of the chicken towards the center where the Vortex is located.
- Cover the grill and cook for 15 minutes.
- Rotate the lid 90 degrees and continue cooking for 15 more minutes.
- Rotate the lid 90 degrees and continue cooking for 15 more minutes.
- Check for doneness in the thickest parts of the chicken. If it needs more time, rotate the lid 90 degrees and continue cooking for 15 more minutes.
- Before removing the chicken, lightly brush with oil if you want a crunchier crust and let cook for another 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.