---
title: 'I Cooked Chicken in Real Lava | With Babish'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=CIlClQZAgRI'
video_id: 'CIlClQZAgRI'
date: 2026-07-19
duration_sec: 1105
channel: 'Binging with Babish'
---

# I Cooked Chicken in Real Lava | With Babish

> Source: [I Cooked Chicken in Real Lava | With Babish](https://youtube.com/watch?v=CIlClQZAgRI)

## Summary

In this video, the host teams up with YouTube chef GooGa to attempt cooking chicken using real lava at Syracuse University's lava lab. After multiple failed attempts with direct lava contact, they pivot to a deep-fried 'lava chicken' recipe with an ultra-spicy sauce, concluding that cooking with lava is impractical and dangerous.

### Key Points

- **Experiment Setup** [00:01] — The host and GooGa travel to Syracuse University to use a custom lava rig built by art professor Bob Weissagi, which produces lava at 2300-2400°F.
- **First Lava Cooking Attempt** [04:35] — They submerge a whole chicken in lava using a metal cage. The chicken emerges raw and burnt, with a sulfuric taste, deemed inedible.
- **Second Attempt: Butterflied Chicken** [07:45] — They butterfly the chicken and pour lava over it. The chicken is encased in rock-like crust but remains raw inside.
- **Pivot to Deep-Fried Lava Chicken** [09:39] — They decide to make an edible version using a hybrid tempura dry dredge batter and double deep-fry method.
- **Breading and Batter Recipe** [10:19] — Dry brine the chicken, then coat with a dry dredge of all-purpose flour and rice flour, and a wet batter of potato starch, flour, vodka, buttermilk, and egg whites.
- **Double Deep-Fry Process** [12:35] — First fry at 350°F for 7-8 minutes until blonde, rest, then second fry at 400°F until golden brown and crispy.
- **Spicy Sauce Creation** [13:28] — They mix multiple hot sauces (Gochujang, Frank's RedHot, Sriracha, etc.) with hot fry oil to create an extremely spicy sauce.
- **Final Tasting** [15:25] — The deep-fried chicken is coated in the spicy sauce. Both hosts find it crispy and flavorful, though very spicy, and deem it a success.
- **Conclusion and Lesson** [17:17] — Cooking chicken with real lava is impractical, dangerous, and produces substandard results. The at-home equivalent is deep-fried spicy chicken.

### Conclusion

Cooking chicken with real lava is not only dangerous but also yields inedible results. The successful alternative is a deep-fried, ultra-spicy 'lava chicken' that mimics the concept safely at home.

## Transcript

mix hot lava and chicken? I did, and you're about to find out.
>> Pass the bird jerky. Lava cha cha chicken. Lyrics that have captured the chicken. Lyrics that have captured the imagination of the nation. But it also raises an interesting question. Can chicken be cooked by being submerged in
lava? It's a fun question to ponder, but not one that's actually possible to answer. Right. Right. Right.
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gadgets. Shop Best Buy for impressive gifts for your most important people. down some very scary life-threatening circumstances. Sunny, the coldest, hardest, bravest YouTube chef to help me. Please welcome GooGa.
>> I I didn't even know. >> You don't give a [ __ ] dude. You scare energy I need for this because we need to make chicken with lava. >> And intrigued at the same time. Please celebrate. But to make lava chicken, we
have to go where lava is. >> Okay. I like this. I hope you packed a >> I did. We're going on a little trip. Let's go. We'll see you there. With the essentials packed, we boarded a plane and readied ourselves for a
journey through the air of more than 300 miles. >> Well, we're where lava is, which, as it turns out, is not Hawaii, the tropics, That's right, >> Syracuse University.
>> Yeah, it's the oldfashioned way. So, now we're here with Professor Bob Weissagi, the leader of the lava project here at Syracuse University. Bob, thank you so >> Thank you for coming. >> Can you tell me how hot is the lava that
we're going to be cooking with today? >> Somewhere between 2300 and 2400° >> Somewhere between 2300 and 2400° F. Lava that flows in nature is around >> This is hotter than nature. >> This is going to be hotter than nature
>> No. >> Unless you stay there too long. Only if >> Unless you stay there too long. Only if you want to. Bob Weissaki, not a lava professor, but an art professor who built a custom hot rod rig to make lava.
Basically the coolest guy on planet Earth. >> Hi everybody. Thank you for coming. Oh my god. I can feel coming up. >> Oh my god.
>> Wa. The the lid is red. >> Wow. How do you do anything? >> I don't need a jacket. Honestly scared now. I wasn't I wasn't scared before >> No, I kind of want to like sponsor a better like scaffolding system.
foot in there, which is what it looked like he was about to do. Jesus, it is like he was about to do. Jesus, it is hot. Very hot. Too hot. I don't really like a kitchen back there. It's It's for wax melting, but I don't even go here.
Okay, so they built us this special. It's not a Faraday cage, but that's what the size of a chicken. Look at that. Perfect fit. >> And this is how we're going to make our lava chicken. You like that? You like
the lava chicken? >> Yeah. Lava chicken. I don't remember the >> Yeah. Lava chicken. I don't remember the words, actually. >> Time to put on the last suit we'll ever wear.
Seeing hell, cuz that's where we're going.
I bet you feel pretty stupid right now. [music]
Oh god. [snorts] Oh Christ. Come here. Come back to daddy. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> La. Yeah. That's lava. Put >> the water straight up with the stick.
>> the water straight up with the stick. There you go. >> That was the best moment of my life. >> You want the lid back? There you go. >> You want the lid back? There you go. Look at that.
>> Oh yeah, buddy. Oh no, my chicken. There it is, boys. There's a lot on my chicken. Why is it still seeming like chicken. Why is it still seeming like that? Oh, all right. You want to try?
Let's do it. Get myself a drum. >> Yeah, it's still raw. >> I don't think we can eat that. >> I don't think this one's safe. >> I agree. >> I'm thinking cube.
chicken in there. Tack weld it in. >> It'll come out square like in Minecraft. >> Let's do it. >> We'll squeeze it in.
figure it out. >> If you're within 15 ft of the crucible, it's effectively summer weather. If you're within 5 ft, there is radiative crinkly. You know that feeling? Like, ooh, that can't be good for me.
another D. >> When you're leaning over the damn thing, it's almost the same way that it feels to look into the sun, but hot instead of >> Right there. >> How much does that weigh?
>> Nobody need rotisserie chicken. They need this >> simple twoingredient recipe. >> How many BT use of energy did you say? >> Just 3 million. >> Come to Syracuse University. We'll we'll
set your dreams on fire >> in the lobby. >> in the lobby. >> Watch your step. is kick that. I'm not going to, but I want to kick it very badly.
>> that looks >> not bad. >> not bad. >> Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah. >> All right, let's try it, shall we? >> Yeah, it's not cooked. That part's not
>> Yeah. Grab some from the breast here. I think this is our best bet. think this is our best bet. >> That's all you, buddy. >> No. >> There's a wonderful grit to it.
>> It is unbelievably burnt. Like, have you had like properly >> burnt chicken? >> It's not good. And it's got this truly to say sulfuric, but there's something chemical about it.
>> And um you know, I honestly I just can't recommend this as a viable way to cook >> I can't do it. >> What about if we just pour on top of >> Let's do that. >> Yeah, I shouldn't have eaten that. Time
to see if it helps to butterfly the bird. There we go. off. Look at that. It's lava [music] proof. Oh yeah. Oh boy. >> Move the chicken off. Move the chicken.
>> That looks delicious. >> Careful. Careful. Yummy. >> It's just like the movie. >> Exactly. That's precisely what happens >> Wow. Just like when you're doing dishes in the sink and you hit a spoon and
>> Yeah. >> Should we uh extract the chicken? >> There's no thermometer. It's It's It's The chicken's done. Here, big fella.
It's funny. It's like it's encased in rock or something. There it is. There's your lava chicken, you freaks. All right, let's go eat it. [snorts] Time to finally answer the question. What does it taste like? That
is raw. Sorry. Very raw. Very raw. >> It's completely raw. >> Okay. All right. Hey, 100% raw. >> I think I have a cookedish piece here. think? The >> salamanella.
>> That's what I like to call it. >> I got your salmonella right here. >> Oh, [snorts] >> Yeah, don't do that. What does it taste like?
>> Rocky. >> It tastes like the planet's core. >> It's I mean, it's burnt obviously, >> but beyond that, I'm ashamed that I know liked rock, >> right?
>> That tastes just like a rock. >> I mean, it's just super charred and it's that little bite. >> Yes, you did. >> But I will do anything for you. Can we make a really good one now?
>> That's a really good idea. >> Back to the lab. Back to Brooklyn. >> Back to the lab. Back to Brooklyn. >> Well, that was fascinating. >> That's an understatement. But I think we should make an edible lava chicken. What
we going to [music] do this though? >> Well, we have a big old deep fryer set breading for deep [music] frying chicken. It's going to keep it super >> And then I think we should make it spicy [music]
>> Oh, people already know I can't take the spice. So, this is going to be torture, town? >> We must be an ad campaign from the '90s >> As long as I got a gallon, I'm good. That's rock a gallon. That's some heavy
cream water now. So, first I want to dry brine this guy a little bit. Help it retain moisture. So, I'll be the chicken handler if you don't mind uh generously coating it. So, this guy knows how to season. The the height of the sprinkle
>> Clutch. I don't even go that high. >> The higher the better. No. >> Oh, yeah. No, I mean, wow. It's really It's true what they say. It's easier to >> Yeah. All right. So, now we'll let this guy hang out in the fridge for a couple
for a couple hours. Ready to be breaded and deep fried. Let's go. >> We're going to make a sort of hybrid tempura dry dredge batter. Basically using tempura as the wet and [music]
then dry flour and rice flour as the dry. That's going to make it ultra crispy. So for the dry dredge, we have 900 g of allpurpose. To that, I'm going to add 150 g of white rice flour. This is both going to add crispness and it's
browns, which is important when we're doing a double deep fry like this. Hefty >> Yep. >> Now, for the wet, we have 150 g of potato starch to 225 g of allpurpose flour, 75 g of vodka, 300 g of
flour, 75 g of vodka, 300 g of buttermilk. Then, we got 360 g of cold You don't need to get it super smooth, just like lumpy pancake batter. Also, we almost forgot, 90 g of liquid egg whites. Now, what does the egg white do?
>> The egg white is going to give strength to the shell without the fat of [music] the yolks. So, it's going to give structure to the breading, but no fat, so it stays crisp. It's about as close as I'll ever get to science. In other
>> Well, I actually saw it on your video when you make a bunch of fried chicken >> Exactly. He watches our content. He We watch >> Where do you find the time? >> Working out.
not. >> You You You You just outed me. You're So, [clears throat] as with any fried chicken recipe, you got to add some of >> All right. Here we go. >> Straight down.
>> You got it inside and out, too. Now, let's send it for a trip in the dry. Get bread it? >> I think we should. >> You're in for quite an experience here, little fella. All right, our oil should
be up to temp. So, we might as well go outside and drop this straight in. outside and drop this straight in. >> There we go. probably 7 8 minutes until it's just blonde. Take
it out, rest it, fry it again. >> There it is, par fried. Now, the crust is going to soak up all this excess moisture that's evaporating off the chicken. It's going to get soggy. >> But then, that's not all. Yes, we come
>> That's right. >> At 100° F higher so that it will crisp >> I love the little crevices you made. It almost looks like actual lava. Like lava
>> Oh, you? >> Yeah. No. Yep. I did that on purpose. >> You are a mad scientist like me. >> While this guy cools, we can make our sauce. And here's what we're going to make it from. You got the whole kitchen
>> Yeah, dude. This is going to be spicy and it's going to taste crazy just like >> Mhm. >> Dump all these together and then take some of the hot fry oil. Pour it [music] in. Let that sort of toast all of it.
but instead of dry spices, it's hot sauce. >> No idea if it's going to work. Gojang Frank's Red Hot Ones Los Calientes Piri Piri Sriracha Cholula Original Cholula Chipotle Queen Majesty Sicilian Scorpion
Hot Sauce Louisiana Crystal. I think that's everything. This smells too spicy. >> Yes, I know I was dumping hot sauce in there willy-nilly, but this smells too spicy. To make it extra red and also
obviously more spicy, we're going to put some kucato on the top. And Andrew is grabbing some hot oil and we're [music] gonna put it right inside. Oh, looks meaner now. >> Yeah, it really does.
>> What? >> Just wait a second. >> Just wait a second. >> No. Okay, good for you. I am doing that. >> But but you are a spice man, right? I'm not a spice man. Have you seen my
videos? Normally when I eat something, I dunk stuff on my head because how hot it is and it's just like one of this. >> Well, today Brad's going to be your camera. I am. >> Okay. Yeah.
>> I'm going to fall on your sword. >> Okay. Are you a spice man? >> Uh I am. I consider myself a spice man, so we'll see. But this is >> Yeah. Spicy. >> Okay.
>> You're fine. >> Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be right back.
>> That's fine. That's good. Now, all that was left to do was deep fry the chicken again, now at 400° F, until golden brown before bringing back inside to slather in sauce. That's how it retrieves the baby.
Hey >> there, big fella. Oh, it's so rigid. I >> So crispy. >> Oh, that's very crispy. >> Oh, we're paintbrushing it. >> We're brushing. We'll we'll pour some,
but I figured just to really get great coverage. >> Okay, that's a lot of chicken. >> Much better than the previous one. proud of a whole chicken in my life. >> It looks phenomenal. It looks
>> [laughter] >> I'm scared though. I'm not going to lie. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can we just leave it like this? Why do we have to taste? it? Well, I'm glad we're not eating this. Thank you guys so much for
what you want to make food from out of next time the on the show. Thank you for >> Listen. Okay. [laughter] >> All right. I'm going for this drum. Oh, cooked, too. Yeah. >> You ready, brother? Cheers, brother. It
>> You ready, brother? Cheers, brother. It was awesome. >> it's not that spicy. >> It's not that spicy.
>> Yes, it is. >> No, it's not. >> I'm going I'm going to go for another one.
>> No, I'm not. You're fine. He's He's fine. >> It's not that spicy. [cough] >> It's not that spicy. [snorts] >> Lava chicken, BABY. [screaming]
>> SO, what did we learn here today? Well, first, foremost, and most obviously, it doesn't make any sense to cook chicken with lava. Uh, it costs about 3 million BTUs. uh it wastes the time of a uh university
professor and it makes a I would say a substandard product. Can you make an at home equivalent? No. What you can do is deep fry whole chicken, make it very spicy and call it a chicken. Thank you very much for watching. Thanks again to
Best Buy for sponsoring this episode. I needed a new turkey fryer, so I was able to have one quickly delivered along with [music] a Nintendo Switch 2 system for my best friend Sawyer. Best Buy, both in stores and online, has gift options for
tuned for more inspired episodes with Best Buy this holiday season. Start your shopping now at your local Best Buy store or online. The link is in the store or online. The link is in the video description.