southern Fried chicken

crispy golden bites of juicy chicken

Tips

let chicken sit after flour dredge

Crispy chicken is the ultimate goal when making fried chicken. While cornstartch definitely helps, the real trick is letting the chicken sit in the flour dredge for at least 30 minutes before frying. Set up a cookie sheet with parchment, butcher, or wax paper. After dredging the chicken let rest on cookie sheet.

Oil temperature is key

You can not, and should not “eyeball” your oil temperature. 350F is ideal for deep frying chicken. Use an oil or candy thermometer to read temperature. Keep temperature above 325F when cooking.

Don’t overcrowd the pot!

When it comes to frying chicken cook like pieces together, and be sure to not over crowd the pot. The chicken pieces should be able to freely move around in the pot. This may mean cooking in batches and that’s ok! Turn the oven to 200F and put cooling rack with cookie sheet with fried chicken to keep warm.

Southern fried chicken

Preparation Time: 5 hours | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Serving size: 4 – 6 people

Gather

buttermilk marinade

• 1 quart buttermilk 
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper 
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce (Frank’s, tabasco, Cholula, etc.) 
• ~4.5 pounds of bone-in chicken pieces (thighs, wings, etc.) 

flour dredge

• 3 cups flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• ½ tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• ½ tablespoons cayenne
• 1 tablespoon black pepper 
• 2 teaspoon basil 
• 2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder 
• 1 tablespoon dried sage 
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 tablespoon salt 
• ½ tablespoon cumin 
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder 
• 1 tablespoon dill

for cooking

• frying oil; plan to have at least a quart
• Salt; for sprinkling (optional)

honey hot sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 
• 3 tablespoon honey 
• 1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce

Follow

Fried chicken

1. Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl (big enough to hold milk and chicken) or a large double-bagged seal-top bag, combine buttermilk, black pepper, salt and hot sauce. Pat the chicken and remove any excess fat or skin from chicken pieces.
2. Add the chicken to the bowl or bag. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.  
3. Dredge the chicken: Set up two cookie sheets, one with a cooling grate and the other with parchment, butcher or wax paper. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk. (Auntie tip: Use double-bagged large paper bags to dredge the chicken.) Mix flour, cornstarch, herbs and spices in a paper bag, seal-top bag or large bowl. Place the chicken, a few pieces at a time, in the mix and toss (or shake, if using bags) to coat the chicken. Shake the excess flour off and place chicken on the parchment paper cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken until done. Let the chicken sit for at least 30 minutes (up to an hour).
4. Heat the oil: While the chicken rests, in a deep fryer or large Dutch oven, heat 2-3 inches oil to 350 degrees. (You can also heat the oven to 200 degrees to keep the chicken warm if cooking in batches.)
5. When the oil reaches temperature, gently drop pieces of chicken into oil. Be sure to avoid crowding the pot; chicken pieces should be able to move freely. Try to cook similar types or size pieces together. Place done pieces on the unused cooking grate. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt immediately out of the oil. Chicken internal temperature should be 165F. Dark meat takes about 12-14 minutes and white meat takes 8-10 minutes. Place chicken on a wire rack and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

honey hot sauce

1. In a saucepan, add the butter and brown sugar. Constantly swirl the pan, cooking for 3 minutes until it begins to bubble.  
2. Add the hot sauce and honey, cooking for an additional  2  minutes. Remove from heat and serve with hot fried chicken.