Southern Fried Chicken
Grandma's classic fried chicken technique. Southern golden brown tips and secrets to success.
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
Type of Chicken
- 1 whole Chicken Cut into breasts, legs, thighs, and wings.
Marinade
- 3 cups Buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoon Hot Sauce It will not make it spicy-hot
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
- 2 teaspoon Black Pepper
Flour/Dredge Mix
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- ⅔ cup Cornstarch Lightens the texture
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Baking Soda Lightens the texture
- 1 Tablespoon Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
- 2 teaspoon Thyme Dried
- 1 teaspoon Oregano Dried
- 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Creole Seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Black Pepper
Frying Oil
- 4 cups Peanut Oil Oil amount depends on the size the fryer. Use enough oil to cover each piece of chicken.
Chicken Brine
- 3 cups Water
- ½ cup Kosher Salt Use what you have. If using table salt reduce to ⅓ cup
- ⅓ cup White Sugar
- 3 cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 whole Onion Sliced
- 1 tablespoon Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Thyme
- 1 Tablespoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Rosemary
Instructions
- Brine the chicken: To make the best fried chicken possible, perform an overnight brine to add additional moistness to the fried chicken and adds an additional depth of flavor.
- Method #2: The next best is salting the chicken an hour or two before cooking, overnight is best.Overnight: Rinse and dry the chicken. Salt the chicken, then place the chicken on a cookie sheet with parchment, then cover with plastic wrap.When ready to cook, rinse the chicken pieces off under cold water. Pat very dry using a paper towel.
- Chicken marinade: Mix the ingredients together for the buttermilk marinade, then add the cut-up chicken to it. Store in the refrigerator until ready in air tight container, or large freeze bags. Place the freezer bag on a cookie sheet or in a large bowl to help keep your refrigerator clean. Minimum marinade time: 1 - 2 hours.
- Dredging the chicken: Mix the dry ingredients together for the flour/dredge mix and combine well in a large bowl.Next, take each piece of chicken out of the marinade and add it to the flour and make sure it's coated well.Want to make sure your fried chicken has a thick crust, you can repeat the dredging process twice.
- Frying the chicken: Fry oil needs to be between 350 to 360, closer to 360 is best. Each piece of chicken being added to the oil will lower the oil temperature a small amount. Cook the chicken until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees on the white meat, and 170 degrees on the dark meat.Then allow the chicken to rest for 3-5 minutes. However long you can wait to dive in 😊If using a large skillet or cast iron 🍳, fry the chicken to golden brown and delicious and finish in a 350-degree oven until the internal temperature reads 160 white meat/ 170 on the dark meat. The oven helps with even cooking.Once out of the oven the internal temperature will continue to rise a few degrees to reach the perfect doneness.
Notes
- Do not overcrowd the pan and be patient when adding each piece of chicken.
- When you add too much chicken too quickly, it lowers the oil temperature and can cause the chicken to become oily.
- The pan, adding too much chicken at once, can cause steaming and cause the flour dredge to come off.
- Start cooking the dark meat first (legs and thighs), as it takes the longest to cook.
- If you like extra-thick crust-crispiness, repeat the flouring dredge process twice before frying.
The flouring process: Out of the buttermilk marinade, into flour, then back into buttermilk marinade, then into flour one last time before adding to the frying oil. - You can dredge and flour the chicken and place it on a roasting rack, then into the refrigerator to set up. Some people believe the crust turns out better due to the dredge having the extra contact time.
- How to make sure the crispy chicken skin does not fall off on the first bite? Answer: remove the chicken skin. Pull it all off. The into the marinade.
- Not ready to eat yet? Store the cooked chicken in a low-temperature oven of 200 degrees until ready.