Fried Chicken

Name: Fried Chicken
Total time: 300 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 lb chicken (bone-in, cut into 8 pieces); 2 cup buttermilk; 2 tbsp salt; 2 clove garlic (grated); 1 tbsp hot sauce; 1 ½ cup flour (all-purpose); ¼ cup cornstarch; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tbsp paprika; 1 tsp black pepper (coarse ground); 1 tsp cayenne pepper; 6 cup peanut oil (for frying)

Seafood & Poultry · American

12 ingredients · 300 minutes · 4 servings

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927kcal50.2g protein57.8g fat51.2g carbs~$2.16/ serving*

Contains gluten, dairy, peanut

Restrictions

Containsgluten · dairy · peanutIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

No pork · without oneNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

2 lb	chicken (bone-in, cut into 8 pieces)
2 cup	buttermilk
2 tbsp	salt
2 clove	garlic (grated)
1 tbsp	hot sauce
1 ½ cup	flour (all-purpose)
¼ cup	cornstarch
1 tsp	baking powder
1 tbsp	paprika
1 tsp	black pepper (coarse ground)
1 tsp	cayenne pepper
6 cup	peanut oil (for frying)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 tbsp	sugar (in the brine)
1 cup	lard (in place of one cup of the oil)
2 tbsp	honey (drizzled at the table)
½ tsp	salt (finishing)

Steps

Brine240 min
refrigerated, 38–40°F
chicken + buttermilk + salt + grated garlic + hot sauce, submerged. The salt is the whole point: it diffuses in and partly unwinds the muscle proteins so they hold their own water through the fryer, which is why brined chicken stays juicy at 165°F and unbrined chicken does not. The buttermilk's acid softens the surface and its lactose browns faster than plain flour would. Four hours is the floor; twelve is the ceiling, past which the exterior meat turns mealy
Mix3 min
dry, in a wide bowl
flour + cornstarch + baking powder + paprika + black pepper + cayenne. The cornstarch fries harder and browns less than wheat flour, so the crust stays crisp rather than turning to bread; the baking powder throws off gas in the oil and lifts the coating away from the skin
Mix5 min
pressing hard
brined chicken (lifted out dripping, not wiped) + seasoned flour, pressed into every crease, then flick 2 tbsp of the brine into the leftover flour and rub it into shaggy clumps and press those on too — those clumps are the craggy bits, and dry flour alone will not make them
Rest20 min
on a wire rack, uncovered, room temperature
dredged chicken, until the coating darkens from powdery to pasty. This is the step people skip and then blame the oil: unhydrated flour has nothing to glue it down and slides off in sheets the moment it hits the fat
Fry16 min
350°F oil dropping to and held at 315–325°F
chicken in the oil dark-meat first, no more than four pieces at a time, turning once at the halfway mark. Cold chicken pulls the oil down 40–50°F on contact — that dip is expected, and the flame goes up to meet it. Below 300°F the crust never seals and the piece drinks grease; above 340°F the coating is mahogany while the meat at the bone is still raw. Pull at 165°F in the breast, 175°F in the thigh
Rest5 min
wire rack, never paper towels
fried pieces + finishing salt while the surface is still hot enough to grip it. On a rack the steam leaving the meat escapes downward; on paper the same steam is trapped against the crust and softens the underside within a minute