Great Fried Chicken Recipe

Fried chicken is an all-time favorite of American cuisine and a staple of Southern cooking. Naturally it’s not diet food by its very nature, but if you can relegate a meal like this to special occasion dining only, than no harm, no foul (or should I say fowl?)

We have prepared fried chicken many times many times for our family, with varying degrees of success. Some of the batters have been good, some dry and some flavorless. So, as part of our never ending hunt for improved cooking experiences, we have looked all over for good fried chicken recipes and happened to stumble upon this one day on America’s Test Kitchen, a PBS cooking show. Yeah, it’s rich, but oh it's a keeper for us!

Here is the recipe as presented on the show, an episode entitled Southern Fare Revisited and on the show website:

A whole 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, can be used instead of chicken parts. Skinless chicken pieces are also an acceptable substitute, but the meat will come out slightly drier. A Dutch oven with a 11 inch diameter can be used in place of the straight-sided sauté frier.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Table salt
Dash hot sauce
3 teaspoons of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings or a mix, with breasts cut in half), trimmed off excess fat
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cups vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Whisk 1 cup of buttermilk, teaspoon of salt, hot sauce, t teaspoon of black pepper. ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon paprika, and a pinch of cayenne in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour up to overnight.

2. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 2 teaspoons of black pepper, ¾ teaspoon of paprika, and remaining cayenne together in a large bowl. Add the remaining ¼ cup of buttermilk to the flour mixture and combine with fingers until small clumps form. Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, pressing the mixture onto the chicken to form a thick, even coating. Place the dredged chicken on a large plate, skin side up.

3. Heat oil in an 11-inch diameter straight-sided sauté pan over medium heat to 375 degrees. Carefully place chicken pieces in the pan, skin side down, and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip the chicken and continue to cook the other side until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. Bake chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 160 degrees for breasts and 175 degrees for legs and thighs, 15 to 20 minutes. Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces, so remove them from the rack as they reach the correct temperature. Let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.