Perfect Southern Fried Chicken

PanNan's Note:

This is an outstanding recipe. When I found this I decided I didn't need to look for the perfect fried chicken recipe any more - I already had it.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 35 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 whole chicken , cut into 10 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 4 breast)
• 4 cups water
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon Season-All salt
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Season-All salt
• vegetable oil or shortening (for frying)

Directions:

1. Soak chicken in water and salt at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Mix buttermilk, eggs and Season All and dip chicken pieces in this mixture.
3. Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tbsp corn meal, 2 tsp dried oregano, and 2 tsp Season All in a bag.
4. Drop two pieces of dipped chicken in the bag at one time.
5. Shake to coat.
6. Place on wire rack to rest.
7. (I place wax paper under the rack to catch any flour that falls off.) Heat a shallow layer of oil or shortening to 360 F in a jumbo chicken skillet (cast iron is great for this job) or an electric skillet.
8. Place the chicken in the pan, trying not to crowd the pieces.
9. Cover for the first five minutes.
10. Check the chicken.
11. When golden brown, turn.
12. Cover for the next five minutes.
13. Remove cover and cook uncovered, turning occasionally, as needed for a total of an additional 20 minutes or until cooked through.
14. Watch carefully, and don't allow it to get too dark.
15. If it's frying too fast, reduce heat slightly.
16. NOTE- the key is to cover in the beginning to start the cooking process inside the chicken, but to uncover during the last part of the cooking time to get the outside nice and crispy and golden brown.

Reviews

[LAURIE]

Fried chicken is my all time favorite and now so is this recipe!! TY PanNan....I did 6 large breasts and had to cook in 2 batches, but was well worth the time. Mine took almost 45 minutes to cook but was at least done thru. Thanx for the hint about covering. Worked like a charm then uncovered and cooked slow until nice and crispy! Wonder chicken!

[Chef #1291392]

This has proved staggeringly popular with my neighbours, whose usual methof of cooking chicken is skin off and cooked over a charcoal BBQ. No seasoning, marinade or even basting.Dry and flavourless. My neighbours are Turkish - as I live in Turkey!
When we first moved here some six years ago it was difficult to get many spices: now there are three spice shops open in the local indoor market alone.
I use a deep fryer at 340 F and follow the cover, turn, cover and then uncover routine. It works perfectly every time. I have to substitute yoghurt for the unavailable buttermilk. Yoghurt made by a Turkish neighbour. She has no cows, just goats and sheep. It is an "interesting" yoghurt!
With Beef and Lamb being very expensive out here ( some 7 or 8 times the cost of chicken ) and Pork not being available at all we eat a lot of chicken. Thanks for this recipe, along with the Lawry's Season Salt clone recipe.

[Amber.S]

Very good recipe. We very much enjoyed the end result and I did not find the cooking as difficult as I thought it would be. Living in a small town in scotland I was unable to find Season-All Salt, so found out what was roughly in it and made my own which worked very well. 3 tbsp Salt 2 tbsp Sugar 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Granules 1 tbsp Sweet Paprika 1 1/2 tbsp Black Pepper 1/2 tbsp White Pepper 1/2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper 1/2 tbsp Onion Salt This makes more than you need for this chicken recipe but I am storing it for next time!