Perfect Southern Fried Chicken

"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."
 
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photo by Ashley Cuoco photo by Ashley Cuoco
photo by Ashley Cuoco
photo by threeovens photo by threeovens
photo by Andi Longmeadow Farm photo by Andi Longmeadow Farm
photo by Kzim4 photo by Kzim4
photo by daisygrl64 photo by daisygrl64
Ready In:
2hrs 35mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Soak chicken in water and salt at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
  • Mix buttermilk, eggs and Season All and dip chicken pieces in this mixture.
  • Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tbsp corn meal, 2 tsp dried oregano, and 2 tsp Season All in a bag.
  • Drop two pieces of dipped chicken in the bag at one time.
  • Shake to coat.
  • Place on wire rack to rest.
  • (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.
  • Place the chicken in the pan, trying not to crowd the pieces.
  • Cover for the first five minutes.
  • Check the chicken.
  • When golden brown, turn.
  • Cover for the next five minutes.
  • Remove cover and cook uncovered, turning occasionally, as needed for a total of an additional 20 minutes or until cooked through.
  • Watch carefully, and don't allow it to get too dark.
  • If it's frying too fast, reduce heat slightly.
  • 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.

Questions & Replies

  1. How do you get 4 breasts out of 1 chicken?
     
  2. Can you soak the chicken all day? If I soak it before I go to work and leave in the frig all day
     
  3. Can you save the oil and reuse it again?
     
  4. How long do you actually cook the chicken? I tried fried chicken once and it was almost raw inside. Do you cook the chicken before breading it?
     
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Reviews

  1. This was very good but I agree with others that the cornmeal creates a bit of a gritty texture. I made it exactly as the recipe states except I used Seasoned Salt which has a great flavor for chicken. Instead of the cornmeal I usually use Panko which you can find in the oriental area of the grocery store. Use about 3/4 cup of in place of 2 TBS cornmeal. There is no gritty texture with panko and the chicken ends up nice and crispy. Also, I have better results with the breading sticking better and frying crispier on the chicken with less buttermilk. I would use 1/2 cup instead and an extra egg.
     
  2. Very good fried chicken recipe. For those who don't know, the key to good fried chicken is using a cast iron skillet. Trust me, it's worth getting one. They are easy to clean as well. My Southern grandma would always cook her fried chicken in a cast iron skillet. As an adult, I would just deep fry it. After using my cast iron for several years, there's no way I'd deep fry anything. Anyway, back to the recipe. I made the recipe as stated with no variations. The only thing I might do is cut back on the salt. It was a tad bit too salty for our tastes. However, I did soak the chicken in the salt water for about 8 hours so that might have been the issue. Regardless, the chicken came out very crunchy and juicy. I'm not sure what others were saying about the "gritty" texture caused by the cornmeal. Not mine. I also suggest after frying the chicken, allow the pieces to sit for about 10 minutes before eating. This allows the hot oil to drain, the chicken to cool a bit, and it allows the crust to keep that crunch.
     
  3. 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!
     
  4. 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!
     
  5. 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!<br/>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.<br/>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!<br/>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.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I have been making fried chicken for years, using my mom’s recipe. However, although it’s amazing, I always felt like it was missing something. So I’m going to use the extra ingredients as listed in this recipe - corn meal, eggs, etc. However, my recipe calls for frying the chicken until golden brown on both sides and then baking it (with the remaining drippings from frying added to the baking pan) until it’s done. Much easier! I’ll report back on how my next batch turns out!
     
  2. Use Bob's Red Mill corn flour. If your local grocery store doesn't have it, you can order it from Amazon. It is much finer than cornmeal and not sweet like Jiffy corn muffin mix. Will work perfectly for this recipe!
     
  3. How much oil does this recipe call for ? I have never made fried chicken and do not want to add too much or too little.
     
  4. Took out salt and replaced oregano with basil.
     
  5. We normally do not eat fried foods but my 12 yr old daughter had a craving for fried chicken so I found this one. I used Panko bread crumbs instead of cornmeal (personal preference) and omitted the oregano (personal preference) and followed the rest of the recipe as instructed. The chicken was fantastic!! Some of the best homemade chicken we've had!! Thanks for a great recipe!
     

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