The cast-iron skillet is a crucial tool in making fried chicken at home.
They touched the subject so lightly that they skipped a bunch of ideas. Some that come to mind:
1) The seasonings that go with the flour. Among others, salt, pepper, garlic powder or salt, paprika, poultry seasoning, red pepper powder, cornstarch, onion powder, MSG, mustard powder, seasoned salt, even Chinese five spice powder.
2) Whether after frying the crust, you simmer or bake the chicken the rest of the way.
3) Though Americans don’t much care for it these days, frying chicken in lard gives it a depth and richness vegetable oils just can’t. There are also a bunch of seasoned oils, like lemon, red pepper, garlic, etc.
Fried some yardbird last night, got it brown then threw it in the oven to cook the rest of hte way @350F. made some really good cream gravy too and snacked on that wiht biscuits as the bird pieces cooked the rest of the way.
I know it is heresy to some but I don’t have a lot of patience anymore frying chickens at the stove....
cast iron is king
soak chicken in buttermilk 3-12 hours
dredge in flour seasoned however you like
bring 1/4” of fat/shortening to medium high
brown each side of chicken 2 minutes
when brown, drop heat to medium low
put a lid on the pan (crucial)
cook 20-25 minutes
only a city person could find fried chicken intimidating
People screw it up because they’re afraid to use enough oil. Hint: It takes a lot more than you think.
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Get some” Golden Dipt “ Chicken fry, toss in some salt, pepper, Old bay ,red pepper, and put it in a bag and shake it well.
Drop it in a deep fryer at 350 and wait 20 minutes.
Amen! Iron skillet, yah! The first thing I thought when I saw your picture.
I have 30 young fryers four weeks from this fate.
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Frying chicken isn’t that hard, if you know what you are doing.
I’ve been frying chicken for dinners for 45+ years.
Being Southern helps, of course.
As God as my witness, I thought chickens could fry.
We just got a great deep fryer (waring). I’ve made delightful chicken fingers for the kids in it but never yet real chicken pieces (the fingers are boneless breast genders).
I’d like to try. Any tips for deep frying bone in chicken?
My grandmother was the best cook I’ve ever known.
One day when she and her sisters were young girls their parents left the farm to go to town.
As soon as they were out of sight, the girls got one of their mother’s hens to fry.
They took the hen into the screened porch and started to wring its neck, slinging the hen by its head in a vertical, circular pattern.
Suddenly an egg hit the ceiling.
The girls were so startled that they let the hen go, and it ran off, perfectly fine.
:-)
Keep it simple. Dust with seasoned flour (salt & pepper), no egg wash crap, iron skillet, 1 inch Crisco 350 degrees, 8 minutes each side till golden brown. Drain excess oil & add flour to the pan bits, make roux, add milk for the cream gravy.
Pretty simple actually. does take practice. Not all that hard though.
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