Your favorite, but non-secretive fried chicken recipe and procedure

Hi JL,
Welcome to the Forum.  Hope you get info and advice you need - many experts to home cooks here.  All with differing opinions and varying experience.

Nothing wrong with posting this here.  Recipes may have been a better spot, don't sweat the small stuff /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif.

Many people have different variations.

Mine:
Poach chicken pieces in salted water simmering for half an hour.
Remove,, pat dry, soak in buttermilk/greek yoghurt overnight in fridge, covered in plastic.
When ready to use, shake of excess coating.  Dredge in flour flavoured with smoked paprika, tumeric, oregano, S&P, garlic powder and onion powder..
Shake of excess, dip into buttermilk/yoghurt again and repeat flouring.
Chill in fridge for 1/2 hour.  (This helps set the coating).

Heat oil for deep frying till a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds.
Gently put chicken pieces in , only a few at a time so you don't get a huge temperature drop.  And place them in away from you so you don't get splashed.
Cook till golden brown.
Drain on a rack while you cook the next batch.
Keep them warm in a medium oven till all are done.

Serve with a fresh light salad of choice.  Try a sauce such as sweet chilli or tartare - they both pair well with chicken.

 

My biggest suggestion is to fry the chicken to color, and then finish it in the oven.  In other words, however you normally bread it and season it, continue to do it that way.  Then pan fry until you get the shade of golden brown that you prefer.  Then throw the chicken in the oven on a cookie sheet with a rack on it (or simply a tin foil lined cookie sheet if that is all you have) until cooked through.  I usually do about 325F-350F for maybe 20-25 minutes or so.  I usually leave them in there until all my side dishes are done for the meal--so 30-35mins is not unheard of, and the chix does not dry out with the additional time.  The chicken will come out crunchy and moist. 

 

I fry chicken like my mother and grandmother.  I season the chicken, then dredge in flour. I fry in oil (canola usually) in a deep cast iron skillet.  I don't use a thermometer in the oil. I sprinkle a tiny bit of water in when I start the oil heating and when it stops "singing", I know the oil is hot enough.  The oil should be hot enough so you hear the chicken cooking but not too hot so it starts to burn.  Hard to explain and it's more something to be learned by doing than reading instructions.  Our gas grill has a side burner and that is my favorite place to cook chicken.  The burner on high is the perfect temperature.  When done, I drain on a rack to maintain crispyness.  

 

depends i like just flour and salt and pepper for wings, for breasts and thighs and legs i just like doing the three step breading procedure, flour, buttermilk and flour or breadcrumbs but my favorite is some cornmeal with some flour. corn meal adds a a nice crunch like in catfish. season and fry it and if you want finish in the oven but sometime the bottom ends up soggy because of the juices, i would rather bake it a lil then deep fry it to get that crispy skin.