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People who make great fried chicken swear by their own unique recipes. If you don't yet have a tried, trusted, and true — not to mention knock-your-socks-off — recipe that you swear by, try experimenting with some of the following variations to see what suits your particular taste.
- Coating: Apply different coatings and coating techniques. Try dipping the chicken in milk, then flour, then milk, and then the flour again. Some cast-iron cooks dip it in a milk-egg mixture and then dredge it in flour. Some don't use flour at all and cover it with cracker crumbs, potato flakes, or cornmeal.
After you coat your chicken, let it air-dry.Air-drying your chicken for 20 minutes to a half hour after it's been coated lets the coating firm up and produces a crispier crust.
- Seasoning: Use plain old salt and pepper or create special seasoning mixes. You may want to season the flour that you dredge the chicken through; you can also season the chicken itself. Some people swear that paprika enhances the flavor; others claim it's just there for color.
- Other prep: Cook the chicken straight from the package (after washing and patting dry, of course); or let it soak in brine or buttermilk for a half-hour to make it juicier.
 | The real secret to the ultimate in comfort food, Southern Fried Chicken, isn't in the recipe; it's in the cooking. Properly pan-fried chicken is tender and moist (not greasy) on the inside and golden brown and crispy on the outside. Follow this fabulous frying advice: |
- Keep your oil very hot. To make sure that your chicken doesn't get greasy, you want the oil hot enough (375 degrees Fahrenheit) that the water in the chicken stays above the boiling point during frying. The force of the steam leaving the chicken keeps the oil from being absorbed. The hot oil also makes the outside wonderfully crispy. Some tips for keeping the oil at the temperature you want are as follows:
• Use peanut oil, which has a hotter smoking point than vegetable oils or shortenings.
• Allow the chicken to come almost to room temperature before you cook it so that when you put it into the hot oil, it doesn't reduce the oil temperature as much as really cold chicken would.
• Don't overcrowd the chicken in the pan. Putting too many pieces in the pan causes the temperature to drop and takes it longer to heat up again.
• Use a deep-sided cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven and an iron cover. Cast iron is the cook's best friend when pan-frying. It absorbs heat evenly, eliminating hot spots, and its ability to retain heat keeps the temperature of the oil as even as possible.
- Brown the chicken quickly to seal in the juices. After the initial browning, reduce the heat to allow the chicken to cook through without drying. Then return the heat to medium-high to re-crisp it before you remove it from the pan.
- Use tongs to turn and move the chicken. Tongs won't pierce the chicken and let the juice escape.
- Drain fried chicken on a paper towel and then place it on a metal wire cooling rack in a warm oven. This simple step keeps your cooked chicken crisp and warm. After all, what good is a crispier crust if it just gets soggy and cold while sitting in a puddle of oil?
Southern Fried Chicken
This recipe is simple, delicious, and easy to make. Just be sure to make enough for dinner and still have a few pieces leftover — as delicious as fried chicken is straight from the pan, it's even better cold the next day.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: About 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (2 pieces each)
3 pounds chicken pieces
1-1/2 cups buttermilk or milk
Salt and pepper
Paprika
About 1 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
Peanut oil or shortening to fill skillet 1-inch deep
1. Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry.
2. Dip the chicken pieces in milk and then lay them on wax paper. Sprinkle both sides of the pieces with salt, pepper, and paprika and then dredge them in the flour. Let the chicken stand for 20 minutes and dredge in flour again.
3. While the chicken is resting, heat the oil or shortening in a deep cast-iron skillet or a Dutch oven on medium-high heat to 375 degrees F. (The oil will be hot but not smoking.) Use an instant-read thermometer to test the temperature now and throughout cooking.
4. Add 4 to 5 pieces of chicken to the skillet, browning both sides. Be careful not to add so much chicken at one time that the oil temperature drops significantly. Turn and move the chicken as necessary to ensure even browning. (Use tongs so that you don't pierce the meat.)
5. Move the chicken to a platter to allow room for the next 4 or 5 pieces. Add the next 4 to 5 pieces of chicken and cook until all are brown.
6. When the second batch of chicken is about brown, return all chicken to the skillet, reduce the heat to low or medium-low and cover. At this point, stacking the chicken in the skillet may be necessary. Cook slowly and gently for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender. Check several times and turn or move the pieces as necessary to keep all the chicken browned evenly.
7. Remove the cover and return the heat to medium-high to re-crisp the chicken, about 5 minutes after the skillet is hot again. While re-crisping, watch the chicken carefully and turn the pieces so that all sides are crisp, taking care not to burn the bottom pieces of chicken.
8. Drain and move to a serving platter or place on a rack in the oven to keep warm.
Per serving: Calories 664 (From Fat 332); Fat 37g (Saturated 9g); Cholesterol 182mg; Sodium 1,392mg; Carbohydrate 29g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 51g.
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