Buttermilk Fried Chicken

 

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-fried-chicken-60616/

 

Frying is one of the favorite ways to cook chicken. Unfortunately, many people avoid making fried chicken because there are so many ways to screw it up.

 

The goal in frying chicken is a crisp coating with a tender and juicy meat. Follow the instructions below to ensure great results.

 

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs

 

Marinade:

3 cups of buttermilk  

1 cup of pickle juice

½ cup hot sauce

1 egg

1 tbsp. salt

 

Seasoning mixture:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup corn starch or potato starch

1 tsp. baking powder

1-½ tsp. Italian seasoning

2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp.  garlic powder

½ tsp. celery salt

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. dried mustard

¼ tsp. dried ginger

½ tsp. Creole seasoning

1 tsp. MSG

1 tsp. ground black pepper

 

Instructions

To ensure the juiciest fried chicken, keep the skin on the pieces of meat. Fried chicken is a treat that you will only occasionally enjoy. Who are you kidding by removing the skin? Fried chicken is not health food. What’s more, forget about omitting the flour coating. Without it your chicken will taste greasy.

 

To make the marinade, whisk the buttermilk, pickle juice, salt, egg and hot sauce. Place the chicken thighs in the marinade and transfer everything along to a Ziplock bag. (Since it is unlikely that you will find dill pickle juice at your supermarket, you can buy a gallon of it at Amazon for about $15.)

 

Put the bag of marinading chicken in a large bowl in case it leaks. The buttermilk marinade is an important step. The acid and enzymes in the buttermilk break down the protein in the chicken tenderizing the meat and making it juicier.

 

Marinade the chicken in the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours. If you are in a rush, you can get away with just marinading the chicken for 4 to 6 hours.

 

You can dredge the chicken pieces in plain all-purpose flour. The result will be acceptable but plain-tasting fried chicken. I am not saying that it will taste bad. It just won’t taste great. For better tasting chicken, always season the flour. Above is the recommended seasoning mixture. You can alter it to suit your taste. In fact, some cooks will actually taste the seasoning mixture before using it. Their feeling is that if the flour doesn’t taste right to you at this point, it won’t taste right after you fry the chicken.

The addition of corn starch to the seasoning mixture is essential to making crispy fried chicken. The more corn starch that you use, the crispier the coating will be. Many cooks use a mixture of ½ all-purpose flour and ½ corn starch. The baking powder also contributes to the crispiness.  

 

Another ingredient that you should not omit is the MSG or monosodium glutamate. This seasoning will enhance the flavor of the chicken. Do not worry. MSG will not kill you. In fact, the latest scientific research disproves the notion that MSG is bad for your health.

 

Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour seasoning mixture. After coating the thighs, place them on a rack for 30 minutes before frying. This permits the chicken to come to room temperature. It also allows the flour to hydrate and better adhere to the pieces of chicken. Frying cold chicken that has just come out of the fridge will drastically lower the temperature of the oil. 

Optional Double Dredge. Remove the chicken pieces from the buttermilk marinade. Dredge the pieces in the flour coating. Next dip the pieces back in the marinade and then dredge them again in the seasoned flour. Place the pieces on a wire rack and allow them to rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

A deep cast iron skillet is ideal for frying.

Fry the chicken in a cast iron pan or deep fry it in a cast iron Dutch oven. For pan frying a 3” deep skillet works best. Cast iron is perfect for frying because it provides even distribution of the heat and maintains it well. Fill a cast iron frying pan or Dutch oven with neutral flavored oil for frying such as corn oil, canola oil or peanut oil.

 

Using a frying pan you only need enough oil to cover half of the thighs. This amounts to an inch to an inch and a half. When deep frying the chicken, you only need enough oil to cover the pieces.

 

The temperature of the oil is key to achieving a crispy coating. If the temperature is too low, the coating might end up soggy.  Fry the chicken at a temperature between 350º and 375ºF. Check the temperature using a digital thermometer. 

Carefully add the pieces of chicken into to the hot oil to avoid scalding yourself. Keep in mind that the temperature of the oil will drop after adding the chicken. You may want to account for this when setting the initial oil temperature.

 

It generally works out better if you fry the chicken pieces in batches rather than crowding everything into the frying pan all at once. Allow enough space between the chicken pieces. That way all of the chicken cooks evenly. Plus, the extra space makes it easier to turn the pieces.

 

Cook the chicken until it is a golden color and the internal temperature is 165⁰ to 170º F. Cooking time is approximately 8 minutes for deep frying. Pan frying takes about 7 to 8 minutes per side.

 

When you finish frying the chicken, put the pieces on a cookie sheet with a cooling rack in a 250º F oven. This allows any excess oil to drip off of the pieces. It also prevents the chicken from becoming soggy and keeps it warm until you are ready for serving.

Optional: Standard Buffalo Sauce

To spice up your fried chicken you can coat the pieces with buffalo sauce.

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1/2 cup hot sauce  

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on low. Add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Taste test the sauce. If you like a spicier sauce, add a little extra cayenne pepper. If you want a sweeter sauce, add a little honey.

 

Place the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add the sauce and toss to coat. Arrange on a serving platter. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing.

About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting. 

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

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