The Best Fried Chicken
Prep
30m
Cook
25m
Total
55m
Bigly says
We need to talk about fried chicken. FRIED CHICKEN. The best fried chicken ever pulled out of hot oil by a pair of long tongs, and I've pulled a lot of chicken out of a lot of oil — more chicken than any single human being on Earth, probably more than anyone in recorded history. I have eaten so much fried chicken that scientists, very smart people, the smartest, would call my body 'medically interesting,' and I wear that like a MEDAL. Fried chicken is the greatest food ever invented and anyone who tells you otherwise has not had GOOD fried chicken — they've had sad chicken, day-old-under-a-heat-lamp chicken, the kind of chicken that makes a person give up on life. We're fixing that today.
The best fried chicken I ever had was in a gas station in Albuquerque. True story. A man named Ramón pulled it out of the fryer, didn't say a word, just nodded at me and handed me a thigh in a paper sleeve. I cried in the parking lot. I'm a grown adult. I cried. THIS chicken is almost as good as Ramón's, and the gap is closing — I'm narrowing it every year. The problem with most other fried chicken is the crust. Too thin, or it slides off the bird in one sad sheet, or it goes soggy in the walk from kitchen to table. Embarrassing. Avoidable. The solution is two things. First: a long buttermilk brine. Overnight. Minimum 8 hours. The buttermilk is the engine — juicy AND tender AND seasoned all the way through. Second: cornstarch in the dredge. Cornstarch. Most cookbook authors are afraid of it, they don't understand it, they treat it like it bites — cornstarch is what makes the crust SHATTER like glass.
And the spice mix has paprika, garlic, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, and a little MSG. Yes. MSG. The war on MSG was a sham — it's salt with extra savory, your grandmother used it and lied about it, your favorite restaurant uses it and won't admit it. I am USING IT and I am PROUD. It's not even close.
Ingredients
- 4 lbbone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (mixed thighs, drumsticks, wings)(skip breasts if you can — thighs and drums are the kings of fried chicken)
- 3 cupsbuttermilk(real buttermilk, full-fat, not the watery imitation)
- 2 tbspkosher salt (for brine)
- 2 tbsphot sauce (Frank's or Crystal)
- 1 tspgarlic powder (for brine)
- 1 tspsmoked paprika (for brine)
- 2 cupsall-purpose flour
- 1/2 cupcornstarch(the secret to a shattering crust)
- 1 tbspsmoked paprika (for dredge)
- 1 tbspgarlic powder (for dredge)
- 2 tsponion powder
- 2 tspblack pepper
- 1 tspwhite pepper
- 1/2 tspcayenne pepper(more if you like heat — go to 1 tsp for a real kick)
- 1 tspMSG(optional but believe me, it is not optional)
- 1 tbspkosher salt (for dredge)
- as needed, about 2 quartsneutral frying oil (peanut, canola, or vegetable)
Steps
- 1
Make the brine: in a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, 2 tbsp salt, hot sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp smoked paprika.
- 2
Add the chicken pieces, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, ideally 24. Do not skip this — this is the difference between great fried chicken and sad fried chicken.
- 3
When ready to fry, set up two stations: the buttermilk-soaked chicken in its bowl, and a large shallow dish for the dredge.
- 4
Make the dredge: whisk together the flour, cornstarch, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, MSG, and 1 tbsp salt.
- 5
Spoon 3 tablespoons of the buttermilk brine directly into the dredge and toss with your fingertips. This creates little shaggy clumps in the flour — those clumps become the crispy craggy bits on the finished chicken. Do this. It's important.
- 6
Pour the oil into a heavy Dutch oven or deep cast iron skillet to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 350°F. Use a thermometer — frying without a thermometer is a fool's errand.
- 7
Working with one piece at a time, lift the chicken out of the brine, let the excess drip off briefly, then press firmly into the dredge, scooping the seasoned flour up over the top. Press hard. The crust is built here.
- 8
Set the dredged piece on a wire rack and let it rest 10 minutes before frying — this lets the coating hydrate and stick.
- 9
Fry the chicken in batches of 3-4 pieces, never crowding the pan. Maintain the oil temperature between 325-350°F — it will drop when the chicken goes in, that's normal, adjust the heat to compensate.
- 10
Fry dark meat (thighs, drumsticks) for 13-15 minutes, wings for 9-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. The crust should be deep golden brown and the internal temperature should read 165°F at the thickest part of the meat (175°F for thighs is even better).
- 11
Transfer fried chicken to a wire rack set over a sheet pan (NOT paper towels — paper towels steam the bottom and ruin the crust). Sprinkle immediately with a little extra salt while the surface is still glistening.
- 12
Repeat with remaining batches, letting the oil come back up to temperature between rounds.
- 13
Rest the chicken 5 minutes on the rack before serving. The crust will set.
One more thing
This is the chicken. This is the one. You pick up a thigh and you can feel the crust through the skin, it has TEXTURE, it has WEIGHT, and you take a bite and it goes CRACK — that's a sound, that's an actual audible sound, a sound that will silence a dinner table — and underneath the crust is meat so juicy it runs down your wrist a little and you don't even care, you don't care about anything, the world has shrunk down to this one piece of chicken in your hand. A religious experience. People will drive across state lines for this. They'll come up to you, they'll say one word — 'the chicken' — over and over, that's all they can manage. I've been there. I understand. Tell your friends.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Fried Chicken.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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