The Ultimate Crispy Fried Chicken

From Cooks Illustrated, PUBLISHED MAY 2001

Our best fried chicken recipe would be worth the splatter and mess, producing seasoned meat coated with a crisp mahogany crust. We found that cutting up a whole chicken and brining it in a mixture of buttermilk, salt, and spices was the way to begin. Air-drying the brined chicken gave us an extra-crisp skin. To finish our fried chicken recipe, we coated the chicken with a mixture of flour, baking powder, and baking soda for a light, shatteringly crisp crust and pan-fried it in peanut oil for clean flavor.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ¼cups kosher salt or ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons table salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 3 medium heads garlic, cloves separated
• 3 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 quarts buttermilk (low fat)
• 1 whole chicken (about 3 ½ pounds), giblets discarded, cut into 12 pieces (see illustrations below)
• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 3–4 cups refined peanut oil or vegetable shortening

INSTRUCTIONS

SERVES 4 TO 6

Maintaining an even oil temperature is key to the success of this recipe. An instant-read thermometer with a high upper range is perfect for checking the temperature; a clip-on candy/deep-fry thermometer is fine, though it can be clipped to the pot only for the uncovered portion of frying.

1. In large zipper-lock plastic bag, combine salt, sugar, paprika, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. With rubber mallet or flat meat pounder, smash garlic into salt and spice mixture thoroughly. Pour mixture into large plastic container or nonreactive stockpot. Add 7 cups buttermilk and stir until salt is completely dissolved. Immerse chicken and refrigerate until fully seasoned, 2 to 3 hours. Remove chicken from buttermilk brine and shake off excess; place in single layer on large wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for 2 hours. (After 2 hours, chicken can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 6 hours longer.)

2. Measure flour into large shallow dish. Beat egg, baking powder, and baking soda in medium bowl; stir in remaining 1 cup buttermilk (mixture will bubble and foam). Working in batches of 3, drop chicken pieces in flour and shake pan to coat. Shake excess flour from each piece, then, using tongs, dip chicken pieces into egg mixture, turning to coat well and allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken pieces with flour again, shake off excess, and return to wire rack.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position, set second wire rack over second rimmed baking sheet, and place on oven rack; heat oven to 200 degrees. Line large plate with double layer paper towels. Meanwhile, heat oil (oil should have 2 1/2-inch depth in pan) to 375 degrees over medium-high heat in large 8-quart cas-ir on Dutch oven with a diameter of about 12 inches. Place half of chicken pieces skin-side down in oil, cover, reduce heat to medium, and fry until deep golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes; after about 3 minutes, lift chicken pieces with tongs to check for even browning; rearrange if some pieces are browning faster than others. (Spot-check oil temperature; after first 6 minutes of frying, oil should be about 325 degrees. Adjust burner if necessary.) Turn chicken pieces over and continue to fry, uncovered, until chicken pieces are deep golden brown on second side, 6 to 8 minutes longer. Using tongs, transfer chicken to paper towel–lined plate; let stand 2 minutes to drain, then transfer to rack in warm oven. Replace paper towel–lining on plate. Return oil to 375 degrees and fry remaining pieces, transferring pieces to paper towel–lined plate to drain, then transferring to wire rack with other chicken pieces. Cool chicken pieces on wire rack about 5 minutes and serve.