Homemade Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is delicious! But deep frying your food isn’t necessarily a “healthy” choice. If you’re a fried chicken addict like I am, at least stay away from the fast food chicken and try this recipe. Fast food chicken is super salty and full of preservatives. Make your own! You’ll save money, have control over the ingredients and you won’t believe how easy it is.
PREP: The night before you want fried chicken…
Marinate your chicken for the tastiest version ever! All you need is a Ziploc bag or a medium sized bowl. Put about 2 cups of buttermilk, some salt and a few generous squirts of your favorite hot sauce into the bag/bowl. Mix it all up, add the chicken and put it in the fridge overnight. (If you forget to put it in the night before, any marinade is better than no marinade. Sometimes I just soak the chicken for an hour and it helps keep it juicy!)
Remember how I told you to go to the butcher shop and buy pork fat? This is a great way to use it! Cut up your fatback into 1 inch square chunks using a sharp knife. I find fatback a little easier to slice when it is still partially frozen. All you have to do is pack all of your fatback chunks into your crock pot the night before, put the temperature setting on low for about 8-12 hours. In the morning, you’ll have perfectly rendered lard with little bits of “cracklin” skin floating on top. While the lard is still warm, separate the little bits of meat/skin/solids, pour it into jars or a bowl with a lid and store it in the fridge. (If you leave it on the counter, it will be fine. It will last several weeks out on the counter if you cover it!) You’ll use this instead of vegetable oil for frying. Easy!
Ok! So you did all of the preparation, now you’re hungry and ready for delicious fried chicken...
The Batter:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
2 to teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 cups cold water
Pour the brine down the sink and pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. I like to let them air dry for about 10-15 minutes while I prepare everything.
Whisk the batter to recombine. (If the batter seems too thick, add some cold water, no more than 1 tablespoon at a time, until the batter becomes the consistency of pancake batter.)
Place half the chicken pieces in the batter and turn to coat. Remove the chicken from the batter, allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl, and carefully place it in the lard. You want at least 2-3 cups of lard in the cast-iron skillet.
Fry the chicken and keep your attention on the fat temperature, adjusting the heat as necessary to keep it sizzling hot, but not popping and burning. You want the heat to be just at medium high but you gotta use your intuition to keep it from getting too hot.
Cook the fried chicken until deep golden brown. Since you’re not “deep” frying, you’ll need to flip each piece at least once depending on the size of the chicken pieces and the exact temperature of your oil. Cook each side about 10 minutes depending on how big they are. White meat cooks faster than dark meat, so try to keep an eye and try to make sure you flip the white meat a few minutes before you flip the dark. Place the fried chicken on the wire rack or a plate with a paper towel to drain. Take a spoon and make sure to scoop out any bits of batter that might be burning in the skillet. Bring the oil back to high and repeat with the remaining chicken.
BOOM! You just made your own fried chicken!
*Note: don’t try to multitask when you’re frying chicken. You have to just stand there and watch it, adjust your heat, use a lid or something to protect you from grease pops. If it’s popping a lot, it could be that your chicken was too wet before you dipped it in the batter.
*Do not use a regular nonstick fry pan to fry chicken in. They’re not deep enough and the nonstick coating can get ruined. You want a heavy-cast iron skillet so you can put about ½ inch of lard throughout the cooking process. You might need to add more lard after you cook a few pieces. You can also deep fry chicken in the crock pot, just make sure to strain all pork fatback solids out so they don’t burn. Heat your lard on high and drop it in the sizzling fat. This is my least favorite way to fry chicken, mostly because it’s hard to adjust the temperature.