Buttermilk Brine Fried Chicken Food

BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Toss the chicken, buttermilk and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate, 1 hour.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 360.
• Mix the flour, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Remove the dark meat from the buttermilk, shake off the excess and roll in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess flour, place in the hot oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes (adjust the heat as needed). Drain on paper towels.
• Reheat the oil to 360 degrees F. Repeat with the chicken breasts and wings, frying for about 15 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the brine: Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and cool completely before using.
• Rinse the chickens and place the chickens in the cold brine and refrigerate overnight or for up to 12 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat the chicken dry, removing any herbs or spices sticking to the skin.
• Bring the peanut oil to 340 degrees F. in a 6 quart saute pan.
• Mix the coating ingredients together in a bowl and place the buttermilk in a second container. Just before frying, dip each piece of chicken into the coating, patting off the excess, then into the buttermilk and back into the coating. Place the chicken on a parchment lined sheet tray.
• When the oil has reached the proper temperature, carefully lower the pieces of dark meat into the oil. The temperature of the oil will decrease. Adjust the heat as necessary to bring the oil to proper temperature. Fry the dark meat for about 13 minutes, to a deep golden brown, cooked throughout and very crisp. Remove the chicken to a tray lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
• Carefully add the white meat to the oil and fry for 6 to 7 minutes until cooked.
• Remove to the tray, sprinkle with salt and turn off the heat under the oil. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes to cool slightly. It is very hot when it comes out of the oil.

CHEF JOHN'S BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Toss together chicken pieces, black pepper, salt, paprika, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, white pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl to coat.
• Stir in buttermilk until chicken is coated. Refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Combine flour, salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, white pepper, and onion powder in a large shallow dish.
• Remove chicken from the buttermilk and dredge each piece in the seasoned flour. Shake off any excess and transfer to a plate.
• Heat peanut oil in a large Dutch oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Add all the chicken to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
• Turn chicken pieces and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the oil and transfer to a cooling rack set over a paper towel lined baking sheet. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place chicken pieces in a bowl and toss them with buttermilk, 2 tablespoons salt and a healthy grind of black pepper. Cover and marinate for at least an hour and up to a day.
• Combine flour, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large bowl or, ideally, a paper bag large enough to accommodate the flour and the pieces of chicken.
• Pour oil into a large, heavy-bottomed cast-iron skillet with high sides and a lid, to a depth of a few inches. Heat oil over medium-high heat to 350 degrees.
• Set a rack on a baking sheet or tray. Place the chicken pieces in the paper bag filled with the flour mixture and shake well to coat, or toss them in the bowl with the flour mixture to achieve a similar result.
• Shake off excess flour and fry the pieces of chicken skin-side down, in batches so as not to crowd the pan, for about 5 to 15 minutes, covered by the lid. Remove the lid, turn over the chicken pieces, and cook for about 5 to 15 minutes more, uncovered, until they are cooked through and a deep golden brown. Color is as or more important than time: Watch your chicken and get it out when it's golden brown.
• Remove chicken to the rack to drain and rest, sprinkle with salt and serve warm or at room temperature.

BUTTERMILK BRINED FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the brine: Combine all the ingredients for the brine except buttermilk in a small pot and heat over medium, dissolving all the salt and honey.
• Remove from heat and cool by adding ice cubes and stirring.
• In a large mixing bowl combine buttermilk and cooled seasoned water. Rinse chicken and pat dry.
• Divide all pieces of chicken between two large ziplock bags.
• Pour half of buttermilk brine in each, close, and place in the refrigerator over night, up to 12 hours.
• 1-2 hours before you are ready to fry: Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry.
• Let the chicken come to room temperature, half an hour to one and a half hours, on a parchment lined baking sheet covered with paper towels.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix all of the ingredients for the coating together in a large bowl, transferring half to a second bowl.
• Fill a third bowl with the 2 cups of buttermilk.
• The easiest way to coat the chicken is to have a line set up: uncoated chicken, flour coating, buttermilk, 2nd bowl of flour coating, wax paper lined baking sheet for the coated chicken.
• Pour the oil into your pot.
• It should come at least two inches and no more than 1/3 of the way up the side of the pot.
• Turn the heat to low, clipping a frying/candy thermometer to the side of your pot.
• Dredge each piece in the coating, dust off all excess, dip into the buttermilk, and then into the second bowl of coating, letting the 2nd coating be clumpier but still patting to get rid of excess that might fall off in the oil.
• Place coated chicken on the wax paper lined tray.
• Turn the oil up to high and let it come to about 350°F.
• Let the coated chicken sit so that the coating will thicken while the oil gets hot.
• When it reaches temperature, very carefully place 4 pieces of chicken at a time in the hot oil and fry, adjusting the temperature as needed to maintain a frying temperature between 310° -325°F.
• I try to keep it around 320°.
• You start the oil at 350° because when you add the chicken to the hot oil, the temperature will drop.
• Fry dark meat first, as it takes longer.
• Fry the chicken for about 13-20 minutes, moving the chicken gently (you don't want to knock the coating off!) after the first five to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom.
• Be careful to monitor your chicken, watching the oil temperature closely and not letting the chicken get too dark.
• Remove chicken from the oil with a spider or slotted metal spoon when it is golden brown (metal tongs will knock off your precious coating), and place it on a cooling rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet.
• Sprinkle with kosher salt.
• Check the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer.
• Fully cooked chicken will read 160 degrees and can be served then if desired.
• If it is lower than that, it must be finished in the oven.
• Fry the second batch and then place it on the rack.
• Place the rack in the oven for ten minutes.
• Check the internal temperature to make sure the chicken is cooked through, let rest 10 minutes, and serve hot.
• If all the chicken is cooked through and you want to keep it hot, you can hold it in a 250 degree oven.

BUTTERMILK-BRINED FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine 3 cups of buttermilk, salt, and sugar in a large resealable plastic bag.
• Add all chicken pieces to the brine; seal bag. Chill overnight.
• Drain chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Discard brine.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, and 1/4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper. Place 3/4 cup buttermilk in a shallow dish. Coat chicken with flour mixture, dip in buttermilk; coat again with flour mixture.
• Meanwhile, heat peanut oil in large skillet or Dutch oven to depth of 1 1/2 inches and 350 degrees.
• Using tongs, carefully add a few pieces of chicken at a time to skillet. Maintain oil temperature at 325 degrees. Fry chicken for 12-15 minutes or until no longer pink, and coating is golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Keep fried chicken warm in a 300 degree oven while frying remaining pieces.

BUTTERMILK-BRINED FRIED CHICKEN WITH SAGE

Steps:

• Twenty-four hours before cooking, prepare the brine: In a large bowl, whisk 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water with the remaining brine ingredients until the salt has dissolved. Submerge the chicken pieces in the brine. Cover and refrigerate. (To save space, you can also put the chicken and brine in a large sealable bag.)
• When ready to cook, prepare the breading by whisking together 2 cups of the flour and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a medium bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the eggs to break them up, then whisk in the buttermilk. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 cups of flour, the cornmeal, sage, mustard, paprika, thyme and 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
• Dredge the chicken in the plain flour, then in the buttermilk, then in the cornmeal mixture, taking care not to let the breading get too thick. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, set a large 12-to-14-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and fill with oil to 11/2 inches below the top. Heat until the oil reaches 325 degrees. Working in batches, fry the chicken pieces, turning them 3 or 4 times to create an even, dark-golden crust. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 10 minutes. (Place a splatter guard over the pan as you fry.)

MASTER BUTTERMILK BRINE

Steps:

• Combine 1 quart buttermilk, 4 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain before using.
• Curry Add 4 teaspoons curry powder, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, and 2 teaspoons ground turmeric. Chipotle Add 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle chiles in adobo. Louisiana-Style Add 2 tablespoons smoked paprika, 2 tablespoons Tabasco, and 2 teaspoons celery seeds. Lemon-Dill Add 2 thinly sliced lemons, 4 finely grated garlic cloves, and 2 cups chopped fresh dill.

SOUTHERN-STYLE BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk together buttermilk, mustard, salt and pepper, and cayenne in a bowl, and pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 8 hours.
• When you are ready to cook the chicken, combine the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and onion powder in the other plastic bag. Shake to mix thoroughly. Transfer one marinated chicken piece at a time into the dry ingredient bag, and shake well to ensure complete coverage. After all chicken pieces are coated, repeat the process by dipping them in the buttermilk marinade and shaking in the dry coating again.
• Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, making sure not to burn the oil. When oil is hot, fry chicken in batches until golden brown and juices run clear, turning chicken to brown evenly.