Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Save the buttermilk brine and the dredging flour. When the chicken is done frying, pour off all but 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil. Stir in enough of the dredging flour to absorb all the oil (usually a equal parts oil and flour, but not always). Cook the roux over medium heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Pour in the buttermilk and bring the gravy to a boil. If it's too thick, add enough milk to bring it to the consistency you like. You won't need salt, but might like to add pepper

Not a misprint, but I can clarify: if you marinate your chicken in buttermilk overnight, and pull it from the fridge as specified here, and then get it right into the oil, it's going to be colder going in than in Melissa's recipe where you let it sit for a while at room temperature before frying. So it's going to take longer to cook. As another reader points out, color is as or more important perhaps than time: Watch your chicken and get it out when it's golden brown.

Marinate in buttermilk overnight; it really does matter. I coat my bird with spices (get creative) and leave it in the fridge a few hours before I put it in the overnight marinade. Mix a cup of crushed saltines into your dredge (I use Ritz). It gives the crust a tempura crispness. Dredge BEFORE you heat your oil for optimum binding to your chicken. I use a stockpot for frying (no overflow). Your chicken begins to "float" right at the 10 minute mark; it's done.

You can do this recipe with a healthy twist with less oil by baking them in the oven. Add a little cornstarch to the flour for a crisper skin. Try it's really good.

Re: time. To make sure the chicken is cooked through use an instant reading thermometer. Take the temperature of the chicken after the time indicated, if it's 165F for thighs and legs it's done. If not ccok for a few more minutes. I guess if you make friend chicken a lot you get a sense of how long but for those of use who don't do it on a regular basis an instant reading thermometer is a godsend. An instant reading thermometer is one of the most useful tools in the kitchen.

It also helps to keep the crust on if you let the pieces dry for about 30 minutes before frying.

I cooked it yesterday, turned out amazing. I brined it in buttermilk & salt & pepper for about 20 hours. First time I've deep fried with a lid on (Le Creuset). One thing to note is, when removing the lid, pull it away from the pot so the condensation doesn't drip down into the hot oil. I used an instant read thermometer to check temperatures. The wing was finished about 5 minutes before the thigh, and that was finished about 3 minutes before the breasts.

I'm not sure if this is a misprint or what, but 12-15 minutes covered on one side, and then another 12-15 minutes uncovered at 350 is much, much too long. You'll end up with black chicken. More like 15 minutes in total. The color of the crust is a good giveaway, and if you want to be sure, you can use a regular meat thermometer to check for about 165 deg.

Heat the oven to about 300, and put a baking sheet with a rack in the oven. As your chicken pieces get fried to the right color, you can put them on that rack to drain and to continue to cook through. Otherwise, it's hard to get the chicken cooked through completely before you have an overly-dark exterior. Also, the excess oil drips off while they finish cooking in the oven, and you get a really crisp crust.

Do you rinse the buttermilk off before dredging in the flour? If not, how do you avoid it being wet and gloppy going into the flour?

I understand that this may seem to be a dumb question but I've not done much frying and have no idea. I tried this with a different recipe using chicken breasts where I tried to scrape off the excess buttermilk but still had a mess. It tasted okay but I was left wondering what I did wrong.

I wish recipes, especially here, would clarify instructions.

Question: When chicken comes out of the buttermilk bath is it shaken off, patted dry, blown dry before going into flour . . . or what?

For better or worse, I place the leftover oil in an old glass container with lid, and place it in the trash.

This recipe made my children cheer and hug me

After reading all the comments I heated the oil to 325 and left the chicken in until the color was right. It was thoroughly cooked and moist!

I don't believe it! This recipe exactly follows how my Southern Mother's long-time cook, Daisy, made for us every Friday. Could I possibly make it as good as she did? I am sure going to try. Thank you for the directions.