Pan Fried Buttermilk Chicken
Pan Fried Buttermilk Chicken is based on the recipe in the wonderful new Jubilee cookbook, with modest tweaks. Pan fried chicken tends to be moister than deep fried since each piece spends half its cooking time outside the oil where it is steamed, rather than fried; the tradeoff is a less crispy skin. A well seasoned cast iron skillet is traditional for this preparation, and also essential. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients:
8 skin-on chicken thighs* or mixed chicken pieces or a whole cut up fryer, 3-4 lbs
1 pint full fat buttermilk
1 t celery salt
1 t paprika
1/2 t ground black pepper
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
Neutral cooking oil, such as corn or peanut oil
For the flour coating:
1 c all purpose flour
1 ½ t baking powder
1 T salt
1 t ground black pepper
½ t or more ground cayenne**, optional
Method: dry chicken then coat evenly with spices, salt and pepper and marinate in buttermilk for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight, turning from time to time. To fry, heat ¾ inch oil in a cast iron pan to 375 degrees. (We use a 10 inch pan which requires about a pint of oil, and we cook the chicken in two batches.) Have ready a wire rack to prep the chicken pieces. Mix the flour coating in a paper bag and drop in the chicken pieces, one at a time, shake to coat them, then place on the wire rack.
Go for this stage of golden brown, not dark brown. Don’t crowd the chicken pieces in the pan.
Fry the coated chicken pieces on one side for six minutes, checking frequently and adjusting temperature so it turns a golden but not dark brown, then turn it over and cook another 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. As the chicken pieces come out of the fry, return them to the wire rack. When all pieces are done, place the rack with the chicken pieces in the oven over a sheet pan and cook for another 15 minutes. Serve hot, at room temperature or cold for breakfast the next day.
*We use all thighs because that’s the meatiest and most tender part of the chicken and the pieces are uniform in size and cook evenly. If you want to use other cuts, be our guest.
**This is an awful lot of cayenne, but Toni Tipton-Martin is giving you the option of making it Nashville Hot-style. I’d go easy if I were you.
Agree with your comment about pan fried vs deep fried.
I always thought of pan fried as the correct technique.
But more usable at home than in a restaurant. They deep fry it all.
You do get the benefits of the deep fat that way.
At home, air fried is the thing now…
Air fried? Really? For fried chicken? And you are satisfied with the results? The recipes I’ve seen call for spraying on oil after you flour the chicken which seems pretty ridiculous to me.
I had heard that Prince’s still uses cast iron skillets for its hot chicken but not so. The deep fat fryer is just so much more convenient and fast. And super healthy, if your Youtube clip is correct. You can of course deep fry at home in a big pot, but then you have a lot of oil to deal with that costs money to begin with, and now has to be filtered and stored or disposed of. Skillet frying avoids all these problems.
Personally, I do prefer deep frying. I like to use a small pot (so less oil) and fry a couple pieces at a time, just until crispy, then finish cooking in the oven.
Sorry, that comment wasn’t too clear.
I skillet fry a few times a year.
Most people I know that fried anything
had Fry Daddy type fryers and now use air fryers.
Mostly for vegetables. Some say chicken wings.
If I got an air fryer for Christmas I’d try it.
Has to be more useful than the microwave pressure cooker
I got a couple years ago.
Ok, that’s a relief. As an option to skillet frying, do try my small batches + oven finish method described above.
Full fat buttermilk? I think nearly all the fat ends up in the butter when I make it.
You are local to Cap Region of NY, yes John? I am specifically thinking about the wonderful Argyle Dairy Farm buttermilk which is available at many sources. For wider audience, try and get full fat but a reduced fat buttermilk is fine if that’s what you have.
If you ever want to make an extra buck, I would gladly pay you to prepare that chicken for me for dinner sometime! It looks fantastic.
Maybe I’ll make it for our Yelp potluck! Are you ok with the onion powder?