Alton's Fried Chicken

By Addie

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Fry Hard 2: The Chicken (Fried)

Ingredients

• 1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 cups low fat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Flour, for dredging
• Vegetable shortening, for frying

Preparation

Step 1

Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/3-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it's a gas oven.
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REVIEWS: (441)


This was a great chicken recipe, though a bit salty. I would probably cut down the salt if I make it again in the future. I couldn't tell much difference in the flavor of this chicken meat compared to other recipes I've made where the chicken was not soaked in buttermilk, but I'm sure in a side-by-side comparison it would've been more clear. I'm not sure this will be my go-to recipe for the future, but it's certainly something I'll consider the next time I make fried chicken.

This is everybody's favorite! Fried chicken that is crispy and so tasty!

We recently raised and processed our own totally organically-fed broiler hens, and I couldn't wait to try one for dinner! I knew I loved Alton's recipes, so decided to try his fried chicken. While he uses most of the same things I do, he did have a couple of tips that were very useful, especially the one about draining the finished chicken pieces on a rack instead of paper towels or brown bags. I now wish I had fried up two chickens instead of just one! My chicken turned out to be the very BEST fried chicken ever - flavorful, seasoned just right, with a thin and crispy coating (I always remove the skin except from the wings. BEST FRIED CHICKEN I EVER ATE!!! I was afraid to leave the table to get my camera for a photo for fear there wouldn't be any left when I got back! LOL! My husband kept saying, "this is sooooo good, hon!" Thanks, Alton, and I can't wait for the next time we have FRI-I-I-I-ED CHICKEN!!! MMMMMMM, MMMMMMM, GREAT!!!!

I think this is really yummy and that's saying something because I don't usually eat fried chicken!!!!!!

I made this Fried Chicken for my family's Fourth of July celebration, and everyone loved it. The rub is amazing, providing just the right amount of flavor. My mom, who is known for her fried chicken, even commented that the "torch" had been passed for the best fried chicken in the family!

I don't fry often, and had never made fried chicken. This was very tasty and mine came out perfectly cooked through with no burning issues, but it was less than crispy and seemed a little greasy. I did absolutely love the seasoning. I suspect that the measurements for the seasonings is intended to give you ratios to make your own mix, and then it is up to the cook to season to taste. If you watch the video this is what he does. He applies with a shaker to coat it, he does not just dump the mix on. I noticed reviews for Paula Deen's fried chicken recipe has a ratio recipe at the end for her House Seasoning and then instructs you to season the chicken with it. Nearly all the bad reviews are cooks furious that dumping a CUP of salt on the chicken made it inedible. You've got to season to your own tastes and use a little common sense.

I watched the video and followed the recipe as is. We loved it! I've never had such a great crust that stayed on just right! I was glad for Alton's use of shortening since we're trying to cut canola oil out of our diets. This was certainly a splurge but well worth it. I can always count on Alton's recipes to "work." Thanks!!!

Made it almost exactly to the recipe and turned out perfect. I used a 10.25" cast iron skillet, so less shortening was needed, but I had to do 2 batches. Both batches turned out perfectly and I don't see any reason to change anything. The way that the bird is cut up leaves basically no obstacles (re. bones to get in the way of a greasy, sloppy, juicy, and altogether horrifyingly delicious fried bird.

Like others have said, with the oil set at 325 and 10 to 12 minutes per side, the garlic powder and paprika can burn somewhat leaving a slightly bitter taste (used cast iron and a thermometer. Also, like others said you can cut down on the salt some (used kosher salt. What you do get with this recipe is crispy skin and juicy chicken. I'll look to change up the spices/quantities and/or shorten the frying time (finish in the oven.

I made a double batch of this yesterday, and it turned out great! A few tips for people: The recipe calls for kosher salt, but you can substitute for table salt if you use HALF as much. The oil will burn if it gets over 375º, so be sure to check it often. The skin will stick to your pan if the oil temperature hasn't gotten back above 300 by the time you flip it, so turn up the heat whenever you add or flip the chicken. To make spicy fried chicken, up the amount of cayenne pepper used.

Good, a little burned but still tasty. I used a fry/candy thermometer and it worked okay. Not at all to salty in my opinion.

I made it using boneless chicken breasts cut into strips to cut down on cooking time. The seasoning is to die for! Best chicken ever!

Very good. Mystified at some of the reviews. This is how every kitchen I've ever been in makes REAL fried chicken. Most of the problems described in the bad result reviews sound like people tried to deep fry or otherwise didn't follow the straightforward directions. Not too much oil, not too hot; should work every time if you stay on top of the temp!

I've never been good at frying chicken, but this was great! Husband and I loved it!

I really had high hopes. I had all the gear cast iron skillet. Probe thermometer just like AB's and a gas grill with a side burner that would allow me to fry outside. It did not go well. Cooking with hot grease is dangerous. I dropped a piece of chicken and splashed myself with the hot oil. I marinated the chicken in buttermilk for 18 hours, used fresh Crisco it seemed that I had covered all the criteria. But it did not end up Good Eats. My family said the chicken tasted good if you removed the skin. But to me the point of fried chicken is having tasy skin. I think i am going to leave the frying to the professionals in the future. I did have a friend tell me that vegetable oil is better than shortening.
I think the biggest challenge is monitoring the oil temperature when the depth as shallow as it is with pan frying. Probably overheated the skillet and got it smoking at one point. Oh Bother!

Old school Southern fried chicken.Not greasy. Awesome!

The spices were great but the 12 minutes were not enough for the chicken to cook through. The exterior was black (someone mentioned the spices were the ones that burned but it didn't taste burnt, actually. I had to put mine in the oven for about half an hour extra because it was still raw in the middle, and it was only thighs and drumsticks. I knew there was a reason I never made fried chicken before....

The spices on this recipe were spot on. I'm not sure how I would adjust it in the future, but AB says to make it your own basically.
Kosher salt is key, as always. The only problem is the frying smell, but that's not this recipe's fault!

My this is an Outstanding recipe. During Eating this i Really enjoyed All The salt Or spicyness. Really Fun to Use extra Cayenne and paprika. Kids loved it too as will YOU!!!

LOVE Alton Brown, and I LOVE this chicken. Play around with the seasoning if it doesn't have enough "kick" for you. Also, I've made this on both gas and electric; when I cook on electric the outside always seems to burn when I a maintain 325 on the oil so I've taken it down to between 300 and 315, works like a charm!

I read the preceding reviews before trying this recipe. So I was reacting a bit to the folks who tried it before me. I don't usually cook fried chicken, but I do like it. This recipe worked perfect for me. The chicken cooked perfectly in 8-9 minutes per side or so, and the seasoning was also perfect. A bit saltier than I would have done for a saute chicken, but perfect for fried. I did cut my chicken breasts in half, crosswise. I did use kosher salt (always do. AND, I did use less than 1/2 of the seasoning, sprinkled liberally, but not pouring it on. I used organic chilled shortening for frying. No cover, just a splatter screen. Fantastic. Crispy outside, moist on the inside and delicious.