Cooks Illustrated Buttermilk Fried Chicken

By GratefulSea

This is an unusual take on southern fried chicken, from Cook's Illustrated, September 2010. There's just enough frying involved so that we get that great fried chicken flavor and crunch, but don't have to deal with 5 cups of oil. The trick is an overnight brine in salted buttermilk, then a quick fry followed by 20 minutes in a hot oven. (I've increased the amounts for the brine, so the chicken is fully covered, and doubled the flour coating. I also removed 1/8 tsp of cayenne from the flour coating, and replaced it with 1/2 tsp dry mustard.) Photo is my own.

Ingredients

• 1 quart plus 1/2 cup buttermilk (divided)
• 4 Tablespoons salt, plus 2 teaspoons (divided)
• 4-6 dashes hot sauce
• 4 teaspoons ground black pepper, plus 4 teaspoons (divided)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder, plus 1-1/4 teaspoon (divided)
• 1 teaspoon paprika, plus 1-1/2 teaspoon (divided)
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3-1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, or a mix, with breasts cut in half), trimmed of excess fat
• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1-3/4 cups vegetable oil

Details

Servings 3
Cooking time 40mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

For the brine:
Whisk 1 cup buttermilk, 4 tablespoon salt, hot sauce, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, and pinch of cayenne together in large bowl.

Add chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

For the chicken:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 4 teaspoons black pepper, 1-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1-1/2 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard together in large bowl.

Add remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk to flour mixture and mix with fingers until combined and small clumps form.

Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture, pressing mixture onto pieces to form thick, even coating. Place dredged chicken on large plate, skin side up.

Heat oil in 11-inch straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Carefully place chicken pieces in pan, skin side down, and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Carefully flip and continue to cook until golden brown on second side, 2 to 4 minutes longer.

Transfer chicken to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet.

Bake chicken until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees for breasts and 175 for legs and thighs, 15 to 20 minutes.

(Smaller pieces may cook faster than larger pieces. Remove pieces from oven as they reach -correct temperature.)

Let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.