The 4th just isn’t the same to me without fried chicken. And a lot of other things, but I have most of those under control.
But… I can’t seem to make good fried chicken, and so I am asking for recipes, and for pointers on techniques. No pride here, feel free to make this Fried Chicken for Dummies 
I prefer cold chicken in hot weather, so if there is a different recipe for serving it hot or cold, please let me know.
Thanks,
plynck
Can I wait in line behind you Plynck? Pleasepleaseplease!
I haven’t had good fried chicken in ages. There used to be a place called Rips in a small town called Ladd, Illinois that was amazing…KFC just doesn’t come near the good stuff.
BTW, I have a deep fryer or a nice new skillet.
Let me know which is going to be best.
::DMark goes to pluck poultry and get ready for oncoming recipes::
Here’s my contribution:
Cut up a chicken into serving pieces, and let them sit in a baking pan submerged in buttermilk and sliced onions for several hours in the fridge. Take the pieces out and drain them a bit, salt and pepper them, and shake them up in a paper bag with flour to coat them. Have a big skillet heating with an inch or two of canola oil in it. When it’s hot enough to bubble up when you dip a piece of chicken in it, it’s ready. Put in all the pieces after shaking them up in flour, reduce the heat to medium low, and let fry for about 12 minutes or until they are deep golden in color. Turn the pieces and cook them for another 12 minutes or so on the other side. Drain the pieces on paper towels. Serve with some Frank’s Red Hot sauce on the side.
Fry it in bacon fat.
Do just what **teela brown ** said but after dipping it in the flower, dip it in the buttermilk again and then into crunched up cornflakes. Sounds wierd I know but it is scrumptious!
Weeel, doggies! Jest set yoreself down and listen to Pappy An Arky…
In a bowl large enough for dipping chicken pieces, put in a couple of eggs and a splash of water and beat lightly.
In another bowl, put in some flour.
Heat up a big skillet on high and put in about 1/2-3/4" of oil (shortening works, too). The chicken should be about halfway immersed in the oil
Wash and pat dry chicken pieces. Dip first in flour, then the egg, then the flour again, then put in hot oil. Let it brown for one minute, then turn (use tongs, don’t pierce!) Let brown for about a minute, then turn the heat down to medium and partially cover.
Cook about 10 minutes per side. Neat the end, crank it back up to high, remove the lid and crisp it up on each side about a minute (if you like that soft KFC Original thing, skip this part).
Set it on paper towels on a platter and salt and pepper the hell out of it.
Other tips:
Cutting up a whole chicken is better than buying pieces, but this isn’t a biggie.
Use good oil and don’t use used oil.
For a little extra crunch, put a little bit (not too much) cornmeal in with the flour.
Now, if you want gravy, empty the excess oil out of the pan, leaving the bits in. Add a T or two of butter. When it’s melted, add a T or two of flour. Stir this until it starts to brown. Add salt and pepper, then pour in a cup or two of milk (I add a little half and half to make it richer). Use a whisk to make sure there aren’t any lumps. Once it has bubbled for a couple of minutes, it’s essentially done. Correct seasoning and serve. Gravy boats are for wimps, serve it hot from the pan.
:smack: “near the end”…
So, basically, you baconate it?
There’s a fried chicken recipe on the back of tins of Old Bay seasoning. I’ve never tried it, though.
My technique is similar to Arky’s except instead of redipping in flour after the egg step, I dip it in bread crumbs. Also, I never cover the pan. Just fry the chicken in an inch or so of oil while keeping and eye on it–too hot and the bread crumbs will burn before the chicken cooks, too cool and you’ll get a soggy oily mess. I usually adjust the burner several times during the frying. Keeping the temperature right is the most important technique to learn for frying chicken. I wish I could tell you how I do it, but it’s just been trial and error for me. I just have a feel for when the oil is at the right temp. Took me awhile to get there, though.
You really don’t need to get any fancier than this. You can always season your flour, of course, or soak your chicken overnight in buttermilk, but the plain old fried chicken approach works just fine.
Peanut oil makes a yummy fried chicken. Oh, and I do cover mine while it’s cooking on medium heat. That way I know it’s cooked all the way through and it’s not burned on the outside.
My suggestion, don’t fry the chicken all the way through. Fry it until the coating is crisp and then bake the rest of the way.
You’ll retain more of the natural flavor of the chicken that way.
I always put lots of salt, pepper, and paprika in my dredging flour. Either that or seasoned salt. But I’m a weirdo like that.
Unfortunately, a lot of people do this. If I’m somewhere where I don’t know how the chicken was cooked, I try my wife’s before getting a piece myself. One thing I can’t stand is oversalted chicken.
The key to good fried chicken is patience. You can’t hurry the process without ruining it. Real fried chicken isn’t fast. Otherwise, what An Arky said.
What is unfortunate for one is fortunate for another. 
Last night I made oven fried chicken using Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe. It is derived from their regular fried chicken recipe - same parts, same brine, just coated in oiled melba toast crumbs and baked versus floured & shallow fried.
Unfortunately, I can’t just copy and paste the recipe, but personally I think it’s well worth the annual membership fee to have access to cooksillustrated.com. I love having other foodies test dozens of recipes before settling on the best one, rather than trying to do it myself.
And let me tell you, soaking in a combination of buttermilk, salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, and bayleaf made a phenomenally delicious chicken. Mmmmm, mmmm!
Oh yeah, they also had great instructions for disassembling a chicken. I’d tried Alton Brown’s dinosaur model method, and couldn’t figure it out. I was really scared, but the step-by-step illustrated instructions were awesome!
Weeeelllllll…
I haven’t actually done fried chicken per se, but I have fried up a few batches of skinless, de-boned chicken breasts in my day.
I crush up crackers until they become cracker crumbs, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and (this is very important) cayenne pepper - not too much, because the Mango Tree isn’t into hot/spicy, just enough to give it a bit of bite. Then I dip the bits o’ chicken in milk, roll them in the seasoned cracker crumbs and fry 'em up. I think this could be quite workable with skin-on chicken. Probably come out extra crispy.
I use the cracker-crumb approach when I fry chicken livers, too.
Great. Now I’m hungry.
Alton Brown’s recipe is really good but as with most of his stuff, you have to allow a lot of time to make it.
And I might add, his biscuits go really well with the fried chicken. And you’re going to have leftover buttermilk anyway.