If you are concerned that you just cannot make great fried chicken at home — that it will not be crispy enough — do not worry. Here is how to get fantastically crispy fried chicken at home.
Start by tenderizing: You need to tenderize if you are going for juicy chicken that melts in your mouth. Use a fork to poke a bunch of holes in the chicken, which preps the chicken to maximize the next step of brining.
Do not skip the brine: Brining really makes the chicken tender and juicy. To do it: Make a simple brine of salt and water in a bowl and add the chicken. Ideally, let it sit overnight in the fridge, about 24 hours. You can also do a dry brine, which is more like a rub. Add whatever spices you would like (you can use the same ones as you will use for seasoning the flour later), but the key here is salt, which helps to make it tender and juicy. If you do a blind taste test of brined fried chicken versus non-brined fried chicken, you will notice the brined one is much softer every time.
Season the flour: Many people just dredge their chicken in plain flour, and that is a problem. The chicken just ends up tasting bland. Instead, throw in a lot of cayenne pepper. It makes it spicy, but not too spicy, and you can also add in paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Mix things up a little: Take your wet hand, dip it into your buttermilk and hold it over your flour to let it drip into the mixture. Then, take your dry hand and mix it up. Repeat the process a few times before breading, and you will create those little crunchy nuggets of clumpage that make fried chicken so satisfying.
Put some muscle into it: When you are doing the dredging process with buttermilk and flour, you need to press down hard — like really hard — on the chicken to ensure the breading stays on when you fry it.
Fry it twice: It is s a must if you are looking for chicken that gives you that texture when you bite into it and want to hear that ‘crunch’ sound.
For blanching fried chicken: Heat oil to 250 degrees and cook chicken breasts for about five minutes, or bone-in chicken for about 12 minutes. Let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes, then fry again, two to three minutes for breasts or five minutes for bone-in. Alternatively, you can complete the first step, let the chicken cool and store it in the refrigerator, then fry it a second time the next day before serving.
Leave plenty of room: Be careful about dropping too much chicken into the oil at one time, as it can dramatically lower the temperature of the oil — resulting in soggy, greasy chicken. For example, if you set the oil to 350 degrees and add a potful of cold chicken, it can drop the temperature by 100 degrees. Instead, fry in small batches, keeping a close eye on your oil temperature. You can also let your chicken sit on the counter for an hour before frying so it is not as cold (and will not drop the oil temperature as dramatically when you add).
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