Susan's Fried Chicken

Here is my home seasoning. Make sure you use both white and black pepper.

1/2 tsp White Pepper

1/2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Ground Sage
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Ground Savory
1 1/2 Ground Thyme
1 tsp Ground Marjoram

1/2 tsp Ground Rosemary
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg (trust me)
1 tbsp Paprika (sweet)

Fine Plain Popcorn Salt or Flake Salt

For an extra kick add cayenne pepper and onion powder or even a salt free blackening seasoning.

Combine all ingredients (except salt) in a mini Tupperware or other airtight lidded container. Use about 3 tablespoons of seasoning to 4 cups flour, and a tablespoon popcorn salt to the flour, whisk ingredients together. Dip your finger in the flour... can you taste the salt and seasoning, because you need to be able to taste it in the flour, add a little more to both if needed. Divide the flour in half and store half in a ziplock for future use or additional flour as needed.

* Timing

Breast 12  minutes

Wing 7-8 minutes

Drumstick 12-15

Thighs 12-15 minutes

You want at least 165-degree center. Use a pen thermometer to check for doneness.

Brine 

2 quarts water

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup kosher salt

1 heaping tablespoon chicken seasoning.

Brine for at least 5 hours

Here are some tips and tricks for turning out a crispy crunchy and juicy fried chicken. 

1. Never fry refrigerator cold chicken, your oil temperature will drop the second you add the chicken to the oil. This will throw off the entire dish in more ways than one. Allow the temperature to return to 350 before adding the next batch. 

2. Never crowd the chicken in the fryer or the pot. That crust needs to have unfettered contact with that hot oil to crisp up and room to let the steam bubbles escape.   Cook only a few pieces at a time. It is worth the extra time and effort. 

3. Flour, use a softer lower protein flour. Cake flour is a great secret for fried chicken. Also good is self-rising flour. All Purpose flour turns out a hard thick bready crust, rather than that delicate shattering crispy crust, I don't like it. 

4. Brining, definitely brine your chicken. Frying causes moisture loss, those bubbles in the frying oil, that is moisture escaping. I do a salt/sugar brine and water. drain the chicken well after brining and pat with a paper towel. Also, throw a tablespoons of the seasoning into that brine. 

5. Building a crust that sticks, it is a three-step process. A. Toss chicken in seasoned flour in an oversized tall bowl. B. Dip chicken in an egg-milk wash, let excess drain drip back into the bowl. C. Toss chicken just (no more than two at a time) through the seasoned flour. 

6. Use a raised cookie rack to set you chicken on after it is breaded, allow it to sit for 15 minutes till it starts to look a little gooey, toss it back through the flour for a double coating.

7. For a lighter coating only run it through the breading process once. Pure preference for single or double breading. 

8. Use popcorn or flake salt and fine ground seasonings.  Flake salt is usually a special order item, however, popcorn salt is easy to find. Why? Popcorn and flake salts are very light and float in the flour rather than sinking to the bottom. Your seasoning should all be finely ground so they float in your flour and cling to it.

9. Deep fryers are great to use when you are a novice (that is how I started), you can regulate the temperature easily and see if it drops. I now favor a cast iron deep fryer pot and a thermometer. Cast iron retains heat and prevents the temperature of the oil from dropping too much. 350 is the temperature you want. One other good option is a wok, the thing I find the most important is that the chicken floats, I don't like contact with the bottom like you get in a pan. 

10. Seasoning your flour, rule of thumb is 1 tablespoons seasoning to 2 cups of flour. I sometimes do a little more... again preference. 

11. Fry dark and light meat separately, breast meat cooks faster. 

12. Watch those bubbles, like popping popcorn when you hear the kernels almost stop popping you know it is done. When the bubbles slow down, the moisture level in the chicken has dropped. Having said that, see below for timing. *

13. Break the big thigh bone before cooking, this is a restaurant trick that allows faster cooking as thighs take the longest to cook. 

14. You can keep your chicken warm in the oven at 200, however, make sure it is sitting on a raised rack. Never set chicken onto paper towels or directly in a pan, the heat will steam your crust soggy.

15. Use an oversized tall bowl for tossing the chicken, toss the using your hands at least 7 times in the flour.

A word on gravy, I like to use the crackling grease (2 to 3 tbsp) from the bottom of the pot, then I use the seasoned flour, chicken stock and milk to create a cream gravy.

Finally, if you want a foolproof fried chicken seasoning I recommend: You will never need another chicken seasoning recipe.

The Marion-Kay Spice Store
1351 West Hwy 50, Brownstown, Indiana 47220
Mondays – Thursdays, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. (Eastern Time Zone)
(1-800-627-7423) or locally (812) 358-3000

https://marionkay.com/product-category/blends/

Chicken Seasoning 99 X This is 25 oz seasoning without the salt, they do sell flake salt.
$ 30.00 

or

Chicken Seasoning Plus A 9 1/2 oz. bottle with the salt already added. 

$ 7.00