Make-Ahead Fried Chicken

Could you clarify how much oil you were putting in your Dutch oven? How many inches up the side of the pan? Just curious if the chicken pieces should be halfway submerged or just a 1/4 submerged? Surely not fully submerged, right?

We like the taste of dark chicken meat and thought the ingredients in the marinade overwhelmed the chicken flavor, so I'll only use the buttermilk from now on, which'll simplify the recipe a bit. The best part of this recipe is the advice to fry with the cover on for six minutes and off for six, resulting in juicy meat with a nice crispy coating--I use an instant thermometer to check doneness. It'd be helpful to include in the recipe that the oil need only reach halfway up the chicken pieces.

It depends upon the size of the pan you are using. The oil should be deep enough to submerge the chicken halfway.

The internal temperature of cooked dark-meat poultry is 165 degrees F (Bon Appetit) to 170 degrees F (just about everyone else in the world). Who has the time, the skill, or the patience to decide if the "juices run clear", in addition to the fact that you've sabotaged a good piece of fried chicken to test it? Kitchen scales and food thermometers are two cooking items that are considered "fancy and unnecessary" accessories by many, but in fact their use takes less time than the alternative.

I wouldn't leave cooked chicken out for up to four hours at room temperature. If it is best served without chilling, I would not consider this a make ahead dish. Food safety first, especially in the heat of the summer. One hour in the heat of the summer, two hours otherwise, USDA requirements.

6 minutes for each side so only 12 minutes total?! That's way too short even for 350 degrees and even if covered. My cooking technique for fried chicken is: 325 degrees, oil halfway up chicken (about 1/2 inch in pan), covered with lid slightly ajar at all times, fry 7 minutes skin side, turn and fry 7 minutes other side, turn and fry 7 minutes skin side again, turn and fry 7 minutes other side again, then remove. It's always perfectly done.

Since I used bone-in chicken breasts around a pound each and bone-in thighs, I ended up having to cook them about 8 minutes on a side. I also used only half of the cayenne pepper and chipotle powder, which was still excellent. Cooked them in three batches in my cast iron fry pan, which holds the heat and is large enough but not too large so that I needed to use a lot of oil. Awesome chicken.

In response to the question "Who has the time, the skill, or the patience to decide if the "juices run clear", in addition to the fact that you've sabotaged a good piece of fried chicken to test it?":
I do. No 'skill' necessary. Nor patience - chicken is done when it's done, and I trust the prick/juices test more than a reading on a thermometer. Good cooking should be instinctive, too. And even multiple pricks will not sabotage the meat. Truly.

People are still raving about this fried chicken months after I made it for a large party. It can be made reasonably ahead of time the day you plan to serve it, but you have to leave yourself a lot of time to cook it completely without burning the crust, especially if you are doing a large batch.

So why not leave the spices out? You'll still have a great fried chicken like you're searching for, tavern style! Cooking is an art and you're allowed to make adjustments to suit your taste.

I absolutely cannot cook any meat without a thermometer. For one you don't ruin a great piece of meat by making it too dry (pork loin roast) and two you don't kill your family because you THOUGHT the chicken was done... And scales are just fun and helpful when baking too.

Made this dish last Saturday using the full submersion method and a cut up whole chicken. I hadn't made fried chicken in about 20 years and was thrilled with the results here! It was even more flavorful (though not crispy) when I pulled leftovers out of the fridge the next day and served them room temperature.

Americans seem afraid of oil but it's much better to fully immerse the pieces in a lot of oil, so they are floating, as we fry seafood here in Italy. The cooking will be more uniform and faster. Ultimately the pieces will be exposed to the same amount of oil whether you half-submerge (and flip) or fully submerge (and just toss a bit). Either way this is not health food, so just make it easy on yourself--or make a salad instead!

I am so sick of fried chicken recipes that are hot and spicy. I am one of those people who can't tolerate even mild spice. But I still like crispy, flavorful fried chicken like I grew up with. Still searching for that perfect, "tavern fried" chicken!