‹ The Fried Chicken 100 › Make it at home

The Fried Chicken 100 · make it at home

Cast-iron skillet-fried chicken, the old way

Overnight salt, 50 min to fry · 4

How Wagner's in Indiana and the Lucky Wishbone in Anchorage still do it: a plain, peppery flour coat and a shallow pool of fat in a lidded cast-iron skillet. The lid for the first half steams the meat through; the second half, uncovered, crisps the crust.

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The real one

You need

• 1.4 kg (3 lb) bone-in chicken thighs, drumsticks and breast halves
• 1 tbsp fine salt (for salting overnight)
• 250 ml (1 cup) whole milk
• 200 g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour, 2 tsp coarse black pepper, 1 tsp fine salt, 1/2 tsp paprika
• About 500 g (2 1/4 cups) lard, or vegetable shortening, or half lard and half butter

How to make it

1. Salt (overnight): Season the chicken all over with the tablespoon of salt, lay it on a plate and refrigerate uncovered overnight. The salt seasons the meat and dries the skin so it fries crisp.
2. Coat (5 min): Pour the milk into one dish and mix the flour, pepper, salt and paprika in a paper bag or another dish. Dip each piece in milk, then shake it in the flour until heavily coated. Rest the pieces on a rack 10 minutes.
3. Heat (5 min): Melt the fat in a 30 cm (12 in) cast-iron skillet with a lid; it should be about 1.5 cm (1/2 in) deep. Heat to 175°C (350°F): a pinch of flour should sizzle at once.
4. Covered fry (12 to 15 min): Lay the pieces in skin side down, biggest in the center, without crowding. Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat 12 to 15 minutes, until the undersides are deep golden. The lid traps steam and cooks the chicken through.
5. Open fry (12 to 15 min): Turn every piece, leave the lid off, and fry 12 to 15 minutes more, turning once more if one side browns faster, until the crust is crisp and deep brown and dark meat reads 80°C (175°F) at the bone. Drain on a rack and salt lightly.

Tips

• Make the classic gravy: pour off all but 2 tbsp fat, whisk in 2 tbsp of the leftover flour, cook 1 minute, then whisk in 500 ml (2 cups) milk and simmer until thick. Lots of pepper.
• Don't move the chicken in the first 10 minutes: the crust sets and lets go of the pan on its own.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.