Grate Grinds American Fried Chicken

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken cut into eight pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs and cut the chicken breasts in half (substitute bone-in or boneless chicken breasts or thighs)
• 2 cups buttermilk NOTE: If your buttermilk has a consistency that is thin (like regular milk), add 1 cup of flour to the buttermilk.
• 4 tbsp. Grate Grinds American Fried Chicken Seasoning, ground

Comfortably serves 8 portions.

Method:
1) Combine the buttermilk and the American Fried Chicken Seasoning and stir to completely mix together.

NOTE: The buttermilk marinade should have the consistency of pancake batter. The buttermilk used in professional kitchens and some of the ones from the grocery store are thick and you won’t need to use the flour, referenced above. Reasoning: If the marinade is to thin, the fry coating will be too thin.

2) Add the cut up whole chicken or chicken breasts or legs.

3) Move the chicken pieces around in the buttermilk marinade to completely coat all pieces.

4) Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. The longer the better!

Figure 1. QUICK TIP: Butterflying a chicken breast for faster cooking times.

NEXT STEP: After marinading is complete.

Dry Seasoning Mix Ingredients:

• 3 cups All-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tbsp. Grate Grinds Salt & Pepper Mix, ground
  A/R Cooking Oil – We use peanut oil.

Method:
1) Combine the flour, baking powder and Salt & Pepper Mix and stir around to mix thoroughly.

2) Heat enough vegetable oil to 350°F. so that the chicken can be mostly submerged in the oil. Select a pot/pan large enough so that the oil only comes half way up the sides of the pot or pan. This will allow enough room in the pan or pot to accommodate the chicken without overflowing the hot oil when the chicken is added to the oil. The oil will foam up a little at first in addition.

3) Pull one piece of chicken out of the marinade and shake off the excess marinade. Place the chicken into the seasoned flour mixture, covering all side and crevices of the chicken. Place on a dry plate. Repeat with other pieces of chicken, until finished.

Figure 2. Dredging marinaded chicken in the flour mixture

4) Gently lower each piece of chicken into the hot oil. Do not over crowd your pan. You might have to fry the chicken in batches. Keep the fried chicken warm in your oven on 200º F. while you finish fry the remaining chicken.

Figure 3. Chicken breasts just added to the hot oil, before being turned over.

5) The total cooking time is completely dependent on the size of the chicken, amount of oil used and number of pieces of chicken you are frying at one time. The total cooking time, both time being fried and possibly the time to complete cooking in the oven for larger pieces cold reach 30 minutes. A small batch of boneless butterflied chicken breast could be finished in as little as 10 minutes.

6) You MUST turn the chicken over at least once during the frying time to get all the surface area submerged in the cooking oil. Cook chicken to 165°F, which is the USDA internal cooking temperature for chicken to be safe to eat.

Figure 4. American Fried Chicken ready for dinner.

NOTE: If you are frying large pieces of bone-in chicken or large chicken breasts or thighs, they might have to be finished in the oven to completely cook them. Preheat your oven to 350°F. if this condition arises or you know will exist. The issue here is that to get the chicken cooked to the required food safety temperature of 165°F. large pieces of chicken might not be able to be cooked entirely in the cooking oil, because by the time the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. the outside would be over cooked or burned. So, depending on the size of your chicken pieces, to get the correct golden brown color, you might want to remove the chicken from the oil and place it on a sheet pan and finish cooking it in the oven until the chicken reaches 165°F.