Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe
One recipe we’ve always wanted to make was Buttermilk Fried Chicken. We always heard that using buttermilk will really make your fried chicken extra tender and juicy so we decided to put it to the test.
When we were in Napa Valley for our honeymoon 2 years ago, we had a wonderful Fried Chicken dish at Thomas Keller’s Restaurant “Ad Hoc“. After doing a quick search for a buttermilk fried chicken recipe online, we stumbled across the recipe he used at the restaurant we ate at. Naturally, we had to give it a try.
Key Tips & Tricks for Success
1. Do not brine the chicken for more than 10 hrs
We do not recommend that you brine the chicken for more than 10 hours since this is the threshold before the chicken becomes too salty. For us, we found the sweet spot to be around 7 hours but feel free to play around with the brine time to find one that best suits your taste.
You can always make the brine the night before and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Then, 7 hours before you wish to start cooking, put your chicken in the brine. Some planning is required when making this dish.
2. Allow chicken to come up to room temperature before frying
We recommend taking your chicken out of the fridge about 1 hour prior to when you wish to start deep frying so that the chicken can come up to room temperature. The reason for this is because if your chicken is too cold when it goes into the oil, it will significantly drop the temperature of your frying oil.
3. Do not crowd the pot
Similar to when you cook in a pan, you do not want to overcrowd your pan or pot which you’re using to deep fry (i.e. put too many ingredients in a pan at once). The reason for this is similar to reason #2 above which is that when you put too many ingredients in a pot/pan at once, it will significant reduce the heat of the vessel, affecting the overall results and cooking time. Also, depending on which vessel you use to deep fry your chicken, if your vessel doesn’t have tall sides, there is a risk that your oil will overflow as you add too many pieces in at the same time due to displacement. Deep fry a few pieces of chicken at a time for best results.
4. Deep fry your chicken in the following order
Since each part of your chicken varies in terms of thickness and some parts have bone-in, they will also vary in terms of cooking time. We recommend you deep fry your chicken pieces in the following order, from longest cooking time to shortest:
- Thighs
- Drumsticks
- Chicken Wings
- Chicken Breasts
5. Monitor your oil temperature
Unless you have an actual deep fryer at home, you will need to monitor your oil temperature as you are deep frying as your frying temperature will change since your stove top won’t be able to control frying temperature as well as an actual deep fryer would. We had to consistently check the oil temperature with our Instant read thermometer.
Step by Step Guide: How to Make Buttermilk Fried Chicken
This recipe requires you to do some overnight prep as you will need to brine the chicken ahead of time to maximize the flavour of the chicken. We used a 2 lbs combination of chicken thighs, drumsticks, and wings. We didn’t deep fry the chicken breast as we find that it often comes out dry considering it is more lean by nature.
Brine the Chicken:
To prepare the brine, you will need the following:
- 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of cold water,
- 1 /2cup kosher salt
- 1/8 cup honey
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
Combine the above ingredients in a large dutch oven or a large pot and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn off the stove and take it off the heat to cool completely. The purpose of this exercise is to dissolve the 1/2 cup of salt.
Once the brine has fully cooled, submerge your chicken parts into the brine. Again, do not brine for more than 10 hours as it will make the chicken overly salty. We found 7 hours of brine time to be sufficient. Through the brining process, the meat will absorb the brine mixture through the process of osmosis, making it more moist and flavourful when cooked.
When you’re just about ready to start frying, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse it under cold water to wash off the excess herbs and salt. Then, pat it dry with a paper towel and allow it to sit uncovered for about an hour to bring the chicken up to room temperature after removing it from the fridge. You may discard the brine at this point.
Prepare your Dredging Station for Deep Frying:
Once your chicken has done brining, you can prepare to deep fry your chicken. First, you will need to prepare your dredging station in an assembly line manner which consists of the following:
- 2 large bowls of the dry mixture, divided into 2 (see full recipe below)
- 1 large bowl of buttermilk
- Instant read thermometer
- Large pot of deep frying oil (vegetable/canola) or deep fryer if you have one
- Wired rack lined with paper towel (optional) for the fried chicken to cool.
Split your dry mixture into 2 large bowls, and have the buttermilk bowl in the middle:
- Using your instant read thermometer, ensure the deep frying oil is at 325F as that is the optimal deep frying temperature.
- Dredge your chicken pieces in the order noted in the “Key Tips & Tricks” section above in the first bowl of dry mixture furthest away from the deep fryer until the chicken is fully coated.
- Next, dredge the chicken in the buttermilk mixture until it is fully soaked.
- Finally, dredge the chicken back again in the dry mixture (bowl closest to the deep fryer) and then add it to the oil.
5. Fry until it is chicken is dark golden brown. If you’re unsure whether the chicken is done, use the instant read thermometer and insert in the thickest part of the chicken. If it registers at 165F, it’s ready. Remove from oil and allow to cool on wired cooling rack.
Serve while it is still hot! That’s it! See below for our fully detailed recipe and leave us a comment below how it turned out 🙂
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Brine
- 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of cold water,
- 1 /2cup kosher salt
- 1/8 cup honey
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
Buttermilk for dredging
- 1/2 quart (2 cups) buttermilk
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Dry Mixture for dredging
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 cup garlic powder
- 1/8 cup onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
Chicken for deep frying
- 2 lbs of chicken (thighs, drumsticks, wings)
- Canola/vegetable oil for deep-frying
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Instructions
- 1. In a large dutch oven/soup pot, combine brine ingredients and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 1 minute and remove from the heat to cool completely. This brine can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- 2. Pour the brine into a container large enough to hold the chicken pieces and add the chicken into the brine. Do not brine for more than 10 hours (we found 7 hours to be the sweet spot). When you are ready to fry, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse under cold water to remove any herbs or spices sticking to the skin. Pat dry with paper towels or let air-dry. Let rest at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours, or until it comes up to room temperature.
- 3. Fill a large pot/deep fryer with enough oil to fully submerge the chicken pieces and preheat to 325F. Set a cooling rack lined with paper towel.
- 4. Combine all the dry mixture ingredients in a large bowl and divide into 2 large bowls. Pour the buttermilk into a third bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- 5. Set up your dredging station: the chicken pieces, one bowl of dry mixture, the bowl of buttermilk, the second bowl of dry mixture. We recommend you fry chicken pieces in the following order (from longest cooking time to shortest): Thighs, Drumstick, Wings, Breast.
- 6. Just before frying, dip the chicken into the first bowl of dry mixture to ensure it is fully coated, patting off the excess as you don’t want a thick coating. Then, dip them into the buttermilk and allow the excess to run back into the bowl. Finally, dip them into the second bowl of dry mixture and into the deep fryer. Adjust the heat as necessary to return the oil to the proper temperature.
- 7. Fry until golden brown or until instant thermometer reads 165F at the thickest part of the chicken. Then, carefully remove the chicken pieces from the oil to a cooling rack lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with salt
- 8. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter. Add the herb sprigs for garnish (optional).
