GFP Day 40 - The Great Fried Chicken Experiment

I love chicken. Just about any way you cook it I will eat it. There's been discussion about the best way to fry chicken. We've done it on the stove and in the deep fryer. So tonight was the final showdown. 

It started with a whole chicken we dug out of the depths of the freezer. We thawed it out, then started the prep.  

We started with a brine of 1/3 cup salt and 1/3 cup sugar dissolved in 1 quart of boiling water. Once it's dissolved, add a quart of ice to cool it down. Put the chicken in a gallon ziplock freezer bag and pour the brine in. Make sure that ziplock is zipped and locked, or you'll have a mess in the fridge! Then it went in the fridge for the night. 

Then John cut it up. He likes to do this so he can cut the breast into three parts. Makes for more even cooking and an extra piece. 

Into a big container with flour and seasonings. This batch is just salt & pepper in the flour...sorry, Colonel Sanders!

Then John shook it up to coat it. He let it sit while he got the oil ready then shook it again. It was hard work!

I got him a lemonade to reward him for all his hard work. 

We put the smaller pieces (wings, legs, and thighs) on the stove in about a half-inch of hot vegetable oil. 

The breast pieces went into the deep fryer. 

It wasn't long before the chicken was crispy and hot. About 10-12 minutes

The pan fried chicken wasn't quite as crispy looking, but still developed a nice crust. . 

Side note, we ate salad too!!

We had a glorious platter of chicken. 

That looks awesome! And it was! 

And the brine made it super juicy. Brining makes a huge difference. It makes the chicken so juicy! 

Now there are plenty of leftovers.