Fried chicken #3

After reading an article in the New York Times , which referenced a book ( The Way To Fryby Normal King), which referenced a Southern Living recipe, I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't exactly follow the recipe, and that lead to a few problems that might have been my fault, but it was very moist and quite delicious. And, in any case, I really just wanted to see if their crazy alternating covered not-covered method works, and I say it does work quite well.

I started by breaking down a whole chicken. My chicken was large (5.32 pounds), much bigger than then suggested 2 1/2 pound chicken! I just used the legs and thighs, my favorite fried chicken parts. I saved the breasts for other recipes and the wings for Buffalo chicken wings .

I skipped the brining step.

Instead of using plain salt and black pepper I used some of my homemade dry rub for extra flavor. This might have been a mistake because the dry rub contains sugar and it might be part of the cause of the minor burning of the coating where it was in contact with the bottom of the pan. It tasted fine, but it looked a little too browned.

Here's the chicken dredged in flour before going into the fryer.

I've never fried anything covered before, but the 6 minutes covered, 9 minutes uncovered, flip, 6 minutes covered, 5 minutes uncovered technique works pretty well for fried chicken! The recipe called for putting the chicken in at 360°F and then keeping it at 325°F. My induction hot plate is only set for 10°F increments, so I picked 330°F. But I did have a little too much browning and it was more than done a couple minutes into the last uncovered frying phase, reaching 170°F+ in the deepest parts of the chicken. I think I'll try 320°F next time, or maybe shorten the phases by a minute or two.

It's not the best looking fried chicken I've ever made, but it was moist and tender and fully cooked through, so there is that. Not bad for a first attempt!