I want to fry chicken tonight from scratch.

Put your seasonings in the flour before you batter them up and you'll be fine.

Buttermilk browns too much with chicken for my taste.

I'm no expert. I prefer to just salt and pepper the pieces. Refrigerate.

Season flour, dredge and fry.

An old school paper grocery bag is ideal for frying chicken. Put your flour and seasonings in, add a couple pieces of chicken, and shake.

You get the chicken totally covered but without excess flour clumping to it. My mother did this every Sunday.

I usually wet brine chicken for grilling, but last time I just hit it with a good bit of kosher salt and let it dry brine in the refrigerator for a few hours. It worked very well, and with less dish-washing. You might try that.

My biggest problem is getting the breading to stick to the chicken/shrimp/cube steak.

Any tips on keeping the breading and meat together?

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Buttermilk browns too much with chicken for my taste.

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I've always had this same issue when I use buttermilk, even if I dry it pretty well after marinating it and only use seasoned flour rather than a wet batter. I prefer a light crisp crust with seasoned flour.

Next time, I'm going to try brining in pickle juice that I've read about. Have a gallon of it that I bought just for that purpose.

That oil CAD used to fry the chicken would make a fine roux for gumbo.

I generally don't like egg washes for fried food, but I did this one after listening to John folse's radio show years ago. My kids loved it and I did too.

LINK

Ingredients:
1 chicken fryer cut into 8 pieces
½ cup peanut oil
salt and black pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup water
½ cup flour
4 tbsps fresh minced garlic
4 tbsps fresh minced parsley

Method:
Wash chicken pieces in cool water, pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg, evaporated milk and water. Season with salt and pepper. Place flour in a separate bowl. Combine garlic and parsley in small mixing bowl and set aside. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet to 350°F. NOTE: Oil should come about halfway up sides of skillet. Adjust amount in accordance with skillet size. One piece at a time, starting with heaviest pieces, dip chicken into egg wash, squeeze, dip into flour and place gently in skillet. Do not overcrowd skillet. Maintain temperature of 350°F. Use tongs and long fork to turn chicken often for 7–8 minutes. Remove chicken from oil with tongs, pierce with fork and squeeze. Place chicken back in oil approximately 7–8 minutes. Chicken is done when no longer hissing and juices run clear. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Immediately top with a sprinkle of garlic and parsley mixture. Continue until all the chicken is cooked.

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Next time, I'm going to try brining in pickle juice that I've read abou

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I have done this with chicken tenders and it has a taste similar to chick-fil-a. Pretty good.