re: I want to fry chicken tonight from scratch.

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

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I haven't fried chicken or chicken fried steak at home. For seafood I generally just put the shrimp/fish in ice cold water for a minute. When I take them out I let them drip to get all excess liquid off, then straight into fish fry. I don't use egg wash. Less liquid into the fry mix the better. Always turned out really good and never have crust falling off.

Looks pretty good man. I'd eat it. Is that your first time doing it?

I've worked on my fried chicken recipe more than I care to admit to be honest. But I finally found the combination to what I prefer in fried chicken.

I tried pan-frying in a skillet. Pan-frying with the cover on. Double batter. Single batter. Buttermilk. Egg wash. No egg wash. Wet brine. Dry brine. Pretty much every combination I could think of. What I preferred the most was a single batter, no egg wash,no buttermilk soak process.

Cut up the chicken. Season it modestly with Louisiana Hot sauce, salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and celery salt.

Straight flour batter. Season that with garlic powder, black pepper and celery salt. I use a 1 1/2 gallon deep fryer set on ~340*. Canola oil.

While the grease is coming up to temp I batter the chicken and set it on a plate. When the grease hits temp I drop 3-4 pieces and watch my temp. I want to fry at 325*. The temp will drop when you drop the chicken. I guess I average about 14 minutes for the breasts/thighs and 10-12 minutes for wings and legs. But I temp the breasts and thighs when I think they're close.

Drain them on a wire rack just like you did.



I've learned that when you think you have the flour seasoned enough, add some more. I figured this out by seasoning it, frying one piece and tasting it. Then added seasoning to the flour and rolled with it. You may put enough the first time around.

Frying chicken from scratch is much more time-consuming than going buy a box from Popeye's but it's much more rewarding when you get it right.

Mine looks a lot like yours. I simply season floor with salt and red and black pepper and sometimes garlic powder.

I brown one side in a iron skillet at about 350 and brown the other and then cover it for 5-10 minutes. I take the lid off to finish for a couple of minute per side to crisp it up after being covered.

Double dipped in an egg wash with vodka, with half flour and half pancake mix. Follow directions on your $20 fry daddy and season after chicken is cooked. It's one of the easiest things to make and comes out perfect every time, and I'm not a frying expert.