Fried Chicken

Help!  I enjoy cooking and appear to do a decent job. I cook most of our meals.   But, I have only by accident ever turned out acceptable fried chicken.

I am looking for a simple fried chicken recipe.

I don’t know any specific ones, but some pointers would be use peanut oil instead of vegetable oil (if you have enough tallow even better) and to marinate for at least 24 hours with a buttermilk based marinade. When it comes to batter, toss it around in flour first, then egg wash, then toss in flour again for extra crispy.

The best fried chicken I've had &/or made has always been a 3 dredge method, regardless of the seasonings used (I'm partial to a spicy Cajun flavor profile, myself). Sometimes, I'll marinate the chicken for a couple hours in buttermilk or bread&butter pickle juice. The first step prep the 3dredges: the first dredge, is a flour mixture (all-purpose, plus plenty of seasonings, particularly black pepper and salt to taste). The second dredge is in an egg wash - I whisk together a couple eggs and a little bit of milk, buttermilk or kefir. The 3rd dredge is another flour mixture: flour - either self rising, or add a little bit of baking powder, and generously add more seasonings. Pie plates/pans work well for this.

Next is to pat the chicken as dry as possible. Only start dredging the amount of chicken that will fit into your pan. You'll want about an inch of fat (I like bacon grease or lard, best) in your pan, and bring it to 375°, while you are dredging the chicken pieces. Make sure to get a good coating in each dredge, in order, on each piece, and gently lay into the hot fat. It will need to cook quite a while, so turn it as needed, but only after each side is firm enough to pick up without smudging the batter off.

While it's cooking is when I work on things like biscuits, gravy, and veggies - except for the collard/ mustard greens - those go into a slow cooker with a ham hock or bacon, and cook an hour or so before I start mixing up the dredges.