An adequate amount of oil or melted shortening for frying most foods is 1-1/2 to 2 inches (about 4 cups). This amount allows enough room to add the food. 2. For perfectly fried foods, you must keep the oil at the correct temperature.

Fry chicken, turning with tongs every 1–2 minutes and adjusting heat to maintain a steady temperature of 300°–325°, until skin is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165°, about 10 minutes for wings and 12 minutes for thighs, legs, and breasts.

Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.) Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan.

Fried chicken is delicious and easy to make in a cast-iron skillet. Cast-irons skillets are especially good for frying chicken (you can even find some cast-iron skillets called “chicken fryers”). Get your cast-iron skillet out and ready to fry some chicken: Wash the chicken pieces.

Frying the Chicken: To get truly golden-brown and crispy chicken, use a cast iron skillet. You can’t beat a heavy cast iron pan for even heat distribution and reliable frying. A heavy-bottomed Dutch oven also works great.

Turn the chicken over, turn the heat to medium low, then place the wet paper (a ‘cartouche’) on to the chicken. Finally put a heavy pan lid (the lid from a casserole is ideal) on top. Cook for another 20 minutes. The moisture in the cartouche helps keep the chicken moist and prevents it from burning.

To fry, heat 5 or 6 tablespoons of oil in a heavy skillet over a medium-high burner until the oil is very hot. Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil, skin side down, one piece at a time.

The best oil for frying chicken is an oil that has a high smoke point. We recommend avocado, vegetable, or peanut oil, but you can also use sunflower oil, high oleic safflower oil, and oil blends.

The heat is too high or too low. On the flip side, if the heat is too low, it can take too long for the chicken to fry, and it will become over-dense, oily, and leaden. The skin won’t be crispy, and it won’t be a memorable eating experience.

“Covering the chicken keeps the heat even and helps the chicken cook through,” Corriher said. “But you’ll want to uncover it toward the end, to crisp it. Covering the skillet does make a racket, though — it’s the drops of condensed moisture dropping into the oil that create all that carrying-on.”

To get you started, here are our ten best tips and tricks for cooking fried chicken perfectly.

1. Fry it twice.
2. Use Crisco.
3. Or try frying in duck fat.
4. Cook it sous vide first.
5. Go for the dark meat.
6. Add dried limes.
7. Bake the chicken first.
8. For extra crunch, use a cornstarch dredge.

Fry the chicken over medium-high heat until all of the pieces have been browned on both sides. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 25 minutes. Remove the lid, and increase heat to medium-high. Continue frying until chicken pieces are a deep golden brown, and the juices run clear.

Place the chicken in the skillet. Do not add any liquid and do not cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear. This should take 8 to 12 minutes.

Instructions Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towel. In a cast-iron skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Once the chicken releases from the pan and has a nicely browned crust on the skin, flip the chicken pieces over using tongs.

Directions Make the fried chicken brine 1. In a large bowl, whisk or stir together the water, salt, and sugar until the sugar and salt dissolve. Make the fried chicken batter 2. While the chicken is brining, in a large bowl, whisk or stir together the flour, cornstarch, black pepper, paprika, cayenne , baking powder, salt, and water until smooth.