Aunt Betty’s Comfort Kitchen · Chicken

Best Fried Chicken

Name: Best Fried Chicken
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 whole frying chicken, cut into pieces; 125 g all-purpose flour; 2 tsp garlic salt; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp black pepper; 120 ml milk; 1 egg; 1 oil for frying

Skillet fried chicken the old way — a double dredge for a craggy crust, browned hot then cooked low so the inside catches up. A thermometer is all it takes to nail it.

~45 min total 15 min prep 30 min fry

Effort ●●●○ Time ●●○○ Some Doing

Servingsamounts scale to match

Units

Ingredients

Double-dredge, and work the oil at two temperatures. Coat in seasoned flour, dip in the egg wash, then flour again — that builds the craggy crust. Brown at 365°F / 185°C, then drop to medium-low (about 275°F / 135°C) so the inside cooks through before the crust burns. Pull each piece at 165°F / 74°C (dark meat best at 175°F / 80°C).

Easier, if you like

All one cut — all thighs or all drumsticks — cooks more evenly and skips breaking down a whole bird.
A buttermilk soak (30 minutes to overnight) before dredging makes it extra juicy — optional, but a nice upgrade.

Method

Cook's notes

The double dredge — flour, egg wash, flour again — is what gives fried chicken its craggy, crunchy coat. A few minutes' rest after the second dredge helps it stick.

Two temperatures. Hot oil to brown and set the crust; medium-low to cook through. A thermometer in the oil and in the meat (165°F / 74°C) takes out the guesswork.

Cast iron holds heat best. Don't crowd the pan — fry in batches so the oil temperature holds.

Drain on a rack over paper towels (not directly on towels) so the bottoms stay crisp.

Make it gluten-free

Gluten-free: dredge in a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend or rice flour — it crisps up much the same.

See Betty’s original page

Betty’s original typed “Chicken” page — Best Fried Chicken is on it, alongside the rest of her chicken recipes (Chicken & Rice, Oven Fried and Oven Baked Chicken, Minute Chicken Pie, Cacciatore, and Chicken Spaghetti).