In this article, Mary Ann Kettle talks about making her Grandmother’s Fried Chicken. I make it the same way, except I soak it in milk or buttermilk before cooking. The chicken is moister and the flour sticks better, making a thicken coating.

Cast Iron Cooking – Grandmother’s Fried Chicken

By Mary Ann Kettle

Cooking with cast iron is a unique experience. It just makes everything taste better. There is nothing like my Grandmother’s Fried Chicken recipe.

I was blessed to learn how to fry chicken in my Grandmother’s kitchen with her cast iron skillet. The skillet had been passed down to her from her Mother, my Grandmother passed it down to my Mother, and now it is mine. I have two daughters so I’m not sure what will happen to it when I’m gone.

This old skillet size is 12 inches. It’s very black and very well seasoned. It holds the heat extremely well. It is better than any non stick cookware on the market. Absolutely nothing sticks to it.

I hope you enjoy my Grandmother’s Fried Chicken. I think of her every time I use her skillet.

Grandmother’s Fried Chicken

3 – 3 1/2 lb. Fryer, cut up

2 Tablespoons salt

1 Teaspoon black pepper

2 Teaspoons garlic powder

All Purpose Flour, for dredging

Vegetable Shortening

Always take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Cold chicken will lower the temperature of your oil.

Wash chicken pieces under cold running water and pat dry.

Melt enough shortening in the skillet over low heat to come up to 1/4 inch on the side of skillet. Once melted, raise heat to 325 degrees. No higher or the chicken will get too brown.

Combine the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle heavily on the chicken. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place the chicken pieces in the hot shortening and cook 8 minutes. After 8 minutes of cooking she would take a heavy two-pronged fork and stick it into each piece of chicken in the thickest part. This allows just a little oil to seep into the thickest parts to cook the meat all the way. Then she would turn it and cook another 8 – 10 minutes. This method never resulted in greasy chicken. Just perfectly cooked all the way through.

Drain on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet.

Fried chicken is great hot, warm, cold or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

I am always looking for good barbecue chicken recipes. I like to experiment and make my own marinades. A good marinade has 5 basic ingredients:

• Salt
• Sugar
• Acid
• Aromatics
• Oil

Take one ingredient from each of the above categories and mix to make your own custom marinade. Most marinades work best with two parts oil to one part acid, but be careful not to add too much oil or you may get some nasty flare-ups on the grill.

This is one of my favorites chicken marinades. It is easy, but packs a lot of flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 C. Soy Sauce
• 1/4 C. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 C Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar
• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Clove Garlic – Minced
• 1 Tsp Fresh Oregano – Chopped

Mix all of the ingredients in a plastic zip top bag until well blended. Add the chicken and refrigerate over night. I prefer to use bone in skin on chicken pieces because they tend to hold the moisture in better when grilling. You can use this marinade for as little as two hours, but for full flavor at least twelve hours is recommended.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Prepare your charcoal grill to cook over indirect heat and close the vents, both top and bottom, half way. Put the chicken over indirect heat and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Many people end up with dry chicken with skin that pulls off when you try to bite through it. This is caused by cooking over too high of heat. Cooking over direct high heat doesn’t give the skin time to render the fat out and become crispy. It also makes the meat dry out much more quickly.

For more BBQ Chicken Marinade recipes or for grilling recipes visit the Backyard Grilling Blog