PDF The first time I saw someone put hot sauce in their fried chicken eggwash I thought, “Oh no! Not everyone likes spicy stuff…” But she assured me no one would notice. And she was right, the heat fried out but left a terrific flavor. Problem is that my household DOES like it hot and spicy, so every time I make fried chicken, I up the ante a bit more on the heat ingredients. The recipe below uses oodles of spice and hot sauce, but the finished product is only about as hot as a Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It’s just enough kick for a crowd-pleasing hot chicken.
Hot Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- 1/2 to 1 gallon Vegetable Oil for frying
- 5 lb chicken pieces
- candy thermometer
- large paper bag
- cast iron skillet or fryer pan
Marinade
- 1 quart buttermilk
- 1/8 cup Habanero Tabasco sauce
- 1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 + 1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Buffalo sauce, divided
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
Breading
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Season-All
In a large, non-metal bowl, whisk together the first 4 marinade ingredients with 1/2 cup of the Frank’s Buffalo sauce. Stir in the sliced onions. Submerge the clean, dry chicken pieces into the buttermilk mixture, cover, and refrigerate at least overnight, or up to 48 hours.
To prepare the chicken, find a wide, flat, chicken-fryer style pan or large cast iron skillet. The pan must be nice and heavy to heat the oil evenly. Fill the pan with oil until it is about an inch and a half from the top of the pan. Affix the candy thermometer to the side and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 275F.
Preheat the oven to its lowest setting (that’s 170F on my oven). Prepare a cookie sheet by nesting a cooling rack inside it. This will keep your first batch of chicken warm and crisp while you finish any subsequent batches.
While the oil heats, remove the chicken pieces into a colander set in the sink and allow the buttermilk to drain. Meanwhile, find a large, sturdy paper bag and dump all of the dry breading ingredients into the bag. Stir the flour and spices to evenly mix.
Pour the remaining 1 cup of hot sauce over the chicken pieces in the colander. Allow the hot sauce to mix with the buttermilk and gently turn the chicken to coat evenly. Drop the saucy chicken pieces one at a time into your bag of flour. Fold over the top of the bag and gently shake and roll the bag to coat the chicken with the seasoned flour.
Once the oil is 275F, use tongs to gently remove the chicken from the bag and position it meaty-side down in the hot oil. If the chicken has any bare spots, use your fingers to press some residual flour so it is nicely covered. Work quickly to fill the pan without crowding too much. The chicken pieces should have enough room that there is some space for the oil to move between them. The process will require 2 or 3 batches.
Keep an eye on the candy thermometer. The temperature will have dropped when you added the chicken, which is ok. Focus on keeping the temperature steady around 250F for the frying process. You will need to adjust the flame occasionally to keep the temperature steady.
Let the chicken fry for 12 minutes at 250F. Then gently turn the chicken over and fry for an additional 1o minutes on the other side, again maintaining the 250F temperature.
Remove the chicken to your prepared drip rack and let rest in the oven while you repeat the frying process with the remaining chicken. Before serving, be sure all of the chicken pieces have had a chance to rest in the oven for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the chicken to crisp up and for your guests to avoid possible burns.
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