Page 110 - Barbecue Chicken Made Easy

There are numerous options for preparing the meat. We always start with a dry brine although soaking in pickle juice (something that is rumored to be the secret to Chick-fil-A’s fried chicken) imparts both the salt and flavor. When you finish that jar of dills (not sweet pickles), save the brine! If the pickle jar is big enough, you can put the chicken in it, put on the lid, and stick it back in the fridge.
A lot of recipes have you mix pepper and seasonings in with the flour and then roll the meat around in it, but that is not a measured way to flavor. We prefer to sprinkle our rub on the meat first.
As for the crust, simplest is one of our favorites: Moisten your hands, pat the surface of the meat to moisten it, roll the meat in all- purpose flour, and fry. It’s surprisingly good.
For a thicker crunch, dunk in a batter. Or roll in flour, then in beaten egg and then in, your choice of:
More flour
Flour, then more egg, and then a third coat of flour Flour and cornstarch blend
Other starches like potato flour
Bread crumbs
Panko
Crumbled cornflakes
They all work! For more about the subject and for our fried chicken recipes, read Meathead’s background article on frying here.
No resting
Do not tent chicken with foil when it is finished cooking because the steam trapped under the foil softens the skin. Resting does not