The successful accomplishment of making Mama’s fried chicken requires “hands on” experimentation as she never measured anything in a scientific manner. She went by “feeling” the consistency of the batter that was on her chicken before putting it in the frying pan, which always had enough oil, usually peanut oil, to cover the chicken. She always recommended using small chickens that weighed around 2 ½ lbs. Thus, the chicken was young and tender and the pieces would cook uniformly—and done. I learned how to cut up a chicken by watching Mama. She would buy 2 chickens for Sunday dinner (lunch, for you non-southerners) and we never knew how many people would be sharing dinner with us. (We had a family of ten—my father’s sister lived with us, so there was Mama and Daddy, Aunt Emma, and us seven children. During WW II, we always had missionaries, soldiers from Fort Rucker (then called, “Camp” Rucker), Army Air Corp cadets from Napier Field, and/or family cousins, who lived out in the “country”, come home with us after Sunday School. With chicken, we would have potato salad, green English peas, and Banana Pudding (for dessert) made in a pan the size of a “Dutch oven”—about a 5 quart pan. Often more than 20 people! This was the norm for Sunday’s all my growing-years.
I have often pondered on this tradition as I have raised a family. I have been amazed that we always had plenty to eat, and even had leftovers when feeding so many people with, what I would consider today, to be so little. I have concluded that in our home, we experienced an on-going miracle of the “loaves and fishes”. I am so thankful for having such wonderful parents who were always so kind and generous to so many. I know that they will be numbered with those “who did it unto the least of these my brethren” and, therefore, did it unto the Savior.
Now for the Fried Chicken.
Use a heavy chicken frying pan that will tolerate high heat without warping, and will retain the heat. Mama used to use an iron skillet, but she switched to using a heavy aluminum pan later. Use an oil that will tolerate a high temperature without burning, like peanut oil. Put enough oil in the pan to go to the top of the chicken pieces, about 1 ¼ inches. Do not get the oil too hot, or it will brown the chicken on the outside and the inside of the chicken will not be done. But, if it is not hot enough, the chicken will soak up the oil and then you will have greasy chicken! (This is one of the reasons frying chicken requires experimenting.)
Take a small fryer, no more than 2 ½ pounds, and cut it up into frying pieces. Believe me, the chicken-fried flavor comes from the chicken pieces frying in the hot oil.
Mama would take a can of evaporated milk and pour some of it over the cut up chicken. (Nowadays, I remove the skin from my chicken before putting milk on it.) Salt and pepper your chicken. Now that the chicken is wet with the milk and is flavored, Mama would take some self-rising flour and put it by handfuls on the chicken, mixing it around until the flour became a stiff batter on the chicken pieces. This is the part that comes by experience. Sometimes, one has to add a little more milk, or flour until it looks and feels “right”.
I recommend testing the hot oil to see if it is the right temperature before putting a piece of chicken in. You can put a small piece of the batter in the hot oil. If it browns quickly, you know your oil is too hot. I usually fry chicken on med-high, but it depends on the stove. It usually takes about 20 minutes to fry a pan of chicken—turning it one time. If your chicken is large—3 pounds or more, you will need to put a lid on the pan so it will cook the chicken to the bone before it gets too brown—this will necessitate a lower temperature, too.
The goal is to have crispy, not greasy, fried chicken that is done—and tasty.
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