I saw this the other day on Cook's Country. It's called Nashville Hot Chicken. My original intent was to deep fry the thighs as the recipe states and smoke the legs.
There is something abut deep frying in the dark, misting rain, outside and a few barley pops that trashed that idea.
So I fired up the FEC-100, set it to 325, stuck the Amazen Tube Smoker in and let er rip.
One hour and twenty minutes later I was eating some of the best chicken that I have tasted in a long time. Now I wonder what the real recipe tastes like.
In the brine for 2 hours.
Knocked the spiders off the leg holder and washed it. Patted all the pieces dry and hit em with Big Ron's Hint Of Houston, both under and on the skin. In the cooker. I've tried to get this pic to rotate, so I'll just stick with my food safe Super Glue. :lol:
I didn't get any pics of the finish last night, I was hungry and it was 10 o'clock.
Here they are today out of the fridge and cold. Ya know I think they taste better cold.
Here's the original Cook's Country Recipe. I just used the brine part of it.
Ingredients
BRINE
2 quarts water
1/2 cup hot sauce
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 (3 1/2-to 4-pound) whole chicken, quartered (see note)
COATING
3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ancho/cayenne/chipotle pepper* (medium=2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
1. BRINE CHICKEN Whisk water, hot sauce, salt, and sugar in large bowl until salt and sugar dissolve. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
2. BLOOM SPICES Heat 3 tablespoons oil in small saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add cayenne, paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, garlic powder, and sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to small bowl.
3. DREDGE Remove chicken from refrigerator and pour off brine. Combine flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl. Dredge chicken pieces 2 at a time in flour mixture. Shake excess flour from chicken and transfer to wire rack. (Do not discard seasoned flour.)
4. FRY AND BRUSH Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat remaining oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Return chicken pieces to flour mixture and turn to coat. Fry half of chicken, adjusting burner as necessary to maintain oil temperature between 300 and 325 degrees, until deep golden brown and white meat registers 160 degrees (175 degrees for dark meat), 20 to 25 minutes. Drain chicken on clean wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and place in oven. Bring oil back to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining chicken. Stir spicy oil mixture to recombine and brush over both sides of chicken. Serve on white bread with pickles.
*Building a Bonfire
Most recipes that call for fiery cayenne pepper add a pinch, or maybe 1/8 teaspoon, or 1/4 teaspoon at the very most. Not Nashville Hot Fried Chicken. Our "Hot" recipe calls for a full tablespoon; the "Extra-Hot" demands a mouth-searing 3 1/2 tablespoons for authentic heat.
Thanks for lookin'. Y'all gotta give this a try.
