On this episode of The Fried Chicken Show!, Danny Grant—chef of the buzzy Chicago restaurant Etta—pulls out the stops to demonstrate his ambitious take on fried chicken, which involves brining in buttermilk, frying in beef tallow, a duo of finishing sauces.
If there was one takeaway for the next time you fry chicken at home, try letting the pieces sit in the flour dredge for an hour at room temperature before frying. The other day, I tried Grant’s technique as illustrated in this video, and was supremely pleased with the results—the seasoned flour was hydrated in such a way it turned the coating into a semi-wet batter, resulting in a crunchier exterior. I combined this technique with chef Ina Pinkney’s tip from last week, in which she cooked the chicken at a lower 280 degrees Fahrenheit, and the fried chicken yielded was amongst the best I’ve made at home.