Vaughn Discovers the Secrets to Making the Best Fried Chicken… Ever? | Cooking the Comments

Ooh this is intense who knew that making 14 pieces of fried chicken would be so Tough hey everybody my name is vaugh and I'm here at the New York Times cooking Studio to make fried Chicken this is cooking the comments This is a show where I take one of the New York Times most popular tried and True recipes I will cook it once through EX exactly as it's intended and then I'll look at the comments of things that You all have suggested oh oh my and I Will amend that recipe based on your Suggestions then I take all of my Learnings and then I channel that energy Into my ultimate recipe my perfect Recipe for fried chicken that was really Good really Good original recipe but not KFC Sam Sifon Sam is not just like our boss but He's like a boss is boss boss is boss This is a recipe that is very simple is Quite literally just submerging the Chicken in a buttermilk brine for at Least 1 hour and up to 24 hours and then You dredge the chicken in a mixture of Flour salt and pepper and then you fry It and that is like at its core the Essence of like really great Fried Chicken the next step is to just brine These it's about about 3 to 4 cups of Buttermilk for your around 3 lbs of Chicken grinding your chicken flavors it Basically from the inside out it's also

Going to tenderize it now I'm adding 2 Tablespoons of Salt a little bit of pepper right or There's no pepper in this oh yeah Healthy grind me at the middle school Dance at my like Episcopal School Healthy grind just kidding I wasn't Grinding with anybody So now all I'm going to do is I'm going To put the chicken parts in there we Have a swap prepared for this and what I'm going to do is I'm going to fry the Swap off that's been actually brining For about 24 hours and then I'm going to Fry this off and show everybody the Difference taste the difference but also You might see a visual difference in in Kind of what the brine does to the Chicken after 1 hour versus 24 hours all Right cover it Tightly and into the fridge we go the Chicken that we set up yesterday I have So what I'm going to do is I'm going to Heat up my oil I'm using a dutch oven Here something with high sides is going To be your safest bet and something that Has a lid a tight fitting lid is key for This particular recipe because once you Put the chicken in there you cover it That's probably about 2ish Ines maybe an Inch and a half of Oil I want to heat this to about 350° I've got um a double Brown pap paper bag Here and I just think that that is such

A a fun way to make fried chicken it Kind of reminds me of like something my Nanny would do in the kitchen on a Sunday just about a tablespoon of salt Black pepper I'm just going [Applause] To the buttermilk here is what the flour Is going to kind of glom on to creating That Crust just going lay that in [Music] [Applause] There no Why so I'm going to shake off some of The excess flour Hanging On by a Thread I thought I could catch it midair Oh Lord all right well all righty put The thigh skin side Down and I'm going to put the lid on It because you're adding cold chicken to The oil the lid is there for mostly Temperature management you only cook it Covered for about 5 to 15 minutes and I Think that's to make sure that all that Heat doesn't actually Escape when you First drop the chicken in there and then After 5 to 15 minutes you're going to Take the lid off so that that steam can Escape and I think you get more of a Crunchier crust a more burnished golden Look so my chicken's been going for About 5 minutes and I am going to check It kind of open it like that because I Don't want to get burned by the steam

The crust has definitely adhered to the Chicken nicely which something we're Looking for I'm going to turn my oil up Though I can already tell it's like a Little cold and I'm going to stick my Thermometer back in there now is a good Time for me to go ahead and turn the Chicken because that crust is already ADH here just turn my chicken again Because I'm making sure that not one Side gets too dark you're looking for The visual indicators rather than the Like temperature indicators I'm pretty Positive that this will be at the Temperature that I want it to be at Sam In the recipe says that color is just as If not more important than time here Making sure that your chicken has this Really gorgeous golden brown color That's going to give you as much of an Indicator of when it's done especially If you've maintained a good temperature On your oil throughout once it's out of The hot oil you do want to hit it with a Little bit of salt we have salt in here We had salt in the brine but even so Like you want to make sure that it is Nice and salty Fried Chicken because That is what makes it so good so I just Fried the 2 4our brine Fried Chicken While my oil is still hot I want to go Ahead and Fry off the 1hour brine just To be able to have that comparison Because I feel like it's going to be

Important to be able to really convey Like the difference between the two Shake off a little bit of the [Music] Excess you can see there that that looks Really nice and golden brown I am Noticing a little bit more separation From the actual meat you can kind of see That the the crust is separated from the Meat itself I'm going to sprinkle this With a little bit of Salt Fried Chicken's like one of my Favorite foods I would say it is my Favorite food so this is a treat to be Able to spend the next two days making Myself Absolutely sick eating fried chicken This is my overnight brind Fried Chicken I'm going to dive In oh my God there is so much flavor in that that Goes beyond just the crust the brine Overnight definitely was able to like Penetrate the inside of the chicken and Really flavor it from the inside out m This is the blank canvas to then drizzle Your hot honey on dip it in ranch or Whatever you want to do it's so good now This is the 1hour Brine the 1hour brine is still quite Flavorful that's why the recipe Indicates that at least 1 hour will do The trick my chicken even though it's Dark meat doesn't seem as tender as the

24hour because this one had the Buttermilk to really tenderize it over That 24-hour period of time whereas this One just had an hour in the Brine and it Doesn't seem as juicy also I'm getting a Lot of separation from the skin I think That the buttermilk just didn't have Enough time to like truly penetrate the Chicken enough to then coat it in the Way that's like this one was a thicker Coating of Buttermilk when I took it out Of the buttermilk versus this one was Quite thin the chicken and the Buttermilk had almost become one you Know they had almost married together For something that's so simple it came Out so good and I'm like how am I going To really improve upon this I'm excited To kind of dive into the comments to see If people have any different techniques Methods flavors that they really like in Their Fried Chicken to then be able to Help better inform [Music] Me I love when recipes have a comment Section that is just really vibrant with People adding their own personal spins On things I'm going to go through the Comment section and I'm going to read And pull some out that I really like and Then I think that's going to inform some Of my tests that I'm going to do oh Here's some fun ones Rebecca says this Recipe made my children cheer and hug me

If you want your children to love you Make fried chicken love fried chicken This is the best easiest recipe yet Great tip on using Color to determine The dness I agree bet Irene says serve It with biscuits because of course You've made biscuits unless you've made Mashed potatoes or both if it's winter And you need a heavy meal Shayla M adds Sliced onion rings and rosemary branches To the buttermilk marinade and dredgers And flour along with the chicken adds a Bit of pickle juice to the buttermilk Soak and a couple teaspoons of corn Starch to the flour mixture to help Crispness this is something I've been Thinking about I definitely think that Adding some corn starch to The Dredge It's a technique that you see in some Other types of Cuisines when they make Fried chicken as well and I think that That is something that would really Enhance that Airy crispness chili powder Salt and pepper interesting onion powder Garlic Cayenne I'm seeing a lot of People adding some spices which is Something I definitely think I want to Kind of go in that realm Dan says to use White lily self-rising Flour which is interesting I've been Thinking about the addition of like a a Chemical leaver which self-rising flour Has replacing 25% of the butter mocha Sour cream or yogurt and add ranch

Dressing mix or Creo SP spices Interesting I wonder if we should like Brine one completely in ranch I'm Intrigued Dan you really got the wheels Turnning there Christopher Foley oh says I was taught by a southern gentleman to Add lime juice and a pinch of cayenne to The brine I like that I think that's Nice I think lime juice will enhance That acidity will it make it too acidic I don't know but pickle juice is Something that I'm I'm also interested In feta brine What trainer Bill you're crazy okay Adding Tabasco yum Louisiana hot sauce Love uh some ginger oh drizzle the Pieces with honey when it was still hot Yeah I mean I'm all for it Sam says that In the top note I think that's a great Way to Eat Fried Chicken I've seen a lot Of really good comments I've seen a Couple that threw me for a loop but I Definitely want to try different types Of brinds and different types of dredges Basically the two things that you can do Differently to fry chicken to the Drawing Board I'm going to go ahead and set up My brins just to kind of get those out Of the way that way when I return Tomorrow morning they'll already be kind Of like set up for me and I'll be ready To fry and see how they do I'm going to Start by doing a dry brine which is

Basically just sprinkling some salt onto My chicken my chicken that's patted dry In the interest of keeping this Consistent I I'm going to do thighs and Legs but my final recipe will call for The whole chicken I'm going to just Sprinkle it pretty evenly with some salt On both sides of the chicken and just Let it sit uncovered in the refrigerator Overnight I think I'm going to do my wet Brine next so now I'm going to basically Just make like a salt solution it's Basically a solution of a tablespoon of Salt per cup of water you see it's Pretty cloudy and that's what you want You want a pretty high concentration of Salt there Kind of submerge my chicken parts all Right one brine down oh I think I'm Going to go Ranch I'm feeling excited about the Ranch I don't know why it just seems so Like like I don't know it seems like Something that my mom would like I would Come home from school and like she'd be Like I saw this on the Food Network Today smells Ranchy I feel like I need to maybe thin It out with a little bit of Buttermilk it's heavy too all right next I'm going to do pickle juice so it's Just two cups submerge my chicken in There now I'm going to do the cola brine Which is just two cups of

Cola garlic a little bit of salt some Hot sauce Oh my God I'm going to stick a couple Springs Of time in there and now for the Chicken my last brine that I'm going to Set up is going to be just the same Buttermilk brine but with a little bit Of what one commenter said that a Southern gentleman told him to put some Lime juice on a pinch of gu in there so I'm going to do that I mean I definitely Think that a brine set up with some Spices is going to be probably the way That I go but we'll try this for now Just to see what that lime juice kind of Gives us you Know buttermilk probably about the juice Of a lime pinch of Cayenne and this will be my last Brine Fun I set up my brinds I'm going to put These in the fridge to brine overnight Now I'm going to start on my dredges Which the dredging I can just dredge Then Fry since I already have that buttermilk Brind chicken that's been set up Overnight I can just go ahead and test That with the different dredges today I'm going to start with my cornstarch a Couple commenters say that they want to Do a one toone swap I'm thinking that's Still maybe a little too much corn

Starch let's try one cup of flour this Is going to be a 50/50 50 ratio if I use Too little I can't tell a difference you Know what I mean So you know what actually I am going to Set up a test with a little bit less I'll do 15050 and then I'll do 1 7525 Flipping the script not really flipping The script adding one more test Yeah salt in there few turns of Pepper great so there is my 50/50 corn Starch now I'm going to set up a 7 25 Corn starch I've been thinking a little Bit more I feel like in order for me to Get kind of a more accurate picture of What it's like adding all of these Different things in there I'm going to Need to do even one more test with corn Starch and leaver I want to do one just To see what it's like when I just add Baking powder baking soda to the flour And then one with the corn starch also In there in the name of science now I'm Going to do a test with flour and a Little bit of baking powder I'm going to Do baking powder because baking powder Is in its property baking soda with Something else added to it so I think It's Fine now I'm going to do a mixture of Flour corn starch and baking Powder and now my last one is is going To be allp purpose flour with paprika Garlic powder Cayenne salt pepper

Oregano and then I'm going to do some Onion powder too mix this Up got some dredging to do now I'm going To just do a thigh purr I'm going to Start with my Cornstarch so I've got a corn starchy Less corn starchy and then I'm going to Go with bacing powdery corny powdery There we go and then I'm going to go With spicy All right now let's fry okay corn starch Less corn starch baking powder skinside Down lid on for 5 Minutes W all right I'm going to give Her a little flp and these are crispy This one is going faster I'm intrigued By that okay I might need to pull the Baking because she looks Good that's corn Mhm here's less corn hit these a little Salt I'm going to let them cool a little Bit and hopefully in that time my other Ones will have cooked and then we can Taste them all at the same time my Mixure of corn starch and baking powder This one is my SP [Music] Su pull in yeah pull In it a little salt this looks so good Just by looking at it it's really Interesting the one toone corn starch With AP flour looks very bubbly like the Surface is a little bit rougher kind of Hearkens like a carag a little bit now

Less cornstarch looks really nice I can Tell that that's very crispy the baking Powder one is gorgeous this one took on Color faster the cornstarch and baking Powder one this one kind of reminds me Of the look of like my grandma's fried Chicken or like a chicken fried steak or Something like that the spicy one just Looks wonderful and smells great I'm Going to start with the cornstarch one To one Well my crust has a little bit of gaap It isn't adhering I'm going to go with Less Corn m that like Earth shattering crust But it's more cohesive with the chicken The chicken's cooked really well it's Like very juicy because of the gluten Structure in the flour there's a little Bit more structure overall in the crust Which is nice and I think that's Probably why it adheres more to the Actual chicken itself this is the one With baking Powder M Wow this she's crispy this one's very Similar to the original this is corn Plus baking Powder I really like how that turned out It's got that Lightness from the corn starch and it's Adhered well to the skin it's still very One there's definitely a difference

Between this one and these two but these Two I'm trying to decipher like really What is the difference my last one is Going to be the one with the spices Added to it the original kind of like Consistency of the dredge but with Spices yeah I definitely want to add Some spices to it I just didn't add enough honestly in Order to get the most use out of a spice Mix putting it in both the Brine and the Dredge and maybe even dusting a little On top is kind of like really going to Reinforce those flavors in it I've got a Really good start I'm excited because There is definitely a difference in These and it's just which direction do I Want to go in I'm excited to kind of go Home and think about this a little bit More with the coating and really excited To try the dredges tomorrow once those Have properly brined overnight and I'll See you back here [Music] Tomorrow so I'm going to just do the Basic dredge that is in the standard Sam Recipe so here I just have that already Mixed together so I'm going to work in Batches with my six different [Music] Brins Colonel Sanders is [Music] Quaking off off be gone youall want to Get some beauty shots of these

[Music] Wow I feel like I've been frying for Days I'm going to start with the dry Brine this one came out looking really Good really crispy I love the color on It super Even oh my this was dry brining so it Was just salt on the chicken like no Other liquid like buttermilk or anything Like that It really Drew out a lot of that Moisture creating for a really crispy Skin texture which is super nice but it Also is very flavorful on the inside Love that love that all right this is The wet Brine oh my very Juicy very flavorful feel like it's not That different from the dry brind one It's really good though Cola honestly it's pretty good it has Like a sweet to it which obviously cuz It was in like 900 G with sugar for 18 Hours but I like the sweetness how it Offsets that spiciness this one is Pickle Brine oh she pickly if I were eating a Fried chicken sandwich with pickles on It it'd be perfect as Standalone Fried Chicken not sure if it's for me okay Spicy Lime didn't really do much I'm not Getting any kick even on like the back End I mean it's still very good all

Right Ranch oh that's good that's really good It just kind of has this oniony dried Spice kind of thing going on I do like That now let's go with the um the OG I mean it's really good wow I like This Ranch One I really was like Ranch I think it's Just cuz it's Like Ranch but wow y'all I think I might Have to do a ranch fried chicken I think That sounds really good my expectations Are totally subverted I like Ranch I Like Ranch I like Ranch I like Ranch oh it feels good out there oh wow Oh my god I think I'm going to do Buttermilk ranch fried chicken sounds Fun has a nice ring to it it's like Ranch fried chicken Harkins being on a Ranch Harkin Cowboy Carter act two Cowboy vibes okay let's do It okay well now I really am sweating Because I've Got my dad here Um the man who could make or break me Sam sifton hi Hi really my son I'm but like you see The resemblance obviously but it could Be it could be wow Fried Chicken your Recipe which honestly I will say like You have been here for a couple minutes And I was trying to hold my tongue cuz I

Was like Sam it's such a great recipe Yeah but you changed It well yeah that's kind of like the Point you know if it weren't the point Of this whole thing I probably wouldn't Have changed it because I do feel like It's such a great Blank Slate recipe Like it's the proper way to make fried Chicken and then I think once you know How to do that you can kind of take the Flavorings wherever you want Fried Chicken is a canvas yes exactly and That's basically all I did okay so when You were working on your original recipe Kind of take me through that process I Started frying chicken weirdly enough in Raob Beach Delaware cooking for the Mother of a close friend of of mine who Believed that I knew how to fry chicken When when I didn't I knew I wanted a Brine and I knew I figured buttermilk Would be good yeah like i' I'd seen Buttermilk fried chicken on menus what Could go wrong so I marinated in Buttermilk I I knew I wanted to to Season my dredging flour and I think When I started out I used Old Bay Because I was down in rith that's common For crabs and the like um and then I Came to the putting the top on entirely On my own it just seemed to me maybe I'd Been at a fast food place that had a Pressure fryer or something but I Thought I'm really going to try and lock

This in and it worked it's almost like It's in a convection oven frying so that Heat is going hitting the top of the Dutch oven then coming back back back I've got a couple more things pieces to Fry should I go ahead and get it going Let's get it going all right I'll go Into that one you go I go into this one There we go Go you're really rolling I am rolling There I'm a little nervous to cover it But I think it'll be fine I think you're Going to be okay I'm going to come up Just a little bit to get my roll going And then pop this guy on top you rolling Dude I'm rolling deep I'm going to just Freshen up for a second and I'll come Back and um you know we can eat it while It's hot okay great I'm going to keep an Eye on this you go do what you got to do Oh my good Goodness here we go folks this is like Medieval Times level production you're Going to get dinner and a show I'm Definitely getting a show that looks Good yeah it's getting there it's Getting there you know when I Decided on my flavor for the day I went Home and actually got my hat my boots And the shirt uhhuh because our secret Flavor in is ranch oh my goodness and to Celebrate Ranch I got us some ranch Water this is a hell of an episode of Yellowstone I'll tell you

That cheers do you rip hell yeah brother I don't think you can say hell yeah Brother than drink out of a straw like This Um are we going to make Gravy you can if you want this oil that We've got here just a little bit of that To make a rue and then hit it with cream Or whatever a lot of black pepper all of A sudden You've taken picnic food and made it sit Down food that's true it's going to take No time at all let's do It so I did about a lle full of our what You call it I'll do a l full of call I'm Going to call it chicken fat but it's Not of course it's chicken fry Theory It's like pretty [Music] Similar so I'm whisking to get those Lumps out yeah it's almost like we're Making a r but not R not I'm liking how This looks All those lumps are gone it's bubbling Furiously you said milk first then Butter I think milk then buttermilk yeah Cuz I thinkk is so yeah we can it's it's I don't want to say chunky cuz it's not Chunky it's Gloppy Nice and again whisking whisking Whisking let's get that buttermilk in There so we don't lose the Tangy but We're definitely going to need more

Liquid and I suspect we're going to want To really season this up oh yeah more Milk serve a crowd this way do you think That we've lost a little bit of that Like resourcefulness in cooking of like Using your leftover fry oil or your your Leftover hope we haven't I I think you Know using the stuff that you have Saving you know a brace liquid to make Something else with I think that's a Really good thing to do you want to Taste it yeah I do All right you've got the chicken flavor In there you need some salt and black Pepper nice I would call this pepper Gravy you know yeah it's got to be Pepper gravy yeah exactly yeah look at That oh that looks so good with the Little bits from the oil those chickeny Bits and then having that pepper in There you see this oh that fell off of Something look what I'm doing oh you dog You That's really good excellent that's Really good perfect Okay so we've got Gravy we should plate it up and eat Let's do it should we hit a leg first so We can cheers oh so we can do this yeah Ding Ding that was really good really good I Have been eating fried chicken for the Last you know 36 hours uh-huh this is The Pinnacle get a little of that um Gravy on it just oh yeah for and

Gigs I I didn't we were allowed to say That you're not but we'll bleep It what are we doing now you're ranch We're going Ranch that's interesting it's R Ranch Those of us who have lived the chicken Tenders experience the ranch dip comes In a lot yeah but and the ranch is on The outside yeah here the ranches on the Inside Ranch I didn't want to like the Ranch I felt like I was like is this a Gimmick but just adding that little Packet in there it brings it something Different and if you don't want to add It don't add it buttermilk ranch fried Chicken yeah kind of cool yeah you know A little different little different just Like me cheers to you man cheers oh s i We finally got you in a video yeah very Good put her there pal thank you hell Yeah brother all right we'll finish up This Ranch Water and go Mount up can I Ask you one question onf of the viewers Are these recipes anywhere conveniently Available oh my God Sam thank you for Asking if you want to find this recipe Your recipe your recipe my recipe or a Whole host of other fried chicken Recipes thousands and thousands of other Re recipes more every day more every day Literally every day where would you go You would go to New York Times cooking That's cooking. nytimes.com [Music]

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