Outdoor Fried Chicken for a Crowd
- 8 pounds (about 21) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- About 1 quart buttermilk
- 3/4 cup loosely packed rubbed sage leaves
- 1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 13 cup freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- 3 strips thick-cut bacon
- Put thighs in a large roasting pan or other flat pan that will hold them all in a single layer.
- Add buttermilk to cover, cover pan tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24, turning once or twice.
- Heat oven to 250 degrees.
- Combine sage, Old Bay, salt and pepper; mix well.
- Remove thighs from buttermilk, drain, then sprinkle on both sides with spice mix, rubbing lightly to make sure it adheres.
- Put flour and baking powder in a big paper bag and shake to mix.
- Working in batches, add about a third of the thighs and shake to coat with flour mixture; remove thighs from bag and repeat with next 2 batches.
- Put vegetable oil and bacon in a 20-inch skillet.
- Set skillet over high flame; keep an eye on the thermometer because you want to be ready to fry when oil hits about 370 degrees.
- When oil is up to heat, remove bacon and drain it to eat later.
- Shake excess flour off 1 thigh and add thigh to oil; there should be intense bubbling.
- Shake excess flour off half the remaining thighs and add them to pan, skin side down; oil should come about halfway up sides of thighs.
- Cook until golden brown on the side facing down, about 7 to 9 minutes.
- Flip over and cook until golden brown on the second side, another 5 to 7 minutes.
- Remove and drain on a paper towel.
- Allow oil to come back up to 370 degrees and repeat with remaining thighs.
- They may take 1 to 2 minutes less per side to brown.
- Put browned thighs in a roasting pan or a large sheet pan and cook in oven until cooked through with no trace of pink, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve warm, or wait up to 2 hours and serve at room temperature.
chicken, buttermilk, sage, bay seasoning, kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, flour, baking powder, vegetable oil, bacon
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015768 (may not work)