FOR THE BRINE 6 cups Ice - 1/2 cup Sea Salt - 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar - 1/3 cup Coarse Ground Black Pepper - 4 tablespoons Onion Powder - 4 tablespoons Garlic Powder - 3 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper - 3 tablespoons Paprika - 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning - 3 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 10 pieces. Mix all in a large bowl.
FOR THE HOT SPICE PASTE 1 1/2 cup Lard or Cisco [room temp] - 1/2 cup Bacon Grease [room temp but firm] - 3 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper - 1 tablespoons Coarse Black Pepper - 1 tablespoons Paprika - 3 tablespoons Granulated Garlic - 2 tablespoons Granulated Onion - 1 tablespoons Dried Minced Onion Mix all in a large bowl.
FOR THE HOT SPICE FLOUR DREDGE 2 - 1/2 cups AP Flour - 3 tablespoons Granulated Garlic - 3 tablespoons Granulated Onion - 1 tablespoons Creole Seasoning - 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt - 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder - 2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper - 2 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper - 1 tablespoon Paprika Mix all in a large bowl.
FOR THE HOT SPICE DUST 1 tablespoon Paprika - 1 tablespoon Cayenne - 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder - 1 tablespoon Onion Powder - 1/2 tablespoon Kosher Salt Mix all and place in shaker.
Use a high heat, Safflower, Corn, Canola or Vegetable Oil for frying chicken.
Detailed instructions
PREPARATION OF CHICKEN Prepare the Brine: In an extra large bowl, whisk salt, sugar and spices in 3 cups hot water until sea salt dissolves. After spices are dissolved, whisk in about 6 cups ice water. The brine should be iced cold [40° or slightly lower] before adding chicken. If not, chill brine in fridge until it is. Clean chicken pieces and dab dry.
Add chicken pieces to the iced cold brine and chill for at least 8 or up to 12 hours. Turn chicken intermittently and mix up brine as you do. MINIMUM TIMED BRINES [the minium amount you can brine for any noticeable effectiveness] 1 hour: Wings 2 hours: Drum Sticks 3 hours: Thigh Pieces
In another larger bowl, prepare the flour dredge by combining all ingredients listed and whisk well.
In a smaller bowl, combine the ingredients for the Hot Spice Paste. Have lard and bacon grease at room temperature or slightly heat them in microwave only enough to sufficiently mix your spices.
Remove chicken pieces from brine, pat dry with paper towels and coat chicken generously with your Hot Spice Paste mixture.
Place all coated chicken pieces in your Hot Spice Flour Dredge and press chicken down hard to seal the flour into your paste.
Reserve what's left of your remaining Hot Spice Flour Dredge mixture.
Let chicken rest in fridge, uncovered for at least a half hour for the flour dredge to fully adhere and your Hot Spice Paste and firm.
Pour 2+ inches room temperature, high heat frying oil into a large cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan with a cover or splatter guard.
As you pull your chicken from the plate you've had chilling in your fridge, some of the paste and flour may peel off the chicken. If so, re-attach the pieces to chicken by pressing firmly.
Place all chicken pieces back into Hot Spice Flour Dredge and press down once more to secure coating.
Heat oil to 325° on a deep-fat thermometer. Or you can test the heat of your oil by placing a dash of flour into the heated oil. If it sizzles and foams immediately, your oil is ready.
Extra Hot Paste [optional]
Drizzle chicken pieces with Ghost Pepper Sauce or sprinkle with Ghost Pepper Powdered Spice if you want extra spicy chicken pieces.
Carefully place chicken in hot oil, about 2 to 3 smaller pieces per batch or 1 large piece and 1 small. If you overload your pan, you'll cool off your oil and force it to re-heat. This mistake will produce oily, under-cooked chicken.
Cover pan with splatter guard and let smaller pieces fry for 3 to 5 on each side until golden brown. Extra large pieces will require a longer fry time. About 6 minutes on each side.
Watch your chicken closely and adjust heat to a lower setting if your chicken is browning too quickly. Flip your chicken pieces [only once] with tongs during the frying process to keep coating in place. Do not use any meat piercing tools like a fork or you'll loose your moisture.
CHECK FOR DONESS
Stick a knife in your chicken at the thickest part into the bone and wait a moment to see if any blood or pink fluid runs out. If it does, fry a bit longer as your chicken is not fully cooked.
Using tongs, transfer cooked chicken to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to catch any dripping oils. Or you can drain directly on paper towels.
Dust chicken with Hot Spice Dust on both sides immediately as it comes out of the fryer. Place chicken in a 250° oven if not serving immediately.
To serve Hot Chicken traditionally: Place a fried chicken piece on top of a slice of white bread. Using a toothpick, stick dill pickle chips into the top of chicken. Add real Ranch Dressing or Sour Cream with a packet of Ranch Dressing mixed in it to the side as a cooling agent.
Potato Salad or Cole Slaw are side dishes that pair nicely with Hot Chicken.
Another traditional method of serving Hot Chicken is to wet down your Hot Spice Dust with water and oil whereby making it an extra spicy, deep red, thin fluid. As chicken is pulled from the fryer, it is dipped in the spicy fluid just before serving. My version is a bit less messy.
Serve with additional bottles of hot sauce [such as Tabasco] on the side. Enjoy!
