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Sunday fried chicken was for Sunday. On a weeknight my mother made oven-fried chicken, and my father asked for it by name. It came out of the oven crisper than most people’s fried chicken, with a thick craggy golden coat and juicy meat underneath, and she never had to stand over a skillet of spitting grease to get it. The kitchen did not smell of a fryer for three days afterward, either, which she liked best of all.
The trick is the pan. She put butter in a big metal pan and set it in the oven while it heated, so the butter was melted and sizzling before the chicken went in. The pieces went in skin side down, right into the hot butter, not touching each other. Then she left them alone for 30 minutes, no peeking and no poking, until the bottoms were deep brown and crisp. Only then did she turn each piece over, once, and bake it 15 to 20 minutes more until the second side matched the first. That one turn, at that moment, is what makes it work.
Why this oven-fried chicken works
- Buttermilk soak. Buttermilk seasons and tenderizes the chicken and gives the flour something to cling to.
- Double dip. Flour, buttermilk, flour again builds a thick shaggy coat that crisps like fried chicken.
- A rest before baking. Letting the floured pieces sit turns the coat pasty so it holds on in the pan.
- Hot butter, skin side down. The sizzling butter fries the skin side from the first second, the way oil does in a skillet.
- One turn at 30 minutes. Turned too early, the crust sticks and tears; turned once when it is deep brown, it releases clean and stays whole.
Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6, about 3 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the chicken
- 3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces: thighs, drumsticks and split breasts (1.6kg)
- 2 cups buttermilk (480ml)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, for the buttermilk
For the coating
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 2 teaspoons fine salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
For the pan
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Cut large breasts in half across so every piece is about the same size and cooks in the same time. A heavy metal baking pan, 10x15 or a half sheet pan with sides, browns better than glass.
How to make oven-fried chicken
- Stir the 1 teaspoon salt into the buttermilk in a large bowl. Add the chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.
- Mix the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder in a large paper sack or a wide shallow dish.
- Lift each piece from the buttermilk, let it drip, and shake or roll it in the flour until coated. Dip it back in the buttermilk, then back in the flour, pressing so the coat is thick and shaggy. Set the pieces on a wire rack.
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees (220°C). Put the butter and oil in the baking pan and set it in the oven while it heats, about 10 minutes, until the butter is melted and sizzling. Let the floured chicken rest on the rack all this time.
- Take the hot pan out and lay the chicken in skin side down, in a single layer, the pieces not touching.
- Bake for 30 minutes without opening the oven or moving the chicken. The bottoms should be deep golden brown and crisp.
- Turn each piece over once with tongs, gently, so the crust stays on. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the second side is golden and crisp and the meat reads 175 degrees at the thickest part of a thigh and 165 degrees in a breast.
- Lift the pieces onto a rack for 5 minutes before serving so the crust stays crisp underneath.
Tips that make the difference
- Do not crowd the pan. Pieces touching each other steam instead of crisping; use two pans if you need to.
- If a piece sticks when you go to turn it at 30 minutes, give it 5 more minutes. A properly browned crust lets go by itself.
- Drumsticks and thighs are the most forgiving; breasts cook faster, so check them first.
- Spoon any loose browned crumbs from the pan over the chicken when you serve it.
Variations
- Spicy. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne to the flour and a few dashes of hot sauce to the buttermilk.
- Cornflake crust. Replace half the flour on the second dip with crushed unsweetened cornflakes for an extra crunchy coat.
- Boneless. Use boneless thighs, bake 20 minutes, turn, and bake 10 to 12 minutes more.
- No buttermilk. Stir 1 tablespoon lemon juice into 2 cups milk and let it sit 10 minutes before using.
Storage and make-ahead
Refrigerate leftover chicken, covered, for up to 3 days. It is very good cold, the way my father liked it the next day.
To reheat and recrisp, lay the pieces on a rack over a sheet pan and warm them in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
The chicken can soak in the buttermilk overnight, so the coating and baking are all that is left at suppertime.
Frequently asked questions
When do I turn oven-fried chicken?
Once, after 30 minutes skin side down, when the bottoms are deep brown and crisp and the pieces release from the pan. Then bake 15 to 20 minutes more on the second side.
Why did my coating fall off?
The chicken was turned too early, or it went into the pan without resting. Let the floured pieces rest on a rack while the oven heats, and wait the full 30 minutes before turning.
Why does the chicken start skin side down?
The skin side sits in the sizzling butter first, so it fries and crisps the way it would in a skillet, and its fat renders out.
Is oven-fried chicken as crisp as fried?
Done this way, in hot butter in a hot oven with a double coat, it is crisper than a lot of fried chicken, and much less trouble.
Hot butter, skin side down, and one turn at the right moment. My father asked for it by name, and yours will too.
Old-Fashioned Oven-Fried Chicken (Skin Side Down in Hot Butter)
Southern oven-fried chicken: buttermilk-soaked pieces double-dipped in seasoned flour, laid skin side down in sizzling melted butter at 425 degrees, baked 30 minutes, turned once, then baked 15 to 20 minutes more until crisp.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces: thighs, drumsticks and split breasts
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, for the buttermilk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons fine salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Stir the 1 teaspoon salt into the buttermilk in a large bowl. Add the chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.
- Mix the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder in a large paper sack or a wide shallow dish.
- Lift each piece from the buttermilk, let it drip, and shake or roll it in the flour until coated. Dip it back in the buttermilk, then back in the flour, pressing so the coat is thick and shaggy. Set the pieces on a wire rack.
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees (220°C). Put the butter and oil in the baking pan and set it in the oven while it heats, about 10 minutes, until the butter is melted and sizzling. Let the floured chicken rest on the rack all this time.
- Take the hot pan out and lay the chicken in skin side down, in a single layer, the pieces not touching.
- Bake for 30 minutes without opening the oven or moving the chicken. The bottoms should be deep golden brown and crisp.
- Turn each piece over once with tongs, gently, so the crust stays on. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the second side is golden and crisp and the meat reads 175 degrees at the thickest part of a thigh and 165 degrees in a breast.
- Lift the pieces onto a rack for 5 minutes before serving so the crust stays crisp underneath.
