From Southern Living Annual Recipes 2000:

3 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
1 – 2 & 1/2 pound fryer chicken, cut up
1 teaspoon salt
1 taspoon pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup bacon drippings

Combine water and salt in a large bowl; add chicken. Cover and chill for 8 hours. Drain chicken and rinse with cold water; pat dry.

Combine salt and pepper; sprinkle half of mixture over chicken.

Combine remaining salt-and-pepper mixture with flour in a zip-top bag. Place 2 pieces of chicken in the bag, seal and shake to coat. Remove chicken to a plate and repeat until all pieces are coated.

Combine oil and bacon drippings in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet; heat to 360 degrees F. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, skin side down. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for 9 minutes.

Turn chicken pieces, cover and cook for 6 minutes. Uncover and cook for 5 to 9 minutes, turning pieces during the last 3 minutes for even browning if necessary. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

For best results, keep the oil temperature between 300 and 325 degreees F. Substitute 2 cups buttermilk for the saltwater solution, if desired. Serves 4.

Notes:
If this looks a little labor intensive to you, I’m not going to kid ya… it is. My advice – because these are WELL worth the effort – is to simply start cooking an hour ahead. Ours were cooking while we chatted and had yummy Saturday afternoon drinks. Then when Mecandes had to use the telephone, I employed the timer on the microwave to keep track of the minutes and got the kitchen and dishes all cleaned up before supper.

I’d never fried bone-in chicken pieces before. Always before I’d slice up some boneless chicken and fry them in what I now realize was probably way too much oil. This recipe doesn’t take near so much, so is nicer on the budget. Instead of a whole chicken, I opted for a value pack full of drumsticks to make them easier for little fingers to eat. Oh, and I didn’t have time for the saltwater solution, but the chicken was fresh so it didn’t suffer much in toughness.

We have these with yogurt scones and a green salad. Simple perfect food.

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