Indiana Fried Chicken

May I humbly suggest a wire rack to let the oil drain off, instead of paper towels. Paper does absorb the oil, but then the chicken sits in the oil-saturated towel and the crust can lose some of that wonderful crunch.

This is exactly how I learned to fry chicken from my Grandma. Let me just say that I do not like canola oil. Certainly not for frying; it has an unpleasant smell when heated to the temp necessary for frying. Go for the lard or Crisco solid shortening in a iron skillet

Unlike the other comments I actually made this for dinner tonight. Yeah, I used a big pack of chicken thighs so everything cooks evenly. And sure, I used half lard and half canola. But bottom line? Delicious. There was much less splattering than usual with a cast iron skillet. Was it the lard? Dunno. Only advice? Don’t skimp on the salt or black pepper, and don’t try to get fancy with other spices. Enjoy it for what it is.

I grew up in Evansville, IN...this is perfect...someone asked fr a gravy recipe...couldn't be simpler. Remove all the oil from the pan, except about 2 Tablespoons; stir in 2 Tblspns of flour, brown lightly, then add in about 2 cups of milk, stirring with a whisk until thick and smooth. Salt, and lots of pepper to taste. We had this chicken and gravy every summer Sunday, along with fresh corn, cut off the cob (add tons off butter) and sliced tomatoes! YUM!

Yep. Pretty much as my mom fried chicken for our family including the breakdown of the chicken (though we also had the neck). We always added pepper to the flour as well. She used paper bags and the chicken never sat around long enough to become soggy,

I believe the key to this recipe is the lard and the frequent turning. I made this last week and it turn out perfectly. I salted the pieces and let then rest in the fridge for a few hours then tossed them in a paper bag with lightly seasoned flour. I let the cooked pieces rest in the oven on a wire rack in a 200 degree oven. It was perfect. My wife's new favorite recipe. I strained the lard and put in the fridge for next time.

For the gravy, my sainted mother took some of the flour from the paper bag previously used to shake the chicken. Of course the flour was already seasoned with salt and pepper. Thrifty, she was.

My mother made wonderful fried chicken. We lived in southern Indiana, but south and west of the area described in the article. Mom used half margarine and half Crisco for the fat. She put flour in a brown paper sack and shook the chicken pieces in it. So these are variations to consider!

You really don’t need this much oil to fry chicken. My mother used the exact same dredge but pan-fried in little more than a few tablespoons of oil, in a large cast iron skillet that was very shallow, basically like a griddle.

You forgot the gravy! Recipe, please.

My mother was from southern Indiana. She dredged the chicken pieces in a mixture of flour, salt, and a heavy amount of pepper, no additional spices. She fried the pieces in Crisco solid shortening (no subs) in a heavy Dutch oven - 10 minutes on high heat with the lid off, 20 minutes on medium with the lid on to "steam" it (no water added), then a final 10 minutes on high with the lid off. It was perfection!

I have had the pleasure of eating Wagner's Fried Chicken at Wagner's and it is fabulous! As is their German draft beer. Wagner's is one of about 22 locally-owned restaurants on the Hoosier Fried Chicken Trail running from the Ohio River North to at least Morristown in Shelby County. So far, I have only eaten at 4 and am waiting for the Rain to stop to begin this year's jaunts. You have heard of Indiana Fried Chicken before? You have. Col Harlan Sanders was born and cooked in Indiana!

Sho 'nuff. Family from Oklahoma and Texas by way of Arkansas and Mississippi. Paper bag for shaking, Crisco in a cast iron skillet but less than an inch. Add garlic powder generously to the chicken. Don't throw ANY leftover oil away. Make a truckload of gravy and use it on toast or biscuits for a week. I brown fast and put the chicken on a rack in a low oven to finish cooking so I can make the gravy. I do this with pork chops too.

Lard is really a good fat. Yes, it is high in cholesterol, but has no trans fat and is one of the most easily digested fats on the planet. Better than many of the vegetable fats that are recommended. It was Crisco who advertised and campaigned against lard because they wanted to sell their product. ad the NPR story...https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/05/02/151868208/lard-is-back-in-the-larder-but-hold-the-health-claims

I grew up in Southern Indiana and this chicken is the real deal. The key is to use a small, spring chicken not a supermarket behemoth. Now where is that pitcher of beer?