Nashville Hot Chicken recipe

Ingredients

• 1 3½–4-lb chicken, cut into 10 pieces (halve the breasts)
• 1½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp vinegar-based hot sauce (Frank’s, Crystal, etc.)
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil (for frying; about 10 cups)
• 6 Tbsp cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• White bread and sliced pickles (for serving)

Method

1. A few hours before cooking, toss the chicken with 1 Tbsp salt and the black pepper. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to overnight. 
2. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining salt and the flour. 
4. Whisk together the cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, and brown sugar in a heat-safe bowl. It needs to be big enough to add a cup of hot oil to later on. 
5. Fill a Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches with oil. Attach the probe of a ChefAlarm to the side of the pot using the included pot clip. Set the high-temp alarm to 325°F (163°C) and the low-temp alarm to 300°F (149°C). Also, set your oven to warm. 
6. While the oil heats, bread the chicken. Coat each piece in the flour, then dip it in the buttermilk mixture. Then return it to the flour and re-coat it more heavily. Set each coated piece aside.
7. When the oil comes to temp, cook 3 pieces of chicken at one time, lowering each very carefully into the oil. Adjust the heat as necessary to try to maintain the temperature near 325°F (163°C). 
8. Cook the chicken until each piece is done. Check the doneness with your Thermapen: dark meat should be cooked to 175°F (79°C) and light meat should be cooked to 160°F (71°C). As each piece reaches its pull temp, remove it from the oil and place it on a rack set inside a rimmed cookie sheet in the oven.  (Some pieces may take up to 15 minutes or even more to cook.)
9. Return the oil temp to 325°F (163°C) and cook the next batch, following the same procedure. (There will be two batches of 3 and one batch of 4; I suggest putting both wings in the batch of 4.)
10. When all the chicken is cooked, ladle 1 cup of hot oil into the cayenne mixture, and stir to combine. 
11. Use a brush to baste the hot chili oil onto the chicken, scooping more cayenne into the brush for more heat. 
12. Dig in while it’s still hot! Your face will forgive you eventually.