This oven fried chicken cannot touch any I’ve previously eaten. That’s right oven fried chicken.
I start frying the chicken enough to obtain a light brown crust and then finishes cooking the chicken in the oven. This allows you to move on to other tasks and when the chicken is finished you can turn the oven off and leave the chicken there until you’re ready to eat.
You can buy a whole chicken already broken down into pieces or do it yourself like I did so I could keep the bones for stock. I turned mine into a 10 piece cut chicken by dividing each breast which allows for uniform cooking.
Brining the chicken is key. I added several sprigs of rosemary which added depth to the chicken. A mixture of flour, paprika, salt and pepper give the crispy crust an extra boost of flavor which is followed by the rosemary brine in the chicken.
I used a large pot to fry the chicken. No more splattered grease to clean up!
You only need to fry the chicken for 3-5 minutes to form a light brown crust. Then place the pieces on a wire rack over a cookie try to finish cooking in the oven.
For the Brine
8 cups warm water
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 sprigs rosemary
For the Chicken
1 Whole Fryer Chicken, cut into 10 pieces
2 cups white all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
6 cups vegetable oil or shortening
Dissolve the salt and sugar in warm water along with the rosemary springs. Allow to cool down before adding to chicken.
Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the rosemary brine over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot or dutch oven to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.
Combine the flour, pepper and salt in a bowl.
Drain the brine from the chicken and rinse with cold water, drain again to remove all liquid. Coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture.
Carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 5 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Be careful not to crowd the chicken.
Place each piece of the chicken on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Let return the oil to 360 F before frying the next batch. Bake in oven on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!
