Best Nashville Hot Sauce Recipes

MIND-BLOWING NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN RECIPE

Steps:

• Brine the Chicken: Warm the pickle juice on the stovetop or in the microwave. Then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Pour the pickle juice brine into a large zip bag. Add the chicken pieces. Zip the bag closed. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but longer is better. (If you can brine the chicken for 8 hours or overnight, that's best!)
• Once the chicken has brined, set out two shallow dishes. Pour the buttermilk and hot sauce in one shallow dish. Mix well. In the second dish, combine the flour, cornstarch, and creole seasoning. Mix well.
• Drain the brine off the chicken. Set out a metal rack. One at a time, dunk the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, then back in the flour mixture. Place the breaded chicken pieces on the rack. (It's good for the chicken breading to rest before frying, so don't heat the oil until all the chicken has been well coated.)
• Set a large saucepot on the stovetop and clip a cooking thermometer to the side of the pot. Pour enough fry oil into the pot to fill it about two-thirds full. Turn the heat on medium to medium-high.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Set another rack on a baking sheet for the cooked fried chicken.
• Once the oil temperature reaches 350 degrees F, carefully place four pieces of chicken in the fry oil. Use tongs to move the chicken so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Fry for 7-8 minutes, until golden brown. (The largest pieces should be 165 degrees F inside.)
• Use the tongs to carefully pull the chicken pieces from the hot oil and place them on the clean rack. Place the fried chicken in the oven to keep warm and crisp.
• Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Place the second batch of fried chicken in the oven. Turn off the heat.
• For the Spicy Oil: Use a ladle to scoop ¾ cup of fry oil from the pot into a heat-proof mixing bowl. Add the cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Stir to mix.
• When ready to serve the chicken, remove the rack from the oven and brush the spicy oil over all sides of the fried chicken pieces. It's traditional to serve the chicken over 2 slices of white bread, topped with pickles.

CHEF JOHN'S NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN

Steps:

• Toss chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Transfer chicken to a bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Whisk buttermilk, pickle brine, hot sauce, and egg together in a mixing bowl. Pour marinade over chicken and stir to ensure each piece is thoroughly coated. Cover and let chicken marinate in refrigerator 2 to 4 hours.
• Mix flour and salt together in a shallow flat dish. Remove chicken from marinade and blot with paper towels. Reserve marinade. Toss chicken in flour until thoroughly coated. Return chicken to marinade, coating all sides; remove chicken from marinade allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Coat the chicken once again in flour mixture. Place on a rack. Repeat with all chicken pieces. Allow to sit out about 15 minutes to allow coating to dry out a bit.
• Place butter and lard in a large pot. Add cayenne pepper, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Place over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until fats melt. Remove from heat; keep sauce warm.
• Fill cast iron skillet about 1/3 of the way with vegetable oil. Heat oil to 350 degrees F over medium-high heat. Carefully place chicken into hot oil, skin side down. Maintain an oil temperature of 325 degrees F, adjusting heat as need. Fry until instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
• Transfer chicken to a rack to drain. Brush with the sauce on both sides.