A friend took a trip to Nashville some time ago and told me about Nashville chicken. It is a fried chicken that is brushed with hot oil that has cayenne bloomed in it. The original is fiery hot. I didn’t know if I would like it quite that hot but decided I could do a version in my smoker that would approximate the dish. of course, you can also do it in an oven. I just cut back on the amount of cayenne they would use. You can feel free to add the full amount of cayenne if you are tougher than me!
I started with a 3 pound chicken and cut it into pieces (see how at How to Cut a Whole Chicken Into Pieces). You can use 3 pounds of precut chicken pieces if you prefer.
I made a marinade for the chicken by mixing:
- 500 ml (2 cups) milk
- 50 ml (2 tablespoons) Sriracha or Buffalo wing sauce
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) salt
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) sugar
- 1 egg
I put the chicken in the marinade for 3 hours, turning the chicken twice.
Mix the following in a shallow casserole dish:
- 350 ml (1 ½ cup) flour
- 5 ml (1 tsp) cayenne
- 5 ml (1 teaspoons) your favourite barbecue rub
- 6 ml (1 ¼ teaspoon) salt
- 6 ml (1 ¼ teaspoon) onion powder
- 6 ml (1 ¼ teaspoon) garlic powder
Lift a piece chicken out of the marinade with you left hand and put it in the flour mixture. Shovel the flour over the chicken with your right hand.
Put the chicken back in the marinade. Lift it out with your left hand into the flour again. Shovel flour over it with your right hand and put it on a rack.
Repeat with all pieces of chicken.
While your smoker or oven is preheating to 400 F (205 C), heat 40 ml (3 tbsp) oil in a small pan until it is shimmering. Add betweem 5 ml (1 tsp) and 15 ml (1 tbsp) cayenne (depending on your heat tolerance), 3 ml (1/2 tsp) paprika, 1 ml (1/4 tsp) garlic powder, and 3 ml (1/2 tsp) sugar to the oil and stir for 30 to 40 seconds, until you can smell the cayenne. Remove from the heat and set aside.
If cooking in a smoker, put the chicken on the rack, skin side up. If cooking in an oven, put it on a rack over a tray.
Cook for 30 minutes and brush with vegetable oil. Do not turn.
Continue cooking until the thickest pieces of chicken have an internal temperature of 170 F (75 C) or higher and the chicken is golden brown. Between 15 and 30 minutes depending on your smoker or oven.
Brush the chicken with the cayenne oil and serve.
The Verdict
This was delicious! I love fried chicken but the additional Sriracha in the marinade and the cayenne oil gave a wonderful touch of burn. I love this!
The Old Fat Guy
Nashville "Fried" Chicken
The Old Fat GuyIngredients
- 1.4 kilograms chicken pieces (3 pounds)
- 500 ml milk (2 cups)
- 50 ml Sriracha or Buffalo wing sauce (¼ cup)
- 10 ml salt (2 tsp)
- 10 ml sugar (2 tsp)
- 1 egg
- 350 ml flour (1 ½ cup)
- 5 ml your favourite bbq rub (1 tsp)
- 5 ml cayenne (1 tsp)
- 6 ml salt (1 ¼ tsp)
- 6 ml onion powder (1 ¼ tsp)
- 6 ml garlic powder (1 ¼ tsp)
- 40 ml oil (3 tbsp)
- 5 to 15 ml cayenne (1 tsp to 1 tbsp)
- 3 ml paprika (½ tsp)
- 1 ml garlic powder (1/4 tsp)
- 3 ml sugar (½ tsp)
- 75 ml oil (⅓ cup) for brushing
Instructions
- Mix milk, Sriracha, salt, sugar, and egg together.
- Put chicken in mixture and marinade for 3 hours.
- Mix flour, bbq rub, cayenne, salt, onion powder and garlic powder together.
- Mix the flour, bbq rub, cayenne, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder together in a shallow casserole.
- Lift a piece of chicken out of the marinade with your left hand. Put it in the flour mixture and shovel the flour mixture over the chicken with your right hand.
- Put the chicken back in the marinade.
- Put the chicken in the flour again and shovel it over the chicken. Put the chicken on a rack.
- Repeat with all chicken pieces.
- Preheat oven or smoker to 400 F (205 C).
- While the oven is preheating, heat the oil in a small saucepan until shimmering. Add cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, and sugar. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Put the chicken on a smoker rack skin side up or on a rack over a tray in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
- Brush the top with oil, do not turn the chicken.
- Cook to an internal temperature of 170 F (75 C) in the largest pieces and the skin is golden, between 15 and 30 minutes depending on smoker or oven.
- Brush the chicken with the cayenne oil and serve
2 Responses
Wow, that does sound good!
Thanks, Bill! It was tasty.