Granny sometimes killed her own chickens for frying, but if she bought the chicken, she never bought one that was already cut up. They cost more, and she said that was a waste of money. She washed the chicken thoroughly (sometimes even sprinkling a little baking soda on the chicken and rinsing it off to make sure it was clean). Then she patted it dry and cut it into twelve pieces: two legs, two thighs, two wings, the wishbone cut off the top of the breast, and the neck. Then she cut both the breast and the back into two pieces. And she’d also fry the liver and gizzard.

Next she rubbed the chicken with salt and pepper and a cut clove of garlic. Then she let it sit awhile in the bowl, maybe thirty minutes, “so the seasoning can go through it,” she would say.

She would put some flour in a brown paper bag from the grocery store then she’d drop in the chicken and toss it around to coat it. And while she was doing that she was melting Crisco shortening (not Crisco oil) in a big cast-iron skillet on the stove. When the melted shortening was just starting to smoke, she would gently drop in the chicken. She would keep the grease pretty hot to brown the chicken on both sides. It takes awhile to cook chicken—anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.

Granny would wait until each piece floated to the top of the grease to determine if it was ready. Some pieces, like the neck, cook a lot faster than the breast. So you need to keep a careful eye on it. And you don’t want to crowd it in the grease. Usually it would take Granny two or three batches to get the whole chicken cooked. Granny cooked some major fried chicken, sister, let me tell you!

Fried Chicken, Mama T’s Way
Albertson’s take-out. Honey, they make some goooooood fried chicken!

Excerpted with permission from Listen Up, Honey by Thelma Wells, © 2006 Thelma Wells. Published by W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All Rights Reserved.