Lunch: Glazed Fried Chicken With Old Bay and Cayenne

Recipe by /contributors/ari-kolender Three steps to success: A flavorful brine infuses the chicken with seasoning and keeps it juicy, an overnight chill allows the crust to set, and a spicy glaze seals the deal.

Ingredients

9.5 ounces kosher salt (1 cup Morton or 1 2/3 cups Diamond Crystal)
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3/4 cup hot sauce (preferably Crystal)
2 (3 1/2 –4-pound) chickens, cut into 8 pieces (legs and thighs separated, breasts halved), backbone and wing tips removed
4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
3 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Heat salt, brown sugar, and 4 cups water in a large pot over medium, whisking, until salt and sugar dissolve, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in hot sauce and 8 cups ice water. Add chicken to brine, cover, and chill 4 hours.
Combine 2 cups flour and 3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning in a shallow baking dish and toss with your fingers to evenly distribute seasoning. Place buttermilk in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels.
Working one at a time, dip 8 pieces of chicken in buttermilk, allowing excess to drip off, then coat in flour mixture, packing all around chicken and pressing firmly into cracks and crevices; shake off excess. Place chicken on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Discard flour mixture, which will be wet at this point, and repeat process with remaining flour, Old Bay, buttermilk, and chicken; place on another wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Chill, uncovered, 12 –24 hours.

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