Best Ever Fried Chicken With Pan Gravy Recipe

Rinse chicken and place in a large bowl with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or better yet, overnight.

In a large plastic bag, combine flour, half the salt, thyme and half the black pepper. Remove chicken from buttermilk and place on a large plate (do not pat dry). Season chicken on both sides with remaining salt and pepper. Add a few pieces of chicken to the bag, close and shake to coat well; place on a clean plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.

In a deep 12-14" skillet, melt shortening over medium heat. When shortening reaches 350 degrees F on a deep fat thermometer (hot but not smoking), add chicken, skin side down, one piece at a time. Cover and fry 8 minutes (uncover halfway through to see that oil is simmering and chicken is turning light golden); turn heat down if oil gets hotter than 350 degrees or the skin gets too brown or burns.

Turn chicken over with tongs. Cover skillet and fry 8 more minutes. Uncover skillet and fry 15-20 more minutes, or until chicken is golden brown outside and no longer pink inside, turning occasionally.

Note: If your pan isn't big enough to hold all the chicken pieces, cook half the pieces first and then place them on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven while you fry the second batch. If you want all the chicken done at the same time (it takes about 35 minutes to fry up each batch), you'll have to get two skillets going at the same time.

Prepare gravy: After chicken is cooked, pour off all but 2 Tbs. drippings from the skillet. Place skillet over medium heat and whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk. Continue whisking until gravy boils and thickens. Serve with plenty of hot biscuits.