The crunch of the crispy skin between your teeth and the burst of flavor of juicy meat in your mouth, there’s nothing better than good fried chicken. Whether your favorite is the moist, well-fried thighs or the tender, juicy chicken breast, it is hard to beat or find.

Frying chicken is one of the hardest things to do. You must get the oil temperature right and fry the correct length of time to have the best piece of chicken. It’s very easy to burn the skin or dry it out if you can’t find that sweet spot.

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my sous vide. I’ve cooked steaks, pork, and even lamb chops and they’ve all been some of the best preparations I’ve ever done.

This time I wanted to try out sous-viding the chicken first, dredge it, then fry it. I got this idea a friend that owns a restaurant, so I wanted to try it.

First, I break down a whole chicken into ten pieces. You’re probably wondering how I was able to get so many out of a chicken. Well, I cut the breast in half since it was so big. I then seasoned the pieces with Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning. For the sous vide bags, I was able to find re-usable ones on Amazon. I placed the chicken in them and let it marinate over night.

For the sous vide, I got the water temperature to 140 degrees. Then, I let the bags of chicken bathe and sit for a little over two hours in the circulating water. During that time, I prepared the dredge which consisted of flour and again, Slap Ya Mama.

To fry the chicken I used my trusty cast iron Dutch oven and brought the temperature of my vegetable oil to 350 degrees. I quickly dredged the breast first and fried for about a total of 5 minutes. I continued this process with the thighs, then the legs, wings, and drums.

I have tried before with just a simple dredge and frying for an extended period of time. But the margin of error was very thin. It was dry and almost burnt. But with this technique, my in-laws were impressed! Connie was enamored. And I thought to myself, “This is the best fried chicken I’ve ever made!”

This version of frying chicken will be a staple in my arsenal!