Southern Fried Chicken: Skillet Fried vs Air Fry . How to make both

I had a friend ask to show her how to make southern fried chicken and later other friends told me they never made it either. It's easy and homemade fried chicken is the best! I've been experimenting with an air fryer so I decided to make it both ways and compare. In my results, both are moist with lots of flavor . Both have a flavorful crust but traditional fried has a more crispy crunchy crust. The air fry version has 70-80% less fat and less calories.
Here's how you make both:
Ingredients for traditional southern fried chicken
Chicken (as much as you want)
1 + cups of flour
1 - 1 1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 - 1/12 tsp seasoning (or to your preference) right amount of seasoning is one of the secrets to good fried chicken
salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder , garlic (1/2 tsp ), Lawry's seasoning salt
optional: cajun seasoning for more spice.
Optional: 1 cup of buttermilk (or stir milk with 1 TB lemon juice or vinager)
1/4 - 1/2 cup frank hot sauce (or any hot sauce)
Directions:
Put chicken pieces in a storage bag with buttermilk, sprinkle in some salt & pepper (you can add hot sauce or not- good either way) and soak for 1 to 24 hours . This step makes chicken moist, especially the breast . This step can be skipped (I don't always soak it 1st but it is better)
Mix egg and milk and add tsp of each seasoning for batter in a bowl, in a flat container like a pie plate add flour and 1 - 1/2 each seasonings (less for garlic)
Fill iron skillet, regular skillet or electric skillet about half way with vegetable oil (or oil of your choice) and turn it on high (375-400) to get hot.
The secret to a good coat and crunch on your chicken is a double dip of flour so very lightly dredge your chicken piece in the flour then dip into the egg/milk batter & dip back into the flour. Make sure it's fully covered and knock off excess flour before putting into the hot oil.
The chicken should sizzle around the edges when it's added to the oil. Turn the heat in between medium and high after all chicken has been added or if the oil is getting too hot, You don't want to burn the outside before the inside has a chance to cook.
Do not turn the chicken until the bottom side is brown and crusty. When it is, flip it over and let the other side brown. When both sides are brown and crunchy, put a lid on the pan and lower the heat to med or a little less than medium . When it's done, the Internal temp of chicken will be 165 or juices will run clear when you cut into it. Dark meat takes longer than white meat . Usually you will load the skillet again. As you go along, crust left in the pan will burn and burn up your oil so try to remove as much as you can as you go. If you are cooking a lot , you may have to replace your oil with fresh (you'll know because your crust gets browned & edges burn quickly)
Another note: if your batter gets lumpy, sift out the lumps or start fresh. It's hard to get a good crust if flour is lumpy.
That's all there is too it. Enjoy your homemade delicious southern fried chicken !
AIR FRY VERSION
Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk , 1 T lemon juice or vinager makes buttermilk)
1/4 to 1/2 cup hot sauce (franks or any kind)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
seasonings 1 tsp each.
salt, pepper, lawry's seansoning salt , paprika, onion salt, garlic powder (1/2 tsp)
optional: cajun seasoning for extra spice
Directions:
Soak chicken pieces in the buttermilk and hot sauce for 1 to 24 hours. The longer the better for taste and moistness.
Start the air fryer to heat up. Set at 375 for 30 min.
Mix flour, corn starch and 1 tsp seasoning together.
After the air fryer is heated (about 4-5 min) Lightly spray oil on bottom.
Remove a piece of the chicken from the marinade and dredge in the flour mixture then place in the air fryer drawer. Do this with each piece & place the chicken so that it's not overlapping and not touching .Some pieces may slightly touch in places. You can stand the chicken up on the side of the wall. I was able to add half a chicken to the drawer.
Turn fryer on at 30 min. / 375 degrees. CHECK the chicken in 15 minutes and spray any flour spots that have not browned. Turn the chicken and spray any unbrowned parts. Put them back in for 10 minutes. Check for doneness after 10 min. Internal temp should be 165 or juices should run clear. If they don't, put in for a couple minutes longer and check again.
That's all there is too Air Fry Chicken. Whatever your preference, both are tasty , tender and crunchy. The air fried version offers less fat and calories.
Let me know which one you made or which one is your favorite.