Directions

• Heat Anova Sous Vide machine to 155 °F. Season chicken with salt. Place the pieces into sous vide bags, dark meat (thighs and legs) with dark meat, and breasts with breasts. Make sure pieces don’t overlap with one another.
• Transfer breasts to the fridge to chill. You will cook the dark meat longer than the white meat-this ensures the former has enough time to do its thing and the latter retains its juicy goodness.
• Drop dark meat in water. Cook for at least 2 hours. Add breasts and cook all pieces for an additional hour. Heat fryer to 400 °F. Add Canola oil. Heat at least 3 inches of frying oil in a dutch oven or stockpot over high heat until the oil reaches about 400 °F. (Don’t worry about being super precise here. A few degrees either way won’t make a big difference.)
• TIP: If you are working ahead or plan to fry in batches, set yourself up so that your chicken pieces will stay warm until service. First, line a sheet pan with a wire rack and place it on the middle shelf of your oven. Then set the oven to “warm” or to the lowest possible temperature setting.
• Remove cooked chicken pieces from the water and pat dry. Cut breasts in half, lengthwise, so there will be more surface area for crispy, crusty goodness. Place chicken pieces on a metal rack. Mix the the dry ingredients together for the breading in a bowl and set aside. Add buttermilk to a second bowl.
• Here you have a choice: Do you prefer your chicken more crispy or more crunchy? If you’re in what we call “the camp that loves to feel the crunchiness in the back of your head,” dredge pieces in flour, then buttermilk, then flour again. For crispier chicken, just dunk the pieces in the buttermilk, then move them to the bowl with the dry ingredients, then fry. Not sure what you prefer? Try both and see which texture you prefer. Return each breaded piece to the rack and repeat until you’ve coated them all.
• Working in batches, fry the chicken pieces in the oil until they’ve got a gorgeous, golden crust, about 2-3 minutes. Remember, the inside is already cooked just the way you want it, so as soon as the crust looks good, you can pull pieces from the fryer. Transfer the finished pieces to the wire rack in the oven to keep warm.