Combine all the brine ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken, turn to coat well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days. If you need to make the chicken today, increase the salt to 2 tablespoons and marinate for 2 to 4 hours.

Thoroughly combine the flour mix ingredients in a large bowl with a tight-fitting lid.

To prepare the fried chicken, fill a large, high-sided, heavy-bottomed pot or an electric fryer half to two-thirds full with oil and preheat to 300°F. Note: do not fill the pot too close to the top, as the chicken will displace the oil and make it overflow.

Remove the chicken pieces from the brine and place them straight into the flour without draining off the brine. Using your Angers, drizzle a little bit of the brine into the flour; and put the pickle slices in there, too. Shake the whole container let it sit for a bit and then come back and shake it some more.

Remove the chicken from the flour without handling it too much, so the coating remains in place. Using tongs, carefully lower each piece of chicken into the hot oil. If you are doing this on a stovetop, turn off the flame before adding the chicken, just in case the bubbling and displacement cause the oil to spill over the side of the pot. Work in batches so you don’t crowd the pan.

Turn the flame back on once the oil has calmed down. Do not let the oil get above 325°F. Cook for about 12 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink According to the USDA, chicken is done at 165°F. Because the chicken continues to cook after it is removed from the oil, we usually pull it out a little bit before that and let it coast up to 165°F.

After you’ve declared it done, transfer the chicken pieces to a wire rack and let them come down to a reasonable temperature for serving. Serve with your favorite accompaniment. We serve ours with Hot Honey which can be emulated by mixing honey and your favorite hot sauce.

A Note on Cold-Smoking Chicken:

We cold-smoke our chicken for 45 minutes before placing it in the brine. This process cannot be reproduced using Liquid Smoke, which, in our experience, causes the chicken to become rubbery. To cold smoke at home, we recommend using either a dedicated smoker or a pan on a grill.

To cold smoke on a grill:

Fill a 6-inch cast iron pan with wood chips and place it on the stove over medium heat. Wait until the heat in the bottom of the pan causes the chips to ignite.

While the chips are heating, place the chicken pieces on the rack of a cold, unlit grill.

When most of the chips are on Are, blow out or smother the flame. Then, cover the pan with a piece of aluminum foil that has holes in it.

Place the smoking cast iron pan inside the grill. If the chips extinguish themselves, re-light them in the same fashion. Smoke until the chips have turned to ash.

AS CRISPY AS POSSIBLE

Meerpohl offers two tips for getting a great coating: First, don’t blot your chicken before adding it to the flour. The pieces should be dripping with brine, which attracts the flour to create craggy bits that hang onto the chicken and make an appealing crust. Second, use a large container and an excessive amount of flour, so the chicken can be tossed around without a lot of handling or the need to pat the flour onto the chicken pieces to make it adhere. Excessive flour also ensures that the brine doesn’t turn the dry mixture into a batter, which will make the coating doughy.