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Fried chicken, the old-fashioned way
Published: 8/26/2008 10:12 AM
Last Modified: 8/26/2008 10:12 AM




When we don't know what to make for dinner, chicken is the first thing that comes to mind.

Chicken breasts come trimmed and neatly packaged in every grocery store in America.

But it wasn't always the case.

My friend Chuck Hinman reminded me that in the "good old days" families didn't have packages of chicken breasts stacked in their freezers.

They did, however, have chickens running around in their front yards. Chuck said he knew when he was going to have fried chicken for dinner because his mom would put on her sunbonnet and walk into the front yard with a bucket of boiling water.

The water would still be boiling hot in the time it took her to find a chicken, snap its neck and head back to the kitchen where she would make dinner.

Before bringing the chicken inside, Chuck's mom would singe off the tiny pin feathers with a burning newspaper before placing the de-headed, de-feathered chicken in the bucket.

The same porcelain work table his mom used for rolling out pie dough, drying noodles, canning and sprinkling the clothes for ironing was also the chicken table. Here, she gave the chicken a soap bath and then began gutting and cutting.

Chuck says she then rinsed the pieces of cut chicken and left them in a colander to drip dry while she stoked the fire in the wood-burning stove.

While the lard melted in the cast-iron skillet, she dipped each chicken piece in flour mixed with a little salt and pepper. Each piece was nestled into the skillet, where each was turned only once.

Chuck said: "I have watched Mom cut up and prepare a chicken for frying so many times, I am convinced she was a master in the art of frying chicken."

There is no doubt.

I know Chuck's mom, Merle Hinman of Wymore, Neb., could go up against the best cooks of today. And if she were still here, she would deserve her own show on the Food Network.



Reader Comments 6 Total
Keri York (4 years ago)
Hello Natalie! Chuck is now my great uncle by marriage. I have only had the pleasure of meeting him once, but through his emails we've started to develop what I hope is a wonderful relationship.
Even in my hectic day and a family of my own I truly look forward to Uncle Chuck's emails. What a delight it is to peek into what is only a story of a time for me, but truly an honor to hear of it.
Larry DeLaPorte (4 years ago)
I share Chucks writings with many of my email friends throughout the U.S.A and have had simuliar reponses as Keri York wrote . Being his son in-law for many years I have had the privledge to be able to visit with him . From time to time we catch a story line before it's written . Most of us have stories we'd like to relate to others but , few of us have the Heart and God given talent as Chuck has been given to express them in his stories .
Evelyn Helm (4 years ago)
Chuck Hinman is a good friend, and has become quite adept in expressing the good menories from his past. We should all follow his example!
Nan Morrison (4 years ago)
Chuck Hinman is a treasure that helps us see how life was and enrich our memories. I've been blessed to be his friend via e-mail.
okiejunebug (4 years ago)
Chuck's tale brought back memories of my grandma wringing a chicken's neck and singeing off the feathers. Whewieeee ! what a smell! but nothing tasted better once she got it fried. I was always sneaking around picking off the fried crumbs before the chicken was served.
Teri Wood (4 years ago)
My parents always told me about their parents and themselves about fried chicken. My grandparents and my parents all had to kill chickens, luckily, I never did. But I believe that my grandmother and my aunt probably made the best fried chicken that I have ever eaten.
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Food Writer Nicole Marshall Middleton joined the Tulsa World in May 1993 after graduating from Oklahoma State University. She has covered crime, city government and general assignment beats during that time - but mostly crime. But when she isn’t at work, Nicole is a devoted food hobbyist. She enjoys meal planning and cooking with her husband, Steve, every day of the week and on holidays it’s a family affair. When the opportunity to become the food writer at the Tulsa World presented itself in the summer of 2011, Nicole jumped at it. She is excited to explore a new side of Tulsa and make the transition from crime to cuisine. .

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