I’ve had Grandma’s fried chicken with gravy. It was crazy good. Cooked in oil in a cast-iron skillet over a hot gas stove, it was the food of dreams. I’ve now had the pleasure of enjoying that same great crunchy, moist chicken with a delicious gravy, all cooked using my Vortex insert. Fried chicken with gravy using the Vortex is amazingly great chicken, and all without deep-frying.
This Is Different
Fried chicken with gravy using the Vortex takes a bit more work than just making fried chicken on the grill. The gravy is the special addition, and to make it you need drippings from the chicken. Normally when I ‘fry’ chicken on my charcoal grill the drippings end up disappearing into the bottom of the grill. To make the gravy I had to ‘capture’ some of those drippings using disposable pans positioned underneath the chicken. I found some small aluminum pans at our grocery store that worked just fine, capturing all that dripping goodness.
Also try my more traditional (but dang good) fried chicken on the Vortex. Nothing beats chicken on a Vortex. Nothing.
Fried Chicken with Gravy using the Vortex
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 pieces chicken
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 vegetable oil for basting
Gravy:
- ¼ cup chicken drippings
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
Instructions
For the chicken
- Put the chicken pieces in a large bowl. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken. Stir in 2 tablespoons of salt. Cover and refrigerate for 4-12 hours.
- Fire up your Vortex. Let the coals get just ashed over. To make gravy place small disposable aluminum pans under a few of the pieces of chicken.
- Remove chicken from the brine. Do not rinse. In a pie plate or shallow bowl, combine the flour and salt and pepper to taste. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour, coating completely. Shake off any excess.
- Transfer the chicken to the grill around the Vortex. Cover and cook 45 minutes, rotating the lid every 15 minutes. Check for near doneness (160 F for white meat, 170 F for dark meat) in several places before removing.
- Lightly brush the chicken with oil and cook another 2-3 minutes to crisp the skin and finish cooking the chicken (165 F for white meat, 175 F for dark). Remove to a plate or cooling rack.
For the gravy
- Carefully remove the disposable pans containing the drippings. Don’t spill it onto the Vortex or it will flame up. You’ll need 1/4 cup of the drippings.
- Place drippings into a medium skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until browned, about 1 minute.
- Add milk and whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve chicken with the gravy and devour.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
