Once brined, the chicken gets dredged in seasoned flour, just like grandma used to do, but it's then fried in vegetable oil rather than animal fat. Make delicious sides: Top chefs share their best advice for making vegetables taste incredible 'It pulls the spices and seasonings through quickly, and then the vinegar helps to break down the protein structure in the chicken.' 'The vinegar actually helps promote and expedite the osmosis that happens with the brine,' he explained.

First, Dissen brines his Joyce Farms chicken with pickle juice rather than buttermilk. Things are done a bit differently at Billy D's. Like many Southern Appalachian home cooks, Dissen's grandmother marinated her chicken in buttermilk before dredging it in seasoned flour and then pan-frying it in pork fat before finishing it in the oven.

'You know, they slaughtered chickens on the farm and we'd have fried chicken for dinner that night,' Dissen said. Dissen comes by his love for fried chicken honestly, first learning how to make it from his rural-living West Virginia grandmother.

Dredge chicken in flour mixture