Adjust the heat as needed to keep the oil between 300° to 325☏. Carefully place half the pieces in the hot oil. Remove the chicken from batter, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Place chicken in batter and turn to coat. Working in batches, dredge or roll chicken in the dry flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Remove chicken pieces from the brine pat dry with paper towels. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or deep-sided pan over medium heat until it reaches 350☏.

(if the batter seems to be too thick, add some cold water, no more than 1 tablespoonat a time, until the batter becomes the consistency of pancake batter.) Add 3/4 cup cold water to the remaining flour mixture and whisk the batter to thoroughly combine. Remove 3/4 cup of the flour mixture to a shallow pan (to use for dredging the chicken).

While the chicken brines, stir together flour, corn starch, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, baking powder and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Whisk all brine ingredients in a large bowl until the sugar and salt dissolve.

Crispy dredge for fried chicken