Technique for Guaranteeing Crispy Skin on Roast Chicken

[bakedbeans18]

Hi cookingbites.com. I love making roast chicken, it's such a quintessential dish in my opinion and versatile as well. That being said I know there are many issues people run into when making a roast chicken. First and foremost being how to ensure crispy skin on the bird. There's a trick I use that anyone can do

I find that there's a few simple principles to follow if you want to ensure that crispy, crackly skin every time:

• Hot Water Scalding
  • I know it seems weird, but this is a trick that cooks in China use for peking duck to get that golden brown, crackling skin. They boil water, and pour large spoonfuls of it over the bird.
  • What this does is render the collagen in the skin into gelatin. The problem with collagen when roasting is that it hold onto moisture and fat, leading to soggy skin. By cooking the skin a bit now, we accelerate the process. When doing this the skin will visibly contract a bit, but that's not a huge issue.
• Dry Skin
  • So after scalding the skin, we need to dry it out. Excess moisture will not lead to crispiness, it'll have the opposite effect. We just poured hot water onto the skin adding moisture to it. While this helps, we now need to dry that hot water up after it partially cooks the skin.
  • Either thoroughly dab the bird with paper towels, making sure to get all the nooks and crannies that roast birds are infamous for. Or stick the bird in the fridge overnight uncovered. The heating cycle in the fridge is fantastic for drying out foods exposed to that air.
  • Cold air doesn't hold water as well as warm air; so when the air in the fridge is warmed a bit (this happens in all fridges, air temp fluctuates up and down) it absorbs moisture from the food. Once the fridge starts to cool the air, that moisture in the air is lost to the outside. But the air will heat up over time, once again pulling moisture from the food - effectively drying out the bird
• High Heat
  • Maillard reactions, or browning start happening at 310F/154C. This means the surface of the food needs to reach that temp, and because air is a poor conductor of heat, the oven's temp must be much higher than 310C/154C.
  • I recommend 400F/200C or higher, as this is hot enough to ensure the fat renders out and maillard browning, aka crispiness in the skin, can occur.
  • Rubbing the skin with oil can also help as oils are much better at heat transfer than air, and a uniform coating of oil can help with even browning.

Let me know if any of you try these techniques out! Would love to hear how it went for you.