How to get crispy skin on roasted chicken?

Roast the chicken at high heat, at least 400. Depending on the size of the chicken, the skin should be crisp by the time the meat is done. For a large bird however, you run the risk of burning the outside before the meat is cooked. Here you can start it on low heat and then put the spurs to it toward the end of the roasting process.

Brine the chicken for extra moistness and/or rub a compound butter under the skin before roasting.

Mark

It also helps if you leave the chicken exposed in the fridge for 12 hours or so before roasting. Dries out the skin so it crisps faster.

Phil

Chicken

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/231348

I found the above recipe on Epicurious and it is now my favorite method for roast chicken. I was a little suspicious of the simple preparation, but it was fantastic and the skin was nice and crispy. Read the reviews from others that have made it.

Never underestimate a "simple" recipe. ;)

I was about to suggest that justfryit check out the Bouchon cookbook from the library to see Thomas Keller's roast chicken recipe. It seems that keller gave Epicurious permission to post his recipe... the very one you linked. :)

Crisp Roasted Chicken

Our favorite technique is the Bistro-style roast from the late Pierre Franey's "Cuisine Rapide". It's a high heat recipe that produces a moist bird similar to a spit roasted chicken. We're planning to make it tonight!

In brief, load the cavity with a bay leaf, a few sprigs thyme (or a 1/2 tsp dry), and a garlic clove (or substitute your favorite chicken herbs--we like rosemary or fresh sage), sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper, and truss the bird. Oil the skin.

Place the bird on one side in a shallow roasting pan and scatter the neck, gizzard, etc. along with a quartered, peeled onion, around the bird. Roast 20 minutes in a pre-heated 425 degree oven, basting occasionally with any accumulated fat. Do the same for another 20 minutes on the other side. Remove accumulated fat.

Place the chicken on its back and put 2 tbsp butter, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and 1/4 cup water in the pan and roast another 20 minutes or until juices run clear, basting occasionally. Remove the chicken and let its juices flow into the pan.

Undo the chicken. Meanwhile, place the pan on the stove and bring to a boil, scraping the pan. Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.

Jon K,
I love chicken like that! I have done it with poulets and cornish hens as well, just serve em whole with the sauce and some spuds and veggies!

See how y'all go with this.  Bit of a variation on Crispy Skin Pork, and Duck.  Got an 'asian' origin about it.

Pretty simple - take your chicken and leave it out of the fridge for 10 - 20 mins just to take the chill away from it (not too long - you know the safety rules)..    take paper towel and mop up any juice or moisture in and around the chicken, but specifically the skin.  Boil the jug. 

Pour the boiling water over the skin of the chicken, nice and slowly in sequence.. dont miss any parts of the skin.  Watch as the skin tightens..   this pulls the proteins in the skin together to form a tight surface which crisps up better. 

Once youve finished with the water re-towel it off again...  Oil the chicken skin, rub in some salt..  add some herbs to taste and then cook as normal.  The skin will crisp up very nicely...    Let me know if it works for you.

I would oil the outside of the chicken, season with S&P, Paprika, Cajun sea, and Roast on a high oven. I also Roast potatoes, carrots, onions, in the same pan tossing in the same oil and seasonings. Cut a garlic clove in half, Roast in the pan along with the other veggies, make sure it does burn............Chef Bill

    I think you can achieve crispy skin chicken a variety of ways (oil on the skin, butter under the skin, nothing on the skin).  My results were always better when I started with nice dry skin.

 

 

    I've seen some people recommend cooking a bird with baking powder to achieve a crispy skin.  I've made it a couple of times and it certainly gives you a product with crispy skin.  I don't do this all the time...but it gives you a little different product from time to time.

 

 

      1 tablespoon salt 

      1 teaspoon baking powder

      

     Loosen skin from the entire bird.  Breast, thighs, legs.   Poke tiny holes through the skin, everywhere.  Front and back.  Dry the bird off and rub the salt and baking powder all over the bird.  Let it rest (uncovered) in the fridge for as long as possible, overnight is better but less time will work.  Start the bird roasting breast side down (on a V-rack) in a 450f oven until the temperature is around 130f.  Turn the temperature up to 500 and finish the bird to your desired internal temperature.

 

   enjoy the food!

     dan

Cook the chicken the way you like. Use a torch on the skin to get the crispy-ness.

 

Usually, I just roast it butterflied and in a high oven, 450.

The idea is good, however, to roast the chicken in 450 oven for an hour in a home kitchen can be disastrous unless you have a very  powerful exhaust system and not many kitchens do. Smoke alarms go off and fabrics throughout the house smell like burnt fat for a week!

You need a layer of vegies in the bottom of the pan to control the smoking when you do a high temp roast chicken. I shingle potatoes and season them. They cook in the rendered fat and may be even better tasting than the chicken itself. They stick like mad though so I've taken to lining the pan with Reynolds Release foil. Works like a charm.

Phatch is right. Let poultry stay exposed to fridge temp for a day before roasting . Fridge will help pull out more moisture from bird. Then start roasting on high pour out any liquid that accumulates and turn down temp to finish.

In case it's not clear, Ed means in the fridge unwrapped so the skin dries and tightens.

 

The same thing, incidentally, works with skin-on fish.

Dry skin is huge; exposure to air, blotting it dry, using a fan/blowdryer, etc. is all great. Butter will make for a more even browning from (at least I'm guessing) the milk solids, so I use it heavily and baste plenty to keep it on the skin. If you go with the dry/butter combo, it's hard not to come up with a crispy browned skin.

 

Another technique I've tried (thanks to this forum and its links) is brining duck. The skin definitely separated better, though I didn't dry the skin after for long enough which botched the browning. I am eager to try this method again.

 

If you really want to get hardcore about crispy, brown skin, look to traditional peeking duck recipes. The results of others speak for themselves, though the FDA may sneer.

OK...my two cents......I have fed a family of seven (plus many guests) for many years. I buy whole chickens when they are on sale, primarily because I can roast them, debone them, make stock as well as several meals' worth of chicken pieces for later use. I roast two equal sized birds at one time in one roasting pan. I wash them, place them directly in the pan on a roasting rack. I paper towel them dry, inside and out, then rub them all over with olive oil. I make a rub of spices including salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, maybe a little parsley, basil or oregano or cumin, depending on original intent. I rub the birds with the mix, and sprinkle some in the cavities, and always position them breast side down. I roast at 400, rotating the pan at least every hour for even cooking. I roast them until they are done....size determines how long that takes. The skin...only on the back....is ALWAYS crisp.....but in my house, at least, a treat for any passers by when the time is right....or it ends up in the stock pot. The saddles are usually cook's privilege, but sometimes end up with the meat for later use. It is easiest for me to debone the entire chickens and determine use, (ie shred or keep large sections), and then put stock pot portions (bones et al) either to boil immediately or freeze for later use with other so apportioned rations. I can make several quarts of stock and at least three or four meals from two birds, a little patience, a hot oven, and a little effort. The kids have been known to show up with mouths tilted back like baby bird waiting for the crispie skin. The meals are always Act II. The stock and subsequent uses, Act III. It's a standard in my house. Somebody correct me if what I'm doing is wrong. Please.

It sounds good.

 

this is a good tip. We'll see if I can get a crispy skin on roasted chicken while following this procedure.
 

>Somebody correct me if what I'm doing is wrong. Please.<

 

How could it be wrong, Beecher? It works for you. That makes it right.

 

Only difference is that when roasting we like to do them breast up to create more of the crispy skin.

 

When roast chicken is in the offing, though, we buy birds specifically for that. Otherwise we work the reverse of you. Watching the sales, we buy three chickens at one time. These are then partially or completely broken down, depending on our anticipated needs. That is, we might just reserve the breasts, or just the legs, etc. Wings are always collected in a freezer bag. The rest is used for stock.

 

When making stock, the chicken, itself, only remains in the liquid the first 40-45 minutes. We then remove it and strip the meat from the bones, which get returned to the pot.

 

When we're done what we have is any raw pieces we reserved, a big pile of poached chicken, and 7-9 quarts stock. Plus the accumulating wings. Typically this results in about 18-24 meals (i.e., portions) from the three chicks plus the eventual wings meal.

I usually, scratch that, always brine my chicken before it goes into the oven. For my family that was the difference in my family saying, "YEPPY" when I said we are having roast chicken in comparison to, "oh roast chicken, again!"

High heat, high heat, high heat.  It makes them crispy outside and still juicy inside - just be sure you keep checking the chicken so you remove it when it's done and not overdone (dry)

pierce the thickest part, press, watch the juice - should be yellow, not pink.  or lift it and let the juice drain out a little - shouldn;t be pink

Indeed, roast the chicken over high heat. I always start at least 425 and once the browning starts to form, i will turn the heat down until the meat is cooked through. if cooking a whole chicken, work some herbed butter under the skin. this not only encourages crispy skin, but keeps your breast meat moist! leg meat should stay moist from the bone.  If you're like me, and sadly cooking for one more often than not, you are usually just cooking one piece at a time, and my recipe for a crispy skin chicken breast will work perfect, and is quite simple. It is also cooked in jus to keep it moist.

 

1. Fill the bottom of a roasting dish with chicken stock, a small bouquet of herb, crushed garlic, and a dash of sherry wine.

2. Season your chicken breasts both sides, and roast skin side down for 20 min at 425.

3. Turn your chicken over (the liquid should be low enough that the flesh is submerged, but the skin is exposed to the hot air.) and add vegetables of your choice (carrots, potatoes, peal onions are examples of good choices)

4. Reduce heat to 375 and roast until skin is golden brown.

5. Strain liquid for a nice jus.

 

Edited by pcieluck - 12/15/10 at 10:02am

The very high temperature and you should cover the skin of the chicken with mustard. Mustard will give you the result you are waiting for.

I love crispy chicken but prefer dark meat so I very rarely cook a whole chicken. I find that chicken in parts cooks evenly and crisps nicely without worrying about the white meat getting too dry.

I use high heat throughout the cooking.  It comes out juicy and crispy. 

That's an odd technique. Where did you get it?

I used to use a recipe for roasted chicken where you would roast the chicken with it's marinade. One day I was lazy and rather than marinade, I just threw all the ingredients into a dish and roasted right away. It's still plenty flavorful. It's very moist this way, and as you can see, very nice skin.

I have used the upside down breast technique (like pcieluck suggested) on a turkey in the past and worked great!