Chicken Skin - Do You or Don't You?

[JAZ]

I learned a technique for braised chicken with crisp skin from a cookbook I had years ago, which I've used in other recipes like one for chicken braised in sherry vinegar sauce (photo here -- scroll down a bit).

You start out with a regular braising technique, but first, make sure the chicken is placed skin side up and not covered with the sauce, and second, halfway through the cooking, turn the heat up and take the cover off. The skin recrisps and the sauce reduces, and you end up with braised chicken with crisp skin.

(Here is the full recipe for anyone who's interested.)

[annachan]

I generally only like skin when it's crispy. However, I do eat the flabby skin in some dishes like Haninese chicken or soy chicken....

[Pierogi]

When I do something like a gumbo, or a stew or soup, where the skin is integral to the flavor of the final dish,

How is it integral? Do you mean that stewing the skin with the broth infuses the liquid with extra flavor? I've always been unsure of that, and believed that most of the flavor comes from meat and connective tissue.

I've read that it does, though I can't vouch for the flavor boost. For sure it gives it extra fat for that unctuous and silky mouthfeel (lord, how I hate that term, but it does describe the sensation...) in the liquid that's the mark of a good gumbo. And it does seem to keep the white meat from drying out during a long braise.

For those dishes where I'm going to shred the meat off the bones before serving, no big whup to keep the skin on and discard. For those dishes where the pieces are served whole in the broth, then they get the braise-skin-up-run-under-the-broiler treatment. Both work for me.

[Anna N]

Irresistable.

[Paul Bacino]

Irresistable.

That's how I do it.. nice

[robirdstx]

I learned a technique for braised chicken with crisp skin from a cookbook I had years ago, which I've used in other recipes like one for chicken braised in sherry vinegar sauce (photo here -- scroll down a bit).

You start out with a regular braising technique, but first, make sure the chicken is placed skin side up and not covered with the sauce, and second, halfway through the cooking, turn the heat up and take the cover off. The skin recrisps and the sauce reduces, and you end up with braised chicken with crisp skin.

(Here is the full recipe for anyone who's interested.)

Thanks for this! I'm going to do this with turkey thighs for dinner tonight.

[threestars]

Well before, I used to eat everything and I don't care how the skin of the chicken looks like or taste like. But as of the moment, when I eat a chicken, I don't eat the skin anymore because of some health/calorie issue. AnnaN's chicken skin looks perfect for me!

[ChrisOC]

One of my favorite ways to prepare chicken is to put a few legs and a few thighs in a roasting pan, sprinkle liberally with Bisquick, salt and pepper. Talk about crispy skin!

[SobaAddict70]

Pretty much always.

I get comprehensive blood work done twice a year (includes cholesterol, hdl and ldl counts). Numbers are amazingly low ... I figure that when it's my turn to go, it won't be chicken skin that does me in.

My absolute favorite way (okay, 2nd favorite way) is as a topping in congee. But nothing beats the Zuni chicken - bread salad or Keller's roast chicken. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Edited April 6, 2011 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[prasantrin]

The thought of even eating skin makes me gag a little. CaliPoutine

Maybe we should all put a little more thought into what it is we are eating. We might have lower levels of morbid obesity in this country.

I don't know about that. I've met a lot of people who think a lot about what they eat (and whom I would label "picky eaters", or at least "high maintenance eaters"), and they're quite a bit larger than I am. And I'm not small (short, but definitely not thin).

However, when it comes to the stuff that a chicken's feathers used to be anchored in, first plunge it in a bath of some briny buttermilk concoction for an extended period, then dust it with flour, and finally send it to a vat of oil heated to a blistering 150 C & keep it there until it is nicely browned and scrumptiously crisp.

I love the stuff that Alex & Aki do at Ideas in Food. Here are their thoughts on the subject.

Ditto on the fried chicken skin, except I'll often just dust it with cornstarch and fry it straight. If you're eating it immediately, I think corn starch makes it oh-so-much crispier.

[Country]

The only thing better than crispy chicken skin is crispy duck skin with that little layer of fat.

[Beebs]

The only thing better than crispy chicken skin is crispy duck skin with that little layer of fat.

And the only thing better than crispy duck skin is peking duck - pure roasted duck skin + fat, smeared with a bit of hoisin, sliver of scallion, and wrapped in a flour crepe. Soooo good...

I wonder how one might go about making "peking" chicken skin....hmmmm...

[SobaAddict70]

I wonder how one might go about making "peking" chicken skin....hmmmm...

The chicken buns at Ssam Bar here in NYC come close.

[Anna N]

Like money in the bank

[Paul Bacino]

Had free range chicken, that I boned out( this is one of those questionable nomenclatures.. the breast bone was remove and the ribs are intacted ) and sous vide two breast @ 155 for 4 hrs.. Wow I usually don't eat skin.. but I couldn't help eating this stuff..

Edited June 2, 2011 by Paul Bacino (log)