Shrinking chicken skin

[fishy]

Hi guys,

When I sear chicken for dishes such as fricassee etc. the skin on the chicken shrinks. How do I keep this from happening? What I do is start on high heat and keep it on high until I get a nice color.

What do you guys do to keep the skin from shrinking?

Thanks!

[Chris Hennes]

There's not really a way around the shrinking, but depending on your penchant for culinary Modernism you can work around it. For example, there is a fried chicken recipe in Modernist Cuisine that has you leave large flaps of skin that get wrapped back around the thighs and "glued" on with transglutaminase. By wrapping it around and completely encasing the piece of chicken, and firmly binding it onto the meat, you can get a piece of fried chicken totally surrounded by crisp skin. Another technique is to actually take the skin off, cook it separately, and then plate it as a sort of garnish.

[ScottyBoy]

I'm a big fan of the chicken skin "cracker" method. Just bake the skin in the oven at 250 until crisp, dabbing off the fat every so often.

[fishy]

I've found an article that claims a technique to counter the skin shrinkage

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/hail-mary-food-grace/2011/oct/19/does-your-chicken-skin-shrink-when-you-cook-it/

It appears to involved adding the chicken to a cold pan.. or atleast start it off on low heat.

It looks like an invite for the chicken skin to stick to the pan.. what do you guys think?

[Chris Hennes]

My objection is that you are almost certainly going to be badly overcooking the chicken using that technique: skin really needs to be cooked at a much higher temperature than the meat itself, especially the breasts. When you sear off in a hot pan the skin is acting as an insulator, protecting the meat underneath, but the slower you apply the heat, the more time it has to get through that insulating layer. I think there's little doubt that cooking the skin and meat separately is the best option, allowing you to get both perfect, but obviously it's a bit fussy and not everyone's style.

[Renn]

I might suggest cooking your bird whole to obtain the skin exterior that you want...then carve up the bird and finish in the fricasee sauce.

[Shalmanese]

My objection is that you are almost certainly going to be badly overcooking the chicken using that technique: skin really needs to be cooked at a much higher temperature than the meat itself, especially the breasts. When you sear off in a hot pan the skin is acting as an insulator, protecting the meat underneath, but the slower you apply the heat, the more time it has to get through that insulating layer. I think there's little doubt that cooking the skin and meat separately is the best option, allowing you to get both perfect, but obviously it's a bit fussy and not everyone's style.

I don't think it's actually that bad. I think until all the water evaporates from the skin, it can only be less than 212F on the other side of the skin, forming a gentle heat that doesn't overly cook the meat. I've often noticed when searing chicken thighs that the side seared with the skin is significantly less cooked than the side seared with the meat, even when they spent the same amount of time touching the pan. I often start chicken thighs in a cold pan as I feel like they get better rendered and crisp that way. Never tried with breasts because I never cook with breasts.