Technique: pressed fried poultry skin

[Dave the Cook]

At the late, lament Blais restaurant (thread here), they served a dollop of chicken cream gravy, dotted with bits of pickled greens, and a garnish of flat, fried chicken skin. When I needed a garnish for the molten masher muffins I made for Thanksgiving, I decided that this was the thing.

As anyone who's made rilettes, rendered fat from any sort of animal skin, or simply cooked a rasher of bacon knows, the propensity for tissue to shrivel up as the proteins tighten is the natural path -- that's why someone invented the bacon press. For all I know, Blais used a bacon press for what appeared to be a piece of skin taken from the thigh. But I had a bigger problem, literally. I had the skin of a 12-pound turkey in three pieces: breast and two leg quarters. Even if I managed to keep them flat, I would encounter shrinkage. I was determined to keep the pieces intact, and trim them out afterwards. I don't have a bacon press in the first place, but even if I did, the size and shape wouldn't work. Also, in order to render a uniformly cooked product, even heat would be an issue, and I didn't have a deep fryer or saute pan large enough to hold the skin flat (and I had no idea how to do that in a deep fryer, anyway).

So, I needed a large flat surface with a uniform heat source. Sheet pan, oven. How to keep the skin flat? Another sheet pan? Worth a try. After a bit more theorizing (you don't want to hear, trust me) and a little testing, here's how it worked:

Line a sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Put it in the oven, and pour 1/8-inch of oil (I used peanut) in it. Turn the oven on to 360 F. Give it a good long time to heat up -- at least ten minutes past the time when the oven says its reached temperature (ovens have cold spots, and you want to make sure the entire cavity is heated, and the oil is up to temperature).

While things are heating up, line the underside of another sheet pan with foil, and brush it liberally with more oil. Stretch the skin across the surface, as flat as possible:

I'd prefer not to use cold oil here, but it has two benefits: it keeps the skin from sticking; at the same time, when cold, the skin adheres to it. This is crucial for the next step.

When you're sure the oil is up to temperature, carefully slide the oven rack out. Turn the pan with the skin on it upside down, and press it into the oil-filled pan:

Make sure the pans are engaged evenly, and slide the assembly back into the oven. Leave it alone for 25 minutes.

Carefully pull up a corner of the top pan to check for doneness. Depending on how brown you want it, it will take between 25 and 35 minutes. The skin will darken and crisp up further upon setting, so take it out just before you think it's done, or you won't be able to trim it later -- it will shatter unevenly. Also, lacquer-hard turkey skin is not as pleasant as skin with a tiny bit of flexibility to it, but that's my taste. (It's possible that different types of skin will take different times, but I haven't tested this.)

The finished product -- yes, those are the same pieces; the shrinkage is considerable:

For best flavor, salt and pepper them as soon as they're out of the oil. They will stay crisp at room temperature for at least several hours, and possibly a couple of days, if duck rillettes are any indication. A sharp pair of scissors are the best tool for trimming to the desired shape.

A couple of things I'd like to try:

- different poultry skins, especially duck or goose, of course

- a light dusting of flour, which would (I hope) impart a fried-chicken texture, but might simply burn, instead

Some people like thin (or thick) slices of breast, some like a Fred Flintstone-sized drumstick to gnaw on. For my money, though, the best part of the turkey is the skin, and it gets portioned out in an undemocratic fashion. With this technique, everyone can get a fair share of perfectly cooked, crispy skin -- definitely something to be thankful for.

[chezcherie]

i have a panini press that has flat plates...i wonder??? i do so love the crispy skin!!!

[Dave the Cook]

A whole lot easier than my method, too -- and maybe a good reason for me to finally break down and get a panini press?

[Katherine]

If you stretch the skin and fasten it with toothpicks (or skewers) to the perimeter of a rack, it will give you that perfect stretched-out appearance, and will be thinner and crispier. Because it will be thinner, I think you'd need to lower the temp a smidge.

[Suzanne F]

If one didn't have a panini press, but DID have a waffle iron with reversible plates (one side flat to use as a griddle), maybe that would work? Although that is limiting in terms of the area available.

[wesza]

Dave:

I would recommend that you use a thin coating of Corn or Potato Starch instead of Flour on your skins a trick that the Chinese Chef's often use in Crisping Skins. It also tastes better if you add some White Pepper to the Skins before Cooking. Do not add salt as it will be better for your oil and finish if this is added afterward.

Irwin

[chefwoody]

Here's how I learned how to do it in a restaurant kitchen. You will need to have 2 silpats, and if you don't, they are great investments to use for all kinds of things.

First, you will want to scrape off as much of the fat off the back of the skin as possible. A short dunk in seasoned boiling water will help soften it up and make it easier to remove. For scraping it off, I recommend a flexible plastic board scraper. This will take a little practice to get a feel for how much pressure to use, but you will quickly get the hang of it.

After most of the fat has been removed, spread them out on one of the silpats on top of a sheet tray. If you don't have a second sheet tray that is small enough to fit inside of the first one, flip the first sheet tray over and lay the silpat on the bottom. Season them now, so that your seasoning is baked into the skin (Yum!) Lay the second silpat over the top and cover with the second sheet tray. Evenly weight the top with pans, cast irons, bricks, etc.

Bake this at 400F - 425F until crispy (I would start out at 8 minutes, rotate them, and then give them another 8 minutes. Times will vary, especially depending on how much fat was removed).

EAT!

[edsel]

The notion of using a bacon press sounded familiar. This topic also includes Mr. S.L. Kinsey's invaluable advice about whacking the knuckle off. I usually sever rather than whack - learned that trick from a Ken Hom cookbook.

Irwin beat me to it on the starch-vs-flour angle. I was thinking maybe kuzu, tapioca or water chestnut flour, all of which crisp up nicely. Ditto on seasoning with white pepper and not salting 'til after the skin is fried.

Chefwoody's Silpat technique sounds promising. There are some great ideas developing here. Let the Great Crispy Skin Experiment begin! Could it eventually rival the Onion Confit thread?

Can't believe I said "ditto".

[Susan in FL]

I'm reminded of chicken under a brick... Might a stove-top method involve the use a brick?

[Gastro888]

Heavenly....*drools*