One of the most frequent complaints I hear about sous vide skin-on chicken, or poultry in general, is that it is really hard to get the skin to crisp up post-cook. Luckily, there is a very simple, quick and easy solution to this problem borrowed from the preparation of Peking duck. I also use this trick for my Thanksgiving turkey breasts!
This might surprise you based on the content of this website, but I have some major pickiness issues when it comes to proteins. A lot of the time, with sous vide especially, skin on poultry can be a little…weird. Rubbery, fat pockets, takes too long to crisp up or just plain never does. The secret solution to this is boiling water! Just pour boiling water over the skin until it contracts before you cook it in any way. This works for sous vide and non-sous vide cooking! After cooking it crisps up MUCH faster and more evenly and doesn’t leave any creepy pieces. Win-win!
Crispy Skin Sous Vide Chicken
The easiest way to ensure crispy, perfectly rendered skin in sous vide poultry!
Ingredients
- 6-8 cups boiling water
- 4 pieces skin on chicken thighs can use whatever skin-on poultry you have, just adjust cooking time and temp to your liking!
- 1 tbsp salt
- other seasonings, optional to be applied post-bath.
- 3 tbsp ghee or fat of choice for searing
Instructions
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Preheat sous vide bath to 160º F (or the temperature you like!)
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In an electric kettle or other apparatus for boiling water, boil about 6-8 cups water.
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Place raw chicken, skin side up, on a rack over the sink.
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Pour boiling water over the chicken until the skin contracts. As soon as the skin stops moving, move on to the next piece.
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Season the chicken liberally with salt then bag and seal.
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Cook chicken at 160º for 3 hours (or at your preferred time and temperature).
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Remove bag from bath and chicken from the bag.
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Once the chicken is removed from the bath, dry extremely well.
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Dry off the skin again, salt again, and add any other desired seasoning to the NON-skin side. Just salt on the skin.
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Sear in ghee or desired fat, skin side down, until skin is crispy. Flip and sear briefly on the other side and serve.
Nanacy Walters says
Thanks for the tip!