Most Recipes for Crispy Chicken Produce Soggy, Chewy Sadness. Here's How You Should Be Cooking It Instead.

"It's getting harder and harder these days to separate fact from fiction. Case in point: Check out this video for "Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs," in which bone-in, skin-on thighs are seared fast and hard in avocado oil, then simmered in a wet, steamy, sweet and spicy sauce. Watch with horror as the cook proclaims, "Oh my god, this is perfection. I can already tell you. I mean, it's crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, as promised.""

"This, friends, is a dump truck load of bullshit. That chicken skin isn't crispy at all. How do I know? One, I can see. Her knife slides right through the chicken skin like a samurai sword going through a wet napkin, and two, she cooks the chicken thighs directly in the sauce, being sure to dunk the skin side into her honey-sriracha-soy concoction. That right there is a catastrophe sullying the good name of properly cooked poultry."

Many recipes promise crispy skin on bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs but deliver soggy skin because cooks sear then simmer the chicken in a wet, steamy sauce or dunk the skin in sauce. Visible indicators of failed crisping include a knife sliding through the skin like a samurai sword through a wet napkin. Simmering or pouring moisture directly onto skin prevents proper crispness. Numerous online recipes instruct making flavorful sauces and applying them to the chicken itself, causing soggy skin. Confusion about appropriate searing times contributes to inconsistent and disappointing outcomes.

Read at Slate Magazine