How To Make Chicken Skin Crispier

I’m no Nigella but I like to consider myself something of a culinary queen. I can now cook complex meals without worrying or referring to a recipe and understand most of the fundamentals of cooking.

The early 20′s version of myself would be in awe, I’ll tell you that.

Anyway, there was one thing I wasn’t quite nailing, and it was starting to really frustrate me. I couldn’t seem to make chicken skin crispy without deep-frying it, which I am absolutely not brave enough to do at home.

Then, last night, I had a brainwave. What if I tried simply using salt?

My thinking was that salt extracts moisture through osmosis and if it extracted enough moisture from the skin, it was more likely to crisp up nicely during the baking process.

Who said science classes in school didn’t pay off for this writer?

So, I lifted the chicken thigh skin (an unenviable task) and rubbed salt underneath, before placing it in the air fryer for 20 mins at 180°C. Once it was finished, I left the chicken to rest while plating up the other components of my dinner.

I had my first bite and it was the perfect, flavourful, crispy bite that I’d been chasing all of this time.

If you want to try this for yourself, you can take it one step further by following the advice from BBC Good Food.

They recommend first cooking the chicken skin-down for 10 minutes before turning over for a crispier, more even finish.

BBC Good Food added: “To check they are cooked, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a knife to see if the juices run clear. Remove from the air fryer immediately to stop the skin from softening.”