How to Get Brown Skin on Roast Chicken
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How do I get crispy skin on my roast chicken?
How do I get crispy skin on my roast chook? - L. Jacobs
Chickens are processed with water. Water is the enemy of crisp skin. Some chooks are actually processed to absorb extra water to increase the weight. The pre-seasoned supermarket chickens are the worst offenders.
You can dry the skin of a chicken by removing it from its plastic packaging, patting the skin with paper towel and placing it uncovered on a rack on a plate in the fridge overnight. Before roasting pat the skin once more with paper towel, rub with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast in a shallow baking tray.
You want the hot air in the oven to reach the skin so a chook surrounded by a sea of vegetables in a high-sided pan is not going to brown and crisp.
I turn the oven to high and roast the bird for 20 minutes then reduce the temperature to 150C to finish the cooking. Crisp skin will soften quickly as hot water vapour escapes from the bird so some chefs remove it from the chicken and keep it warm separate to the bird. Personally, I find this overkill.
- Recipe: Jill Dupleix's 'great' roast chicken (pictured above)
Fish and chips at North Bondi Fish in Sydney. Photo: Cole Bennetts
My fish batter is chewy and greasy. How do I get a light batter? - L. Marks
"Chewy and greasy" sounds like that joyless, grey, fish flavoured food for masses sold at train stations. I believe some of those public transport fast food outlets have had their cooking oil heritage-listed – hence why it smells like it never gets changed.
Great batter for fish is all about controlling the gluten formation. Gluten forms when water is added to flour. The more you mix the mixture the more the gluten forms, creating a tougher batter that absorbs more oil.
There are a variety of tricks. You can use a whisk or chopsticks to bring the flour and water together. Some chefs use real cornflour in the mix to reduce the amount of gluten. Others use a hefty quantity of cheap vodka. The alcohol/water mix doesn't allow as much gluten to form and as the alcohol evaporates it creates bubbles.
Cold liquids also inhibit gluten formation so using ice cold water or soda can help as well. Beer is good. It gives bubbles that lighten the batter and proteins that add colour and flavour when fried.
I love J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipe that involves sifting 1 cup of plain flour with ½ cup of cornflour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon bicarb of soda and a pinch of salt to which is gently added 180ml ice cold beer and 60ml of ice cold vodka. Dust fish in flour, dip in batter and fry as per usual.
Could you please let me know why we apparently do not have any Michelin-starred restaurants in Australia? - P. Dressler
Michelin does not produce a guide in Australia therefore doesn't review restaurants or award stars. I would not be too bothered. A story about Melbourne's St Kilda on the website has it perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
How to Get Brown Skin on Roast Chicken
Source: https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/how-to/how-to-get-crispy-skin-on-roast-chicken-20161005-grvpjk
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