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Crisp Skin On
Rotisserie Chicken
Bud asks: I have a rotisserie on my outdoor grill and I love it. But the one thing I can't get right is that the skin on the chickens never gets crisp, the way it does when I roast the chicken in the oven. What am I doing wrong? Or failing to do right? Tom sez: Nothing. The reason rotisserie chickens are so moist, tender, and juicy is that the juices never really leave the bird--they just move from the meat to the skin. As the chicken turns, the juices that would otherwise leak out in the oven and evaporate stay on the outside, and soak into the skin. Unless you grossly overcook the chicken, by the time the meat is done, the skin is still loaded with those juices and fats. If you really wanted a crisp skin, the thing to do is to fire up the oven to 450 degrees, put a few flakes of butter on the skin of the bird, and finish it in the oven for about five to ten minutes. But that seems like a lot of extra work to me for no great improvement in flavor. You just have to get used to the idea of soft, delicious chicken skin. Not everything has to be crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside, as appealing an idea as that is. Revised 3/10/08 Copyright © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. |
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