Extra Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken Thigh

Oven-fried chicken thighs, it tastes like fried or even fried, but without all the oily mess and one ship is full of extra calories and added cholesterol. And there is no breading involved. Is that possible? Yes!!! Are you interested? No doubt, you. Keep reading. I am sure that once you try it, you will make it repeatedly. I know me.

After much success with my extra crispy grilled chicken wings, I have experimented with chicken thighs. I want my oven-baked chicken thighs, or rather, fried chicken thighs, to have skin that is just as delicious, extra crispy and soft, a very moist interior. Frankly, it doesn't need a lot of work - I apply the same approach that I use for chicken wings and get extra-textured and crispy chicken thighs that taste practical like fried. I did make some adjustments to this recipe based on the lessons learned while making extra wings crispy. This tweak makes my chicken thighs better.

This skin on chicken thighs is amazing - the skin is thin, cracked and very crunchy. I can't imagine the thighs becoming much crisper than this, even if you fry it. Seriously, this can't be better than this.

Crispy, brownish chicken thighs on the cooling rack.

The secret of the crispy oven fried chicken thighs
The approach to making this amazing oven-fried chicken thigh is based on the solution requested by Serious Eat’s The Food Lab: Looking for the Best Oven-Fried Buffalo Wings Article. A similar approach is used in the Country Cook Fried Chicken Wings recipe. As I mentioned in my chicken wing post, these sources suggest using baking powder to get crispy skin along with lo-o-o-o-ng, more than an hour, baked at two different temperatures. I am not patient enough for that, so I am looking for a faster solution with the same or better results. And I found it.

Ingredients

• 10 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 lbs, trimmed)
• 1 Tbsp BAKING POWDER (do NOT use baking soda, it's NOT the same)
• 2 tsp kosher salt (plus more to taste)
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp Buffalo wing sauce (plus more to taste; see notes)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F

Dry chicken thighs with paper towels really well. Try getting them as dry as possible. Sprinkle on salt, paprika, pepper and baking powder and often rub with your hands all over, even coverage. (See note).

Lay the chicken thighs on the coking rack, leaving a little space between the pieces. You may want to spray the cooling rack with PAM or some oil to minimize sticking.

Note: You can skip using a cooling rack, but that will result in the bottoms of the chicken thighs becoming a little greasy. In that case, place the thighs on paper towels after baking to remove the grease.

Oven-fried chicken thighs, seasoned with salt, pepper and peppers.

Transfer the thighs to a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and / or parchment paper. Either is optional, or course, but makes cleaning much easier.

Place the baking sheet in the oven. Switch the oven to 425F convection. This is very important. You must use convection to get the same crispiness.

Bake for 30 minutes for moderate crispiness and supreme juiciness.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes for ultimate crispiness and fall-off-the bone tenderness, with perhaps a tiny bit reduced juiciness.

Remove the thighs from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. This will ensure that the skin on the thighs retains much of its crispiness after using in Buffalo wing sauce.

Toss the thighs in Buffalo wing sauce, or any other sauce, or a combination of hot wing and BBQ sauce and serve. Alternatively, serve with a dipping sauce on the side.

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