How do you make chicken skin crispy after sous vide?

Emily Farris and Jeff Akin are the co-founders of Feed Me Creative, a former culinary creative agency in Kansas City, MO.

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Latest Comments
3 Methods of Getting Crispy Sous Vide Turkey Skin
Regular Skin
Pan Fried Skin
Oven Baked Skin
How do you make chicken skin super crispy?
How do you sear chicken after sous vide?
Can you crisp chicken skin after cooking?

Straight out of the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker, this chicken breast is delicious and juicy. But it’s even better when the skin is seared in a saute pan. In fact, we tend to believe there are few foods more perfect than juicy chicken with crispy skin, and this Crispy-skin Sous Vide Chicken Breast is no exception. For this recipe, we tested one breast sealed in the bag with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper; the other with nothing but its bad self. Both were crazy moist and tender, but not surprisingly, the seasoned chicken was was far more flavorful. Another option would be to brine the chicken before cooking, but it’s hardly necessary. We can’t imagine chicken breast being any more tender, moist, or flavorful than the result of this recipe.

2 (12- to 16-ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

Step 1
Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 149°F (65°C).
Step 2
Place all ingredients in a large zipper lock or vacuum seal bag. Seal the bag using the water immersion technique or a vacuum sealer on the moist setting. Place in the water bath and set the timer for 2 hours.

Finishing Steps
Step 0
When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Remove the chicken from the bag and pat dry with paper towels.
Step 1
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the chicken, skin side down, and sear until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Slice chicken off the bone and serve with a lightly dressed arugula salad.

Latest Comments

When I was a kid, I looked forward to eating crispy turkey skin more than anything else at the table! If you are like that, and really, really need your super crispy skin even after sous vide, then you have a few options.

After all, you don't want a sous vide Thanksgiving dinner to be lacking in the yummy skin department!

This video and content are from my Sous Vide Thanksgiving Dinner course, if you find it interesting and would like another 40 videos of amazing Thanksgiving and turkey content, then I highly recommend checking it out!

3 Methods of Getting Crispy Sous Vide Turkey Skin

These methods work for both sous vide turkey and sous vide chicken. They also work on duck skin with a little bit of tweaking.

Regular Skin

First, I don't think sous vide turkey skin is really that bad. Every year I have a battle between my love of skin and my laziness, and my laziness usually wins out.

As long as you thoroughly dry off your turkey before searing it, you can usually get a good crisp on it. So, don't feel like you have to try an alternative method.

Pan Fried Skin

This method allows you to get the skin as crispy as you want. Before you sous vide the meat you can remove the skin. Then treat it like bacon and use a skillet on medium-heat with a little oil to sauté it until the fat has rendered and it becomes crispy.

Oven Baked Skin

If you want the ultimate in crispy skin, this is the method for you. The skin can turn out almost like chips of turkey skin.

Remove the skin before sous viding it, then before serving you will use the oven to crisp it up. Place it flat, in a single layer, on parchment paper on a baking sheet with raised edges. Then add another layer of parchment paper and second baking sheet on top. Bake it in an oven set to 375°F to 400°F (190.5°C to 204.4°C) until it's nice and brown, usually around 40 minutes.

What do you turn to when you want to get extra crispy skin after sous vide?
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This article is by me, Jason Logsdon. I'm an adventurous home cook and professional blogger who loves to try new things, especially when it comes to cooking. I've explored everything from sous vide and whipping siphons to pressure cookers and blow torches; created foams, gels and spheres; made barrel aged cocktails and brewed beer. I have also written 10 cookbooks on modernist cooking and sous vide and I run the AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com website.

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How do you make chicken skin super crispy?

“When the temperature drops, the fat under the chicken skin continues to render, but the chicken skin doesn't gain a lot more color during the next hour or so. If you stick the chicken in the oven at 375˚F and you've got it all set up properly and nice and dry, it's going to end up being really, really crispy.”

How do you sear chicken after sous vide?

To reheat, place in a preheated 140-degree water bath for about 45 minutes. To prepare: Pour just enough oil into a heavy skillet to cover the bottom. Heat the oil over high heat, watching carefully, until it just begins to smoke. Sear only one side of the breast until golden brown, about 15-25 seconds.

Can you crisp chicken skin after cooking?

Roasted crispy chicken skin / cracklings are a simple flavorful snack that's finger lickin' good. They are better and crispier when eaten right away but can be rewarmed at 300F in the oven ~ 6-8 minutes to try and get them crispy again.