The Coffee Filter Hack For Crispier Chicken Skin

Want to maximize the crispy skin on your next sheet pan chicken dinner with as little effort as possible? Pat dry the surface of your chicken with coffee filters instead of paper towels, to remove excess moisture more effectively before baking.

Moisture is the enemy of crunchy chicken because the heat from the oven turns it into steam, resulting in skin that's soggy and flabby rather than shatteringly crisp and golden. The key is to eliminate any traces of moisture to kickstart the dry roasting process and elicit a crisp, savory skin with that characteristic moreish crackle. 

While air-drying your chicken in the fridge for 24 hours before roasting is ideal to oust unwanted moisture, it takes a little forward planning. Blotting your chicken with coffee filters works brilliantly if you're cooking on the cuff and haven't got any paper towels handy. Moreover, coffee filters are super-absorbent and designed to withstand a moist environment without breaking into sodden pieces when wet. Made from tightly packed wood pulp, they're designed to be robust, unlike some brands of paper towels that can disintegrate quickly upon contact with a liquid. 

To get started, lay your coffee filters over your chicken and press them down gently to soak up the excess moisture on the skin. You can also cut through the seam of each filter to open up its conical shape and increase its surface area. Alternatively, keep them intact, blot your chicken, and flip them over to the other side before repeating the process. 

Once you've blotted the surface of your chicken, discard the coffee filters immediately to prevent the possible spread of pathogens, such as campylobacter and salmonella. Then you can get on with roasting your whole chicken in the oven, pan frying your chicken breasts skin-side down to help them develop a golden, crispy crust, or baking some chicken pieces in an air fryer. Try this Italian baked chicken thighs recipe using the coffee-filter blotting method for extra crisp skin. If you want to go even further with your crispy chicken, consider dry brining it next time by sprinkling salt over the skin and refrigerating it uncovered overnight on a trivet with a sheet pan underneath. This move will cause the excess moisture in the chook to leech out via osmosis. 

While it may sound unusual to use coffee filters to crisp up chicken skin, they can actually be used in heaps of other creative ways in the kitchen too. For example, they're perfect for removing excess oil on the surface of cooked bacon, fries, and schnitzels. You can even balance them on the mouth of a bottle or jar to filter your used cooking oil and easily separate bits of fried food that would otherwise prevent you from using the oil again.