Hair Dryer Chicken

My friend Helen Rosner loves crispy poultry. She evangelizes dry-brined turkey and fried chicken given an extra turn under a heat lamp. Others may have been surprised when she turned her hair dryer loose on a roaster in the hopes of sucking just a little more moisture from the bird’s skin before it got properly cooked. I was not.

Happy snow day, I am using an astonishingly expensive hair dryer to remove all moisture from a chicken to maximize skin crispiness when I roast it. pic.twitter.com/ngtzmoOSHf

— Helen Rosner (@hels) March 21, 2018

Hello, gorgeous pic.twitter.com/pIFyganrBM

— Helen Rosner (@hels) March 21, 2018

Here, pretty much, is the recipe. Plus: Roast the bird on a bed of rough-chopped veg to help airflow. And I prefer cast iron but it doesn’t really matter. https://t.co/pLli3OQy0w

— Helen Rosner (@hels) March 21, 2018

Hell of a lifehack, Hels.

Update: Helen has added a full write-up and recipe for hair dryer chicken (or Roast Chicken à la Dyson) at The New Yorker.

• food
• Helen Rosner