Crispy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs (2024)

Why Sous Vide?

Chicken thighs are forgiving enough as it is. Why bother cooking them sous vide? There are a couple of reasons. First, the method gives you unparalleled control over the final texture of the chicken thighs, allowing you to achieve results unattainable through more traditional methods. Without fail, chicken thighs cooked in a sous vide bag will come out juicier than those cooked using traditional methods when they're cooked to the same final temperature.

It also makes cooking chicken thighs more convenient and foolproof. I cook a batch of thighs over the weekend, chill them, and store them in the fridge. During the week, all I have to do is finish them in a pan, where they'll crisp up for dinner in just 10 or 15 minutes. This makes dinner party planning a snap, too.

What Temperature Should I Use to Cook Chicken Thighs?

Unlike chicken breasts, chicken thighs and drumsticks have a lot of connective tissue, with a more robust flavor and a texture that can withstand a bit more cooking. There are several conflicting recommended temperature ranges out there for chicken thighs, so I decided to test them out. I cooked batches of thighs for various times between one hour and 24 hours, at temperatures ranging from 140°F up to 180°F.

Any lower than 150°F (66°C), and they turn out almost inedibly chewy and tough. Once you get to 165°F (74°C), timing comes into play. With shorter cooking times, you end up with chicken that is more tender than chicken cooked to 150°F and just slightly more dry. With extended cook times, the chicken begins to fall apart much more readily. Expelled chicken juices and broken-down connective tissues start to collect in the bag, forming a gel that can subsequently be used to make a flavorful pan sauce. Any longer than eight hours at 165°F or above, and the chicken will get too soft, becoming mushy and unable to retain its juices as you chew.

After tasting, I settled on three different temperature and timing combinations, all of which offer excellent but different results.

150°F (66°C) for 1 to 4 Hours: Very Juicy and Quite Firm

At the 150°F (66°C) mark, after a relatively short cooking time of between one and four hours, juices will just begin to run clear, but tougher connective tissue, like large tendons, will still be a little chewy. This is a good time and temperature combination if you like a very robust, meaty texture: The chicken will cook up almost like a steak.

165°F (74°C) for 1 to 4 Hours: Very Juicy and Fully Tender

Chicken thigh cooked to 165°F for a short period of time is more tender than chicken cooked to 150°F, but slightly less juicy. This is the closest texture you'll get to a perfect traditionally pan-roasted chicken thigh—though it is juicier than any pan-roasted thigh you've had.

165°F (74°C) for 4 to 8 Hours: Moderately Juicy, Pull-off-the-Bone Tender

Once you get past the four-hour mark, the chicken starts to take on the texture of a braised chicken thigh as its connective tissue continues to break down. The chicken will have a fully tender, shreddable texture that pulls right off the bone with little effort.

Tips for Cooking Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

Bone In or Out?

Chicken thighs usually come either bone-in and skin-on, or boneless and skinless. I knew right off the bat that I wanted my chicken skin-on, because what's tender chicken without crispy skin? Some recipes call for removing the bone before cooking, which you can do, following my guide to deboning chicken thighs, if you'd like to. Personally, I find it unnecessary. Unless you're experienced with a boning knife, it's plenty easy to remove the bone after the chicken has been cooked, or just serve it with the bone in. Your diners probably know how to use a fork and knife.

Season Chicken Before Bagging

Before bagging, season bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, or legs generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Add aromatics, such as thyme, garlic, or rosemary, as desired.

Fold Over the Bag

To bag the chicken, start by folding the top of a vacuum-seal or zipper-lock bag back over itself to form a cuff. This will prevent chicken juices from getting on the edges of the bag, which can interfere with the seal or provide vectors for contamination.

Flatten the Chicken During Sealing

Press the chicken so that the skin is as flat as possible, then remove the air and seal the bag. Flattening the chicken will help the skin make good contact with the pan later on.

If using a zipper-lock bag, seal it by using the displacement method. To do this, slowly lower your bagged chicken into a pot of water, letting the pressure of the water press air out through the top of the bag. Once most of the air is out of the bag, carefully seal the bag just above the water line.

Chill the Chicken

Once it's cooked for the desired time, transfer the bagged chicken to a prepared ice bath to chill completely. At this stage, the chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days before finishing and serving.

Remove and Save the Gelled Juices

Scrape off any gelled juices from the bag with your fingers and transfer them to a small bowl to use for a pan sauce later on.

Finishing Steps

Speaking of crispy skin, how do you get the crispiest skin on a sous-vide chicken thigh? I tried cooking the chicken thighs straight out of the sous-vide bag, a method that works well for chicken breasts. However, chicken thighs have much more fat underneath the skin, which needs to be rendered out. Chicken thigh simply takes longer to crisp than chicken breast, and by the time the thighs get crispy skin, the meat underneath dries out.

To solve this problem, I recommend fully chilling your chicken thighs in an ice bath after cooking. This allows you to give the chicken a longer time over moderate heat in a skillet, just before serving, in order to get extra-crispy skin without overcooking the chicken underneath. Another trick I find useful is one I got from Michael Voltaggio's sous-vide chicken recipe. In it, he presses the chicken thighs so that the skin lies flat, making it easier to crisp.

I also tried cooking it in various types of material. Cast iron and nonstick proved to be the most effective at crisping the chicken thighs without letting them stick to the pan (though nonstick showed a slight advantage in that arena).

Saucing the Chicken

Sous-vide chicken is so darn juicy, it doesn't really need a sauce, but it seemed a shame to waste the gelatin-rich meat juices that collect in the sous-vide bags after cooking chicken thighs. I used that gelled liquid as the base for a quick and easy pan sauce with whole mustard seed, wine, and butter.

July 2015