Every American has seen a commercial or glanced at those magazine covers in the checkout aisle, and they all have the same image — a golden turkey with perfectly crispy skin. Since we don’t live in a Norman Rockwell painting, we sadly can’t rely on visual effects to get these stylized results. And while you might think this turkey skin is perfected through some magical means, you’d be surprised to find out that you don’t have to butter up a bird and dip it into a deep fryer. Getting crackling, crispy golden skin requires only two ingredients, and I’m sure you already have them in your home.
The secret is easier than you think — baking powder and salt. Say what? What do these cake and cookie-baking staples have to do with turkey skin?
When applied to the outside of the turkey, the baking powder’s alkaline chemistry raises the skin’s pH. So what does this science garble mean? Simply put, baking powder and salt evaporate the skin’s moisture more efficiently. When the baking powder comes in contact with the moisture of the poultry skin, bubbles of carbon dioxide form on the skin’s surface, as the bubbles burst the moisture quickly evaporates, leaving you with an evenly crunchy, crispy layer of skin. The added bonus? No crazy deep fryer in sight!
Now you may think you can easily use baking soda instead, but baking soda will impart a metallic taste to the skin, so it’s not recommended.
To get this crispy poultry skin, you make a simple rub. The ratio is one part baking powder to four parts kosher salt (this would be 1 teaspoon of baking powder for every 1 tablespoon of salt). After prepping and seriously drying the outside of your turkey, poke several holes into the fat pockets, these holes will further speed up the crisping process. Then take your rub and smear it liberally over the outside of the skin.
You may feel uncertain about this method, but once you pull the turkey out of the oven, you won’t be disappointed. This crispy skin method isn’t just for turkeys, try it on other types of poultry like duck or chicken.