Chicken Drumsticks

Description

Chicken Drumsticks are perfect and cost affective for any occasion whether on the braai, crumbed and fried or in a warm stew

Here is a nice recipe

• Chicken drumsticks – While I’m using chicken legs for this recipe, chicken wings and skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs can also be used.
• Baking powder (for crispy skin!) – Baking powder is a tried and proven ingredient used in my baked chicken wings to make chicken skin crispier.
• Spice mix – We’re using a combination of smoked or plain paprika, onion and garlic powder here.
• Flour – This is used to bulk out the seasoning so we can coat the chicken legs evenly all over.

1. Seasoning – Mix the spices and flour together in a bowl. Use a shallow bowl as it’s easier coat the chicken legs in the seasoning.
2. Coat drumsticks in oil – The oil makes the seasoning stick to the chicken as well as helping the skin go nice and brown as it bakes. I find it’s easiest to rub it all over using my hands to ensure each drumstick is well-coated.
3. Stretch skin – The more skin that stays put over the flesh, the crispier your drumsticks! So pull and stretch the skin to cover the flesh as best you can. Some of the skin will still shrink back as it bakes anyway, but if you skip this step totally you’ll end up with a mostly naked drumstick 😭
4. Coat legs in the seasoning – Dip, turn, use fingers for sprinkling on top as needed. Then shake off the excess, otherwise you end up with quite a thick layer of pasty-ish coating on the chicken legs.
5. Rack on tray – Place the legs on a rack on a foil-lined tray. Why foil-lined? It makes your clean up life easier. Why rack? For crispy undersides! Don’t have a rack? Line with paper instead and turn the drumsticks halfway, and expect to add an extra 5 to 10 minutes to the bake time to make the top crispy.

   Spray with oil – Then spray the legs with oil. Be generous! It makes them more crispy and golden, almost like a frying effect!

6. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan), rotating the tray once to help them cook evenly. Then crank the oven up to 220°C/430°C (200°C fan) and bake for a further 15 minutes until they’re crisp and golden. You might find you need an extra 5 minutes to get the skin crispy, depending on how evenly the heat is distributed in your oven.

   Once they’re ready, serve them up straight away while they’re nice and hot!