Cooking chicken thighs and drumsticks

Merlin5 · 24 Jan 2013 at 22:24

When I cooked on gas with an old free standing gas cooker, I would roast the thighs and drumsticks for about an hour and the skin would be very soft and practically fall off the meat. Now I'm cooking with a built in electric Bosch oven and after 45 minutes the skin is very tough and doesn't fall off. I tasted the chicken to see if it's cooked and it tastes fine although the texture doesn't quite seem fully cooked to me, it's a bit 'jellyish'. The instructions say 220c for about 40 to 45 minutes. Should I cook on a lower heat but for longer?

Actually, skip that. I just turned the heat down and cooked them for longer, so over an hour and they've come out fine. Chicken texture is good now and the skin seems softer for some reason. Not that I eat the skin mind you.

Rotty · 24 Jan 2013 at 23:21

get an oven thermometer and check the accuracy of your oven

Merlin5 · 25 Jan 2013 at 00:11

Rotty said:
get an oven thermometer and check the accuracy of your oven

It's a new Bosch, it can't be wrong

Ok, I'll do that. Do you think it's possible that the oven temp is lower than the 220c I set?

ganesh · 25 Jan 2013 at 00:20

220 seems quite high, usually I stick the oven on at 180/200 for 45 mins or so, just sounds like you're overcooking them.

Rotty · 25 Jan 2013 at 00:47

Merlin5 said:
It's a new Bosch, it can't be wrong
Ok, I'll do that. Do you think it's possible that the oven temp is lower than the 220c I set?

Bosch are v good but my(not Bosch) oven is 10C below what you set it to

RedMogg · 25 Jan 2013 at 00:47

Beware if it's a fan oven, you'll need to lower cooking temps (around 10-20 degrees) and cook for slightly less time.
If you fancy doing something different with the thighs, check out my guide for Thai Green curry