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    » Home » Recipes » Poultry Recipes » Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks

    Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks

    Posted: Jul 1, 2013 · Updated: Jul 8, 2019 by Jenny McGruther · This site earns income from ads, affiliate links, and sponsorships.

    chicken-drumstick-horizontal-1-of-1

    I'm a lover of lard and butter, and all those rich, delicious old-school traditional fats. So while I've nothing against fat, I do try to avoid frying foods at all costs.  I can't handle the mess, and the expense of wasted fats leaves me dizzy.  I'm not one to complain about the cost of real food, but neither am I one to waste it.  Instead, I rely on my oven (and skill) to yield the same results, and one of my family's favorite foods is Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks.

    I tuck the drumsticks away into picnic baskets, serving them with cole slaw, potato salad, or fermented beets. I toss a few bottles of homemade root beer or water kefir into the basket, and we head on our way - to the park, to the creek or to the various open-air concerts that come together each summer in our little town in the mountains.

    Brining for Tender Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks

    The prolonged cooking required for oven-fried chicken drumsticks to acquire they're crispy skin presents a potential problem: dried out meat.  When I prepare drumsticks, I start first by brining the meat in a solution of salt, water and honey flavored by a single chile pepper.  Brining helps to improve the the texture, flavor and moisture of many cuts of poultry, but pasture-raised poultry sees even greater benefits as it tends toward dryness.

    Trick to Getting Crispy Skin on Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks

    To keep the skin on your drumsticks from being soggy, remember to drain the brine very well, and pat the drumsticks thoroughly dry before baking them.  Finally, crisp the skin with about 15 minutes in a very hot oven.  Then serve.

    chicken drumsticks vertical (1 of 1)
    Rate this Recipe
    5 from 1 vote
    4 servings

    Oven-fried Chicken Drumsticks

    Brining the chicken drumsticks for a few hours before baking ensures that the meat is tender and moist, while the skin crisps in the oven. Pack them away for picnics, or serve with mashed potatoes, gravy and buttered vegetables.
    Prep Time4 hrs 5 mins
    Cook Time1 hr
    Total Time6 hrs 5 mins
    Print Save RecipeSaved! Click to Remove Ads

    Ingredients

    For the Brine

    • 3 tablespoons finely ground real salt
    • 1 tablespoon honey
    • 12 chicken drumsticks
    • 1 dried guajillo chile pepper or other dried pepper

    For the Breading

    • 1 cup all-purpose einkorn flour
    • 2 teaspoons finely ground real salt
    • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
    • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
    • ½ teaspoon cayenne powder
    • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

    Instructions

    • Whisk 3 tablespoons sea salt and honey with about 2 quarts warm water to create a brine. Place chicken drumsticks into a large mixing bowl, cover with brine, and drop in a guajillo chile pepper. Cover, and transfer to the refrigerator where the chicken drumsticks should marinate for 4 hours. Drain off the brine, discard the chile, and pat the drumsticks dry.
    • Heat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    • Whisk the flour with salt, nutritional yeast, thyme and cayenne pepper. Dredge the chicken drumsticks in the seasoned flour until well-coated, then arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutesr, turning once, then increase the oven temperature to 425 and continue baking a further 15 minutes.
    Rate this recipe!If you loved this recipe, give it a rating. Let us know what works, what didn't and whether you made any adjustments that can help other cooks.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Julie says

      December 14, 2020 at 7:32 pm

      5 stars
      Very good and crispy!! All the family liked it.

      Reply
    2. Carolyn says

      May 31, 2015 at 12:21 am

      I've been oven-frying chicken (including pastured) for 50 years using my mother's method: preheat oven to 425, put chicken in roasting pan skin-side down and roast 20 minutes; turn chicken to skin-side up, drop temperature to 400, and roast 20 minutes. Serve. Perfect and crispy. I do this with just rubs, or shaken in seasoned flour. If chicken is particularly lean, I sometimes spray the pan first, but it's usually not necessary.

      Reply
    3. Kathleen says

      March 10, 2015 at 4:20 pm

      Jenny, I have to tell you that this is the absolute best way to "fry" chicken in the world!! 🙂 My husband asks for this quite often, and brags to others that his wife 'make the best fried chicken'... etc. I have even brined the chicken (I use the entire cut up chicken, not just the drum sticks) for a couple of days, and "ran out of days" because we were heading out of town, so I froze the chicken in the brine, and when we came home I thawed it and continued on with the recipe. .. That was probably the "best" we have ever eaten.. but it's ALWAYS good! I use almond flour for the nut flour. Thank you for making me a hero in the fried chicken world 🙂

      Reply
    4. Parveen says

      January 26, 2015 at 8:16 pm

      Hi, Thank you for the recipe, can't wait to try it...can the chicken be skinless or needs the skin on? Thanks again!

      Reply
      • Jenny says

        January 26, 2015 at 8:24 pm

        I keep the skin on - the flavor and crunch is better that way.

    5. Jennifer says

      September 02, 2014 at 6:39 pm

      Would it be OK to brine them for longer than 4 hours?

      Reply
    6. Becki says

      February 18, 2014 at 2:57 am

      My family LOVES these chicken legs! Thank you so much for a amazing way to make chicken during the cold winter months. The brining is the absolute key to keeping them so tender and moist. The last 15 minutes of crisping them up is so brilliant. Sometimes baked chicken is so soggy and yuck...but this skin is so eatable! Even the breading is 3 year old approved - with all the peppers and seasonings!! It's very mild.

      Thank you again for an excellent chicken recipe.

      Reply
    7. Luke says

      November 25, 2013 at 5:08 am

      Chicken came out great, but when i went to turn it halfway through cooking , the skin was stuck to the parchment paper...any ideas?

      Thanks !

      Reply
    8. Amy Raphael says

      October 28, 2013 at 3:15 pm

      Can't wait to try this for my poultry loving husband! My oven has a convection setting - would you use it and if so how might you modify your baking times?

      Reply
      • mark solesky says

        January 24, 2015 at 12:37 am

        using convection oven, cook @ 325 degrees for 22.5 minutes ,turn & cook for additional 22.5 minutes. Then increase temperature tp 400 degrees & cook for 15 minutes. Hope this helps.

    9. Jennifer says

      October 01, 2013 at 6:29 pm

      Hey Jenny - wondering if you've ever tried this in your clay pot?

      Reply
    10. tiffany oconnell says

      September 28, 2013 at 3:11 am

      Thanks Jen for this receipe. I made this for dinner without the chili and it was awesome. The girls loved it too and i am looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow for lunch!

      Reply
      • Jenny says

        September 28, 2013 at 1:45 pm

        It is awesome! One of our favorites, for sure.

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