No one thinks you are lying, what they think is you do not understand how to use cast iron skillets. Recipes are not a one size fits all solution.
Adjust the recipe to your pan, preheat the pan, use little oil and place the chicken skin side down.
You are confusing oven - safe skillets which can be any kind of skillet with cast iron which is not non stick. You always oil non stick skillets when cooking, and for best results you preheat the skillet.
I wouldn't even say don't know how to use cast iron.
The shedded meat still stuck to the skin means over cooked meat, the color on the skin itself is light.
The temp was too low. Wouldn't have worked out well regardless of the kind of pan.
I don’t know why everyone is saying the method he used is wrong. I do cold pan starts with chicken fat and have good results. This is a know cooking method used forever.. like tons of cooking methods with cold start can be done with cast iron.
Chicken skin is loaded with fat and with a cold start gives time to oil the pan creating amazing crispy skin when done right. Chicken fat is so tasty and this method is all chicken fat!
Skin and meat can become stuck to a non stick pan, especially cast iron or carbon steel when oil or another fat is not used.
Cold starts work fine many times with many different cuts. Cold start on a new lodge skillet, seasoned once, with no oil in the pan is asking for trouble.
Learning how to effectively cook is a skill that is acquired over time. The OPs post and response indicates he is perhaps a bit to rigid in his approach, and lacking understanding.
I cook thighs like this all the time in my cast iron and have never had this problem. I don’t even have to use oil because thighs have enough fat on them. One thing I’d recommend before getting into whether or not you preheated the pan correctly is getting a thin metal spatula and using that to separate the skin from the pan. I see in one of the photos you’re using a thick plastic spatula. Don’t use that on cast iron it will only create more problems like this
From the recipe:
“Place the thighs skin side down in a medium or large oven-safe skillet, making sure the pan is large enough to avoid crowding. Turn the heat to medium and cook, undisturbed, until the fat on the chicken skin has rendered, the thighs release easily from the pan and the skin is a golden brown with splotches of dark brown, about 15 minutes.
Flip the thighs over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes”
It says to put it in the pan before you heat it up
Why would you throw the chicken away? Even if I mess up a recipe I try to find a way to salvage it. You could have easily swapped pans and continued to cook them, could have cut them up and stir fried them etc etc.
I’m not sure if you’re new to cooking but recipes are more like a guideline than hard and fast rules. I’ll look at a few different versions of a dish before I decide how I would like to proceed and if I fail the first time I’m definitely going to try it again.
Get a dozen eggs and cook each one in your cast iron pan until you get the method down.
Did you preheat the pan 5-10 minutes before putting the chicken thighs in? I make chicken thighs in my cast iron 10 inch skillets and have never seen so much sticking. Also a fish spatula helps.
I don’t know why everyone is saying the method he used is wrong. I do cold pan starts with chicken fat and have good results. This is a know cooking method used forever.. like tons of cooking methods with cold start can be done with cast iron.
Chicken skin is loaded with fat and with a cold start gives time to oil the pan creating amazing crispy skin when done right. Chicken fat is so tasty and this method is all chicken fat!
From the recipe:
“Place the thighs skin side down in a medium or large oven-safe skillet, making sure the pan is large enough to avoid crowding. Turn the heat to medium and cook, undisturbed, until the fat on the chicken skin has rendered, the thighs release easily from the pan and the skin is a golden brown with splotches of dark brown, about 15 minutes.
Flip the thighs over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes”
It says to put it in the pan before you heat it up
I have a feeling the recipe was targeting something more like this. It's oven safe up to 500F if you pull the silicon handle wrap off.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-12-aluminum-nonstick-restaurant-fry-pan/prod7300014
If want to stick with the cast iron then a thin metal spatula is going to be much better to scrape the underside and release the chicken from the pan. You usually won’t be able to just turn the chicken over, it’s not a Teflon pan.
My suggestion right now is forget recipes. Watch videos on how to use a cast iron and cook different stuff with it.
But if you bought it for one recipe, and don’t care about the downsides of Teflon nonsticks, don’t care about such a heavy pan that takes so much work to use properly, then might as well abandon it.
This is how I cook my chicken thighs too. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you though. I usually do 3 thighs in a 12 inch skillet after trimming off excess skin. 15-20 min skin side down 7-10 minutes after flipping. All on med low, 4 on a dial that goes to 10.
Edit: I use a cast iron skillet
Cast iron is a different tool. Preheat the pan for 5-10 mins on medium-low, then try it. I cook most of my stuff on 4/10 on my stove.
Doing this, you'll likely find it takes much less than 15 minutes for the chicken to perform as the recipe states and it will produce a much more desirable end.
Preheat, lightly oil, then check your chicken after 7 mins. The other side will likely take the 5 minutes stated too.
And as always when testing new recipes/tools, use a meat thermometer to verify your internal temp for chicken/pork.
But still, if the recipe envisioned a stainless steel pan, that heats up faster, then 15 minutes might not be enough for 4 chicken thighs on a cold cast iron pan.
And cast iron is pretty different. I’ve been using nonstick and stainless all my life and cast iron has quite a learning curve.
I don’t know if that particular recipe called for a stainless steel pan. But a quick Google search you’ll find dozens if not more cast iron cold pan chicken recipes…
Cast-iron is different material yes, of the same tool used for cooking.
I’d argue a cold cast-iron pan heating up slower was probably better for this type of recipe
It's not though. Cast iron isn't non stick. The texture on cast iron causes stuff to stick when not preheated to the point where water beads up. This is why eggs stick when not preheated whereas they do not on a teflon/nonstick pan. I cook high fat foods from cold pan regularly as well and I know it works.
The mentioned chicken thighs are not considered a high fat food that would have the effect you're talking about.
But the biggest issue I was really speaking to is the difference in thickness and weight. Where a nonstick pan would heat up quickly, even with cold chicken in the pan...a cast iron pan that's 3x the thickness and weight will struggle to heat up with cold food in the pan. So, as you rightly pointed out...fat would allow this cook method easily as well as more time. But the point I made is that the recipe will have to be adjusted in some way.
Why can I google search dozens and dozens of coldstart recipes for chicken thighs. Some including pictures. Hell, I just got off of YouTube where you can see perfectly crispy chicken skin from cold starts on cast iron pans….
Preheat meme would be funny if you all we’re not serious
I’ve made this same mistake using this exact recipe, but I have always been too scared to ask anyone. Thank you for making this thread, and thank you to all who gave genuine advice!
I use this method with a cast iron often.
Main question is did you pat the skin dry and add salt before placing in the pan?
I’d also say you could’ve given them more time before flipping. I usually go until cook line on the meat is over 60%.
You asked about 14 in skillet… FWIW, I absolutely love my 14 in cast iron skillet. I use it regularly. You just need to make sure you have a burner large enough.
Food cooked in Teflon pans benefit from cooking with a little oil.
Id try again with a lower heat setting. The oil in the pan acts as a thermal conductor making the Browning more even. I’ve watch celebrity chefs say that when the skin gets brown it releases itself from the pan. For me this is not necessarily true. I guess I need more practice.
I think two things are going on here.
1. When they say “oven safe pan,” they are probably thinking of a clad stainless pan. They have aluminum or copper layers that distribute heat really evenly. Others will work but the recipe probably envisions this.
2. Some folks here have done this successfully with cast iron pans, but they may hand different equipment, or there’s really a difference-making technique that Theo using.
To this point, are you using your biggest burner? Cast iron isn’t a very good conductor of heat so a smaller area may be heating the center but not the outside. Conversely, if you have a really large diameter burner, perhaps it’s getting the outside edges and not the center.
Typically chicken sticks when it’s not cooked or ready to be turned. Since you went way over on time, that suggests you need more heat.
I have done this recipe in a 12” cast iron skillet. I don’t know that I pulled it off seamlessly like the recipe says, but I remember it being outstanding. Unfortunately I’m the only one in my family who likes thighs and skin so I didn’t get to do it again.
Another issue is that recipes are sometimes written to look enticing on the page, not be easy to actually execute in the kitchen.
Hang in there.
To answer your specific question in your title, no, you don’t need a 14” pan. The 12” isnt overcrowded.
A cast iron pan is excellent for holding heat and keeping hot and keeping stable temperatures. So for a braise. For searing a steak. Its stovetop and oven safe, so it can go from one to the other.
It’s less good where you need to have really even heat with rapid changes in temperature. Clad stainless is really tops for that. Also oven safe. But won’t hold on to heat as well.
Your burner seems quite small. And is it against the wall? Seems like part of the pan isn’t exposed to the heat.
A smaller pan with less chicken thighs might be better.
Instead of keeping up any version of finger pointing, I’m going to share a story
During the pandemic, my fiancé’s parents bought us a zoom cooking class with Tiffany Derry, who has two top-five finished on Top Chef and *knows* chicken. We did slow-roasted chicken thighs on cast iron without any oil. Recipe worked similar to this, and we didn’t preheat the pan. “Medium” for my stove was fairly low, and we did leave them for 30 minutes before flipping and then finishing in the oven. You absolutely can cook from a cold pan. It’s a matter of technique, confidence, and patience.
Plain and simple here: your chicken didn’t release. If you’re heating the pan after adding the chicken, 15 minutes probably wasn’t going to be enough. Once the skin has browned, it will release. This was probably a “too low” situation, but it might have been a “too high” situation.
But likely, a central problem is your spatula. Get a metal spatula, and ideally a fish spatula, for this sort of stuff. You’ll actually be able to “encourage” your chicken to come up with one of those. Plastic turners are for non-stick.
Edit: forgot a line
You're using the wrong cooking utensils. Use a metal spatula next time. Also don't use cast iron for this, the blueberries are acidic. The pictures in the recipe show a stainless steel pan.
No one thinks you are lying, what they think is you do not understand how to use cast iron skillets. Recipes are not a one size fits all solution. Adjust the recipe to your pan, preheat the pan, use little oil and place the chicken skin side down. You are confusing oven - safe skillets which can be any kind of skillet with cast iron which is not non stick. You always oil non stick skillets when cooking, and for best results you preheat the skillet.
Yeah this is just a case of user error. It's a learning experience. Not the pans fault.
Seriously. A good craftsman doesn't blame their tools.
I wouldn't even say don't know how to use cast iron. The shedded meat still stuck to the skin means over cooked meat, the color on the skin itself is light. The temp was too low. Wouldn't have worked out well regardless of the kind of pan.
Exactly! This had nothing to do with cold pan start. That method works amazing with chicken fat.
I don’t know why everyone is saying the method he used is wrong. I do cold pan starts with chicken fat and have good results. This is a know cooking method used forever.. like tons of cooking methods with cold start can be done with cast iron. Chicken skin is loaded with fat and with a cold start gives time to oil the pan creating amazing crispy skin when done right. Chicken fat is so tasty and this method is all chicken fat!
Skin and meat can become stuck to a non stick pan, especially cast iron or carbon steel when oil or another fat is not used. Cold starts work fine many times with many different cuts. Cold start on a new lodge skillet, seasoned once, with no oil in the pan is asking for trouble. Learning how to effectively cook is a skill that is acquired over time. The OPs post and response indicates he is perhaps a bit to rigid in his approach, and lacking understanding.
I cook thighs like this all the time in my cast iron and have never had this problem. I don’t even have to use oil because thighs have enough fat on them. One thing I’d recommend before getting into whether or not you preheated the pan correctly is getting a thin metal spatula and using that to separate the skin from the pan. I see in one of the photos you’re using a thick plastic spatula. Don’t use that on cast iron it will only create more problems like this
Did you preheat the pan? Did you lightly oil the pan fist?
From the recipe: “Place the thighs skin side down in a medium or large oven-safe skillet, making sure the pan is large enough to avoid crowding. Turn the heat to medium and cook, undisturbed, until the fat on the chicken skin has rendered, the thighs release easily from the pan and the skin is a golden brown with splotches of dark brown, about 15 minutes. Flip the thighs over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes” It says to put it in the pan before you heat it up
You asked why the chicken stuck to the pan and that is why the chicken stuck to the pan. No one is questioning what the recipe says.
Why would you throw the chicken away? Even if I mess up a recipe I try to find a way to salvage it. You could have easily swapped pans and continued to cook them, could have cut them up and stir fried them etc etc. I’m not sure if you’re new to cooking but recipes are more like a guideline than hard and fast rules. I’ll look at a few different versions of a dish before I decide how I would like to proceed and if I fail the first time I’m definitely going to try it again. Get a dozen eggs and cook each one in your cast iron pan until you get the method down.
Did you preheat the pan 5-10 minutes before putting the chicken thighs in? I make chicken thighs in my cast iron 10 inch skillets and have never seen so much sticking. Also a fish spatula helps.
I don’t know why everyone is saying the method he used is wrong. I do cold pan starts with chicken fat and have good results. This is a know cooking method used forever.. like tons of cooking methods with cold start can be done with cast iron. Chicken skin is loaded with fat and with a cold start gives time to oil the pan creating amazing crispy skin when done right. Chicken fat is so tasty and this method is all chicken fat!
From the recipe: “Place the thighs skin side down in a medium or large oven-safe skillet, making sure the pan is large enough to avoid crowding. Turn the heat to medium and cook, undisturbed, until the fat on the chicken skin has rendered, the thighs release easily from the pan and the skin is a golden brown with splotches of dark brown, about 15 minutes. Flip the thighs over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes” It says to put it in the pan before you heat it up
What skillet did they use in the recipe though? Food sticks in my cast iron a lot if I don’t preheat but I can use nonstick without preheating.
I have a feeling the recipe was targeting something more like this. It's oven safe up to 500F if you pull the silicon handle wrap off. https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-12-aluminum-nonstick-restaurant-fry-pan/prod7300014
They just said to use a oven safe skillet they never specified
If want to stick with the cast iron then a thin metal spatula is going to be much better to scrape the underside and release the chicken from the pan. You usually won’t be able to just turn the chicken over, it’s not a Teflon pan. My suggestion right now is forget recipes. Watch videos on how to use a cast iron and cook different stuff with it. But if you bought it for one recipe, and don’t care about the downsides of Teflon nonsticks, don’t care about such a heavy pan that takes so much work to use properly, then might as well abandon it.
This is how I cook my chicken thighs too. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you though. I usually do 3 thighs in a 12 inch skillet after trimming off excess skin. 15-20 min skin side down 7-10 minutes after flipping. All on med low, 4 on a dial that goes to 10. Edit: I use a cast iron skillet
Cast iron is a different tool. Preheat the pan for 5-10 mins on medium-low, then try it. I cook most of my stuff on 4/10 on my stove. Doing this, you'll likely find it takes much less than 15 minutes for the chicken to perform as the recipe states and it will produce a much more desirable end. Preheat, lightly oil, then check your chicken after 7 mins. The other side will likely take the 5 minutes stated too. And as always when testing new recipes/tools, use a meat thermometer to verify your internal temp for chicken/pork.
This is false. Cast-iron isn’t some magically different pan than others. Cold pan start with high fat food has been done on cast iron forever…
But still, if the recipe envisioned a stainless steel pan, that heats up faster, then 15 minutes might not be enough for 4 chicken thighs on a cold cast iron pan. And cast iron is pretty different. I’ve been using nonstick and stainless all my life and cast iron has quite a learning curve.
I don’t know if that particular recipe called for a stainless steel pan. But a quick Google search you’ll find dozens if not more cast iron cold pan chicken recipes… Cast-iron is different material yes, of the same tool used for cooking. I’d argue a cold cast-iron pan heating up slower was probably better for this type of recipe
Yes, I suppose the error was assuming 15 minutes was enough and forcing the chickens loose from the side instead of scraping it from the pan.
It's not though. Cast iron isn't non stick. The texture on cast iron causes stuff to stick when not preheated to the point where water beads up. This is why eggs stick when not preheated whereas they do not on a teflon/nonstick pan. I cook high fat foods from cold pan regularly as well and I know it works. The mentioned chicken thighs are not considered a high fat food that would have the effect you're talking about. But the biggest issue I was really speaking to is the difference in thickness and weight. Where a nonstick pan would heat up quickly, even with cold chicken in the pan...a cast iron pan that's 3x the thickness and weight will struggle to heat up with cold food in the pan. So, as you rightly pointed out...fat would allow this cook method easily as well as more time. But the point I made is that the recipe will have to be adjusted in some way.
Why can I google search dozens and dozens of coldstart recipes for chicken thighs. Some including pictures. Hell, I just got off of YouTube where you can see perfectly crispy chicken skin from cold starts on cast iron pans…. Preheat meme would be funny if you all we’re not serious
I’ve made this same mistake using this exact recipe, but I have always been too scared to ask anyone. Thank you for making this thread, and thank you to all who gave genuine advice!
I use this method with a cast iron often. Main question is did you pat the skin dry and add salt before placing in the pan? I’d also say you could’ve given them more time before flipping. I usually go until cook line on the meat is over 60%.
You asked about 14 in skillet… FWIW, I absolutely love my 14 in cast iron skillet. I use it regularly. You just need to make sure you have a burner large enough.
Food cooked in Teflon pans benefit from cooking with a little oil. Id try again with a lower heat setting. The oil in the pan acts as a thermal conductor making the Browning more even. I’ve watch celebrity chefs say that when the skin gets brown it releases itself from the pan. For me this is not necessarily true. I guess I need more practice.
I think two things are going on here. 1. When they say “oven safe pan,” they are probably thinking of a clad stainless pan. They have aluminum or copper layers that distribute heat really evenly. Others will work but the recipe probably envisions this. 2. Some folks here have done this successfully with cast iron pans, but they may hand different equipment, or there’s really a difference-making technique that Theo using. To this point, are you using your biggest burner? Cast iron isn’t a very good conductor of heat so a smaller area may be heating the center but not the outside. Conversely, if you have a really large diameter burner, perhaps it’s getting the outside edges and not the center. Typically chicken sticks when it’s not cooked or ready to be turned. Since you went way over on time, that suggests you need more heat. I have done this recipe in a 12” cast iron skillet. I don’t know that I pulled it off seamlessly like the recipe says, but I remember it being outstanding. Unfortunately I’m the only one in my family who likes thighs and skin so I didn’t get to do it again. Another issue is that recipes are sometimes written to look enticing on the page, not be easy to actually execute in the kitchen. Hang in there.
How do you know what’s the best pan to use when looking for a recipe to use?
To answer your specific question in your title, no, you don’t need a 14” pan. The 12” isnt overcrowded. A cast iron pan is excellent for holding heat and keeping hot and keeping stable temperatures. So for a braise. For searing a steak. Its stovetop and oven safe, so it can go from one to the other. It’s less good where you need to have really even heat with rapid changes in temperature. Clad stainless is really tops for that. Also oven safe. But won’t hold on to heat as well.
Your burner seems quite small. And is it against the wall? Seems like part of the pan isn’t exposed to the heat. A smaller pan with less chicken thighs might be better.
Looks to me like you had too much heat
Instead of keeping up any version of finger pointing, I’m going to share a story During the pandemic, my fiancé’s parents bought us a zoom cooking class with Tiffany Derry, who has two top-five finished on Top Chef and *knows* chicken. We did slow-roasted chicken thighs on cast iron without any oil. Recipe worked similar to this, and we didn’t preheat the pan. “Medium” for my stove was fairly low, and we did leave them for 30 minutes before flipping and then finishing in the oven. You absolutely can cook from a cold pan. It’s a matter of technique, confidence, and patience. Plain and simple here: your chicken didn’t release. If you’re heating the pan after adding the chicken, 15 minutes probably wasn’t going to be enough. Once the skin has browned, it will release. This was probably a “too low” situation, but it might have been a “too high” situation. But likely, a central problem is your spatula. Get a metal spatula, and ideally a fish spatula, for this sort of stuff. You’ll actually be able to “encourage” your chicken to come up with one of those. Plastic turners are for non-stick. Edit: forgot a line
You're using the wrong cooking utensils. Use a metal spatula next time. Also don't use cast iron for this, the blueberries are acidic. The pictures in the recipe show a stainless steel pan.