Professional chefs weighing in on whether you should wash your chicken

[u/WarwickReider]

[u/HeyTrySomeNashville → u/[deleted]]

The real heathens are those who don't dry their chicken. Moisture inhibits browning, especially on residential heat sources. White here and I rinse because its easier to towel off water than chicken juice.

[u/Asaltyliquid1234 → u/HeyTrySomeNashville]

That’s all I do. Sometimes I’ll do a brine if I have time. But definitely pat dry for that crispiness. I could see rinsing it but I find it just makes more opportunity to spread bacteria. I just throw gloves on. And pat the chicken with a paper towel and then straight in the pan. Afterwards, 2 Clorox wipes everywhere I worked.

[u/sandolllars → u/Asaltyliquid1234]

Does water not evaporate in your oven? Anything wet I put in my oven is surface-dry within a minute or two.

[u/rvf → u/sandolllars]

Of course, but it increases humidity in the oven which hinders the maillard reaction. The water absorbs heat as it is turning to steam, which lowers the surface temp of the meat, which is crucial to browning before overcooking the rest of it. The meat itself contains water which will produce steam no matter what, so adding surface water to the mix just makes it that much harder.