A while ago I posted a recipe in which I rendered some bacon fat and then added the bacon as well as the fat to bread dough to make super delicious bacon buns. In that video I hinted that one could do the same with chicken skin and I asked the audience if they would like to see me do it. The answer was an overwhelming yes!
So, here we have the chicken fat bun. This recipe requires the skin of six chicken thighs which should also give enough meat to fill all there buns up.
The method is pretty much the same with one difference which is that this recipe only requires a single fold. I lowered the hydration here a little as my first attempt turned out way too sticky. The chicken skin produced a lot more fat than the bacon did.
This recipe makes 4 large buns. You can even make a loaf instead.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the chicken crackling –
140g (5oz) chicken skin
For the dough –
130g (4.6oz) water
3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast
6g (0.21oz) salt
1 medium sized egg (50g; 1.75oz)
15g (0.53oz) honey
30g (1.05oz) whole wheat flour
270g (9.5oz) white bread flour
1 egg for glazing
To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.
The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration.
If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.
Method
- Put the chicken skin in a medium sized pan and place on medium-high heat. Cook for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Flatten the skin to ensure it becomes completely crispy. Once it looks ready take it off the heat and drain the fat off using a sieve. Leave both the fat and the skin to cool down completely. Once the skin has cooled down chop it into smaller pieces.
- Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, salt, honey, whole wheat flour, egg, chicken fat and skin. Mix well to dissolve the salt and yeast. Add the white bread flour and mix to a dough.
- Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Fold.
- Cold ferment for 18 – 24 hours.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Pre-shape, cover, and rest for 30 minutes.
- Shape and place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray. Cover.
- Final proof 1 – 2 hours. *During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off.
- Glaze the buns with egg, leave to dry for 5 minutes and glaze again.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
Leave to cool down and make yourself a chicken sandwich!
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
