Unbrined chicken on the left versus brined chicken on the
right.I’ve experimented with tossing certain animal
preparations with a mixture of baking powder and salt a day
in advance in order to improve their crispness (see All-Belly
Porchetta, here). The salt acts as a brine, while the baking
powder raises the pH of the skin, causing it to brown more
efficiently and the thin film of protein-rich liquid around it
to form microbubbles that can add crispness. I tried this
method on my fried chicken, but it ended up drying the skin
out too much, making it tough to get the breading to remain
attached down the line.
Knowing that I’d be soaking my chicken in buttermilk the
next day anyway, I wondered if I’d be able to kill two birds
with one stone by replacing the water in the brine with