The Searing Trick Gordon Ramsay Uses For Bone-In Chicken Thighs

We've all been stuck at the grocery store, paralyzed in thought because we don't know what we're making for dinner. In these dark times, it's best to reach for old standbys. For many, that might be chicken breast, but we're here to advocate for chicken thighs.

While they might not be at the top of everyone's personal ranking of chicken cuts, they are a great dinner option anytime. This is especially true if you don't know what you're going to do with them yet. Chicken thighs are versatile, and almost always full of flavor no matter how they're cooked. Because they're loaded with natural juices and can be purchased bone-in they're practically impossible to overcook, in fact, some say that's the best way to enjoy them.

One reason that many folks get turned off by the dark meat of everyone's favorite poultry is that there are often remnants of pink around the bone. While you may not need to worry about this as much as you think, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is also here to put your worries to rest with his easy cooking solution.

Ramsay is well-known throughout the culinary world and beyond. He came up in his career by developing his own award-winning restaurants and cookbooks but exploded into popular culture for his untempered rage on the reality series "Hell's Kitchen". Since then, he's become many people's go-to for culinary knowledge.

His new series on YouTube is called Next Level Kitchen, and in one of his recent promotions, he gave away a choice tip for cooking chicken thighs. Ramsay says that if you're worried about the pink at the center of your chicken thighs, all you need to do is give them a few quick jabs with a small knife. This is supposed to allow the heat to penetrate deeper into the meat, and further cook the meat closer to the bone.

This is also a great tip for anyone who loves to work with marinades in the kitchen. By putting holes in the meat's flesh, you allow the marinade to penetrate more deeply. This will lend more of the marinade's flavor to parts of the meat that were otherwise unreachable.

Ramsay's trick should take care of most of the pink in your meat, but really there's nothing there to worry about anyways. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) points out that while we are trained to believe that pink chicken flesh is unsafe to eat, it's sometimes due to a chemical reaction. The gas from ovens often reacts with the hemoglobin in chickens to give off a pink hue that is safe to eat.

The more important metric to judge safe consumption by is the chicken's internal temperature. The USDA says that as long as every part of the chicken thigh has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then it should be safe to consume.

Also, because chicken thighs are so difficult to burn you can play it extra safe and overcook them without having to suffer through dried-out, flavorless meat. In fact, because chicken thighs are loaded with connective tissues that only break down between 140 and 195 degrees Fahrenheit you'll actually end up with more tender and delicious cuts of meat. Just be sure to keep your temperature low and slow to maximize the time spent in that sweet spot.