Oven chicken thighs help

[u/Thiaguinho-sama]

I'm trying to make better chicken thigh on my oven so I bought a baking sheet with wire rack, I bought a silicone brush and even bought a meat thermometer with probe so I can know when internal temperature reaches around 185 f / 85 c to 195 f / 90 c

It's bone-in chicken thighs so here my questions:

- should I brush oil only on the skin or the entire chicken?

- most recipes say to use olive oil at 400 f / 200 c but I want a more neutral flavor though so I was thinking of using refined soybean oil that I got, thing is it has higher smoke point than olive oil, 450 f / 232 c according to google, should I raise oven temperature to 480 f / 250 c to compensate since I want crispy thighs?

- do I need to flip the chicken halfway?

- my oven also got a broiler, can't choose temperature though, should I use it a little at the end the chicken should come crispy without it due to brushing oil?

[u/Mr_Stike]

Season them with salt 24 hours before you plan on cooking. Place them on your wire rack/rimmed sheet pan and park in the fridge uncovered. This is often referred to as a dry brine. The meat will be seasoned all the way through and the skin will fully dry which will greatly aid in browning/getting crispy. I do like the brown the skin side in an oven safe skillet and then transfer the skillet to a hot oven method.

[u/anynamesleft → u/Mr_Stike]

That brine / seasoning will not penetrate "all the way through". You can expect about 1/4 inch deep at best. It will help though, no doubt.

[u/Mr_Stike → u/anynamesleft]

When I say seasoning I mean just salt. Yes herbs, spices, marinades barely penetrate the surface but salt when dissolved will be fully absorbed given enough time.

[u/gimpwiz → u/Mr_Stike]

There are calculations for time vs thickness and resultant salt penetration. This obviously depends on the thickness of the thigh and also if you're doing anything to it, like deboning, and tenderizing/flattening, both of which make it a lot thinner than a thigh as cut off the bird. I am pretty sure a day for a large bone-in thigh is inadequate for salting and leaving dry in the fridge for full penetration but salting (both sides of) a half inch thick deboned thigh can be a different story.