00743 11 40 C 11 55. bbq chicken legs in oven 69 40 69 C 47. Oven baked chicken legs are a simple dinner the whole family will love. Just trim, pat dry, simple spices, and bake them in the oven.
You will have perfect crispy, juicy chicken legs every time with these easy step by step photo instructions. Kids, grandparents, and mom and dad all love a crispy drumstick. Now you can have them anytime you want. Skip to the next section if you want to skip the story. Last year I took several weeks working on grilled chicken legs to get them just right. We were having a large retirement party for several family friends, and I was providing the meat course for a hundred people. I initially wanted to grill all 150 pieces of chicken, but after I got the smaller batch perfected, it was obvious that mass cooking that large was not possible on a home grill.
Not 165, which is the safe chicken temperature, but 185 produces the moist tender chicken legs you will ever have. So I switched my attention to the oven with excellent results. Since then, I have done mainly oven drummies. It always brings a child-like smile to my wife’s face. Cooking DO NOT SKIP THE PAT DRY, or you will not have crispy skin. See Chicken: To Rinse or Not To Rinse? Check the cut joint area for loose parts.
You may be handing this to a child and don’t need loose bone aspirated. I like cooking this on a rack to get the meat off the pan, and with convection, all sides of the legs will be nice. Cook at high temp, and you must use a thermometer to be sure you get to 185. I often add the Cayenne, but if you have little ones, skip it.
7:2:1 and 7:2:2 but just some coarse salt and pepper or just the seasoning of your choice. Skip the seasoning and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes to make great oven-baked BBQ drumsticks. How Long to Bake There are three variables: the chicken leg size, oven temperature, and the desired internal temperature. ALWAYS COOK TO A FINAL INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. Remember, all these numbers vary by your oven, also.
The lower the temperature you use, the less crispy your chicken legs will be. There is a difference between safe and done. Also, a lot of recipes cook “until fluids run clear. Excuse me, but what does that mean? You should be standing there, poking it with a knife and losing all the moisture — not a good idea. Also, I suspect that it may even be below the safe minimum temperature.
While I cook my chicken breast to 165, there is way too much fibrous tissue in chicken legs. They will be tough and stringy. Check the comments if you need confirmation. Other Notes Why Use a Rack to Bake? A lot of the fat drained during cooking on the rack. You can cook this without a rack, but you will be happier with a rack.