The Best Chicken Cooking Tools, According to Serious Eats Staff

We love our chicken recipes here at Serious Eats, and we know you, our readers, do too. Be it a golden whole roast chicken or crispy braised chicken thighs, our chicken guides cover nearly everything you can do with poultry. Over the years of cooking chicken in the test kitchen and at home, our editors have amassed their favorite gear for perfect results every time, including super accurate thermometers and the best cast iron braisers. From spatchcocking chickens to gingerly flipping chicken thighs, these tools are editor-approved and will bring a whole new level of precision (and food safety!) to your cooking.

Editor-Approved Chicken Cooking Picks:

Combustion Inc. Thermometer

For roasts like a whole chicken, the Combustion Inc. thermometer is by far my favorite. The single leave-in wireless probe has eight sensors that take readings along the length of the probe, giving you a much better picture of just how cooked the bird is inside, not just in one place. It’s also able to predict doneness to help you gauge when dinner will be ready. I love it: Just jam the probe deep into the bird, set a target temp, and roast away while tracking progress on the device’s paired screen unit, or on your phone via the connected app. It’s expensive, but it’s honestly a significant jump in kitchen thermometer tech. — Daniel Gritzer, editorial director

Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Braiser

An enameled cast iron braiser is perfect for roasting a whole chicken over potatoes. And it makes a pretty serving tray, too. I have the 3.5-quart size and wouldn’t change a thing about it! — Rochelle Bilow, commerce editor

Breville Smart Oven Pro

I love a good roasted chicken: It’s gotta have crackling skin, juicy meat, and perfume my house with its schmaltzy aroma. But sometimes, well, it’s just too dang hot out to turn on the oven. Enter the Breville Smart Oven Pro, a toaster oven that lets me roast a chicken on a Tuesday on the hottest, most humid day of the year if I want to. It doesn’t let off as much heat as my standard oven, and the super convection expedites the process and also helps the chicken skin get so crisp, it shatters under my knife. — Grace Kelly, associate commerce editor

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

Nobody wants dinner with a side of Salmonella. The Thermapen ONE was my go-to instant-read thermometer for making sure my skillet chicken was cooked to the right internal temperature. The instant-read feature really is instant (so fast!) and I can always trust that it reports with utmost accuracy. Even though I’m now vegetarian, I still use my Thermapen ONE nearly daily to check the temp of baked goods, leftovers, and much more. — An Uong, commerce writer

OXO Good Grips 2-Piece Plastic Cutting Board Set

Handling chicken involves a lot of juices, and the CDC recommends keeping “raw chicken and its juices away from ready-to-eat foods.” Back when I cooked chicken more regularly, I was grateful to have these OXO Good Grips cutting boards that kept meat contained during prepwork, especially with its juice groove that prevents liquids from seeping onto the counter. I also love that the rubber trim keeps the boards stable on any surface, no matter what I’m chopping these days.  — An

ThermoWorks ChefAlarm

I use this ThermoWorks ChefAlarm as my oven thermometer, which gives me an accurate reading of my oven’s temperature. Perfect roast chicken starts with brining…and knowing your oven temperature. — Genevieve Yam, culinary editor

OXO Poultry Shears

I don’t spatchcock a chicken all that often, but when I do I grab our favorite poultry shears. Our top pick from OXO easily removes a chicken’s backbone, snipping through slippery skin with aplomb. It has grippy, looped handles and a simple to engage and disengage safety mechanism. Basically, when I need a pair of poultry shears I’m so glad I have one. — Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, associate editorial director

OXO 12-Inch Silicone Tongs

I make chicken thighs a lot—they’re one of my favorite proteins for dinner since they’re so easy to marinate with all kinds of flavors and then just pop into the oven or on the grill to cook. And without a doubt, every time I make chicken thighs, I always reach for my kitchen tongs. They’re the easiest way for me to transport the meat from their marination bowl to the cooking vessel, and are incredibly helpful for flipping the chicken on the grill, as well as plating once I’m ready to serve. For someone who makes chicken as much as I do, having a good pair of tongs on hand is an absolute must, and this silicone pair from OXO is my favorite. — Yasmine Maggio, associate editor

Why We’re the Experts

• An Uong is a commerce writer with Serious Eats and Food & Wine.
• She used to cook chicken multiple times a week and, as a vegetarian today, she dearly misses fried chicken.