This Viral TikTok Hack Will Flip The Way You Cook Drumsticks On Its Head
If one were to follow a more-or-less traditional drumstick recipe, like the one offered by Southern Living, you would line the chicken legs on a half-sheet pan. However, one TikTok user, @rajmin2025, has uploaded a video that literally turns that idea upon its head.
All you have to do is tie the leg of the drumstick to the wire tray so that the bone of the leg sticks through the gap and the bulbous part of the chicken dangles beneath. The video shows a time-lapse in which the legs brown and crisp to perfection. This is because the suspended legs allow the heat to rise through them more evenly. Beforehand, they would lie on their side, meaning the half of the leg directly touching the metal would always receive more direct cooking than the other.
The hack has a second aspect, however. The video continues to show the fats cooked out of the chicken dripping onto the vegetables beneath, flavoring them. "This," one response declared, "is the biggest hack I have ever seen."
Some TikTokers don't quite understand how cooking works
Instead of approval or disapproval, however, the biggest response to the video is incredulity. Not incredulity over the hack itself, but the number of people who believe that the dripping of chicken fat into the vegetables will cause a cross-contamination of salmonella. In fact, so many are incredulous that finding the stray comment that reads, "Yay salmonella on my potatoes," proves difficult. "The comments here make me think some people burn cereal," one sighed.
To address the concerned with something other than sarcasm, we should turn to Our Everyday Life. When talking about roasting chicken with vegetables, the outlet does indeed note that cross-contamination can be an issue. However, the issue is due to the contact raw chicken makes with your hands and knives during preparation. The 165 degrees you should roast chicken at will kill the harmful bacteria. Moreover, the vegetables will reach 165 degrees before the chicken and will kill the salmonella that drips upon them from the still-heating chicken.
Now that you know it's safe, you should try the pairing as it serves as the basis for many easy dishes.