Cast Iron Chicken Supreme

I had been using a ProCook stainless steel pan for six months. Solid pan, no complaints, but I was ready for the upgrade. Bought a cast iron skillet and started running everything through it.

Everyone says stainless steel is easy to look after. I disagree. I was reaching for Bar Keepers Friend constantly, scrubbing every cook, and food still stuck more than it should have. Cast iron is the opposite. Rinse with hot water, dry on the hob, wipe with a thin layer of oil. Done in under a minute. I do not understand how people say cast iron is high maintenance. It is genuinely easier.

The first month with the new pan was a working tour. Ribeye, smash burgers, sea bass fillets, jumbo prawns, prawn linguine for meal prep. Each cook taught me something about how the pan holds and transfers heat. The chicken supreme is the one I am writing up because it took two attempts to nail, and the failure points were specific enough to be worth documenting.

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Why The Pan Matters For This Cook

A bone-in skin-on chicken supreme has two things going for it that pair perfectly with cast iron. The skin needs aggressive direct heat to render and crisp, and the bone slows the internal cook so the meat stays juicy. Cast iron holds heat better than any other pan in a home kitchen, which is exactly what crispy skin needs. Then the whole pan goes into the oven for the finish, no transfer, no extra dishes.

The chicken comes from Haywood Farm in Somerset, picked up at Notting Hill Farmers Market with my usual eggs run. Two pieces, around 500g total, bone in, skin on.

How It Comes Together

flowchart TD
    A[Pat chicken bone dry] --> B[Salt both sides]
    B --> C[Light olive oil on skin]
    C --> D[Pepper and smoked paprika on skin]
    D --> E[Cast iron on setting 4, 5 min empty]
    E --> F[Add avocado oil, wait for shimmer]
    F --> G[Skin side down, 5-6 min, do not move]
    G --> H[Rotate pan 180° at 3 min mark]
    H --> I{Skin deep golden?}
    I -->|Yes| J[Flip, skin side up]
    I -->|No| K[Another minute, recheck]
    J --> L[Whole pan into oven, 200°C fan]
    L --> M[Skewer test from 15 min]
    M --> N{Skewer hot to wrist?}
    N -->|Yes| O[Pull, rest 8 min on board]
    N -->|No| P[Back in oven 3-4 min, retest]
    O --> Q[Butter baste in pan, spoon over chicken]

Why It Works

Element	Role
Bone in	Slows internal cook, meat stays juicy
Skin on	Renders fat during sear, gives crispy crust
Cast iron sear	Concentrated direct heat, deep maillard crust
Oven finish	Even heat through the meat, no flipping needed
Rest before slicing	Juices redistribute, meat stays moist
Butter baste finish	Lifts the fond, adds richness, restaurant move

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Ingredients (2 pieces, serves 2)

Ingredient	Brand / Source	Amount
Chicken supreme, bone in skin on	Haywood Farm, Somerset (Notting Hill Farmers Market)	2 pieces, ~500g total
Fine sea salt	Maldon	~6g (3g per piece)
Black peppercorns	Any, fresh ground	To taste
Smoked paprika	Any	½ tsp total
Olive oil (for the skin)	Any	2 tsp
Avocado oil, refined (for the pan)	Chosen Foods	1 tbsp
Unsalted butter	Yeo Valley	30g
Garlic cloves	Any	2, smashed
Fresh thyme or rosemary	Any	1 sprig (optional)

On salt timing
If you have time, salt the chicken 30 minutes to a few hours ahead and leave it uncovered in the fridge. The salt draws moisture out and the surface dries, which means crispier skin. If you do not have time, salt right before cooking, it still works.

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Method

Step 1, Preheat the oven

Oven on first, before anything else. 200°C fan, or 220°C conventional. Most home ovens take 10 to 15 minutes to fully come up to temp.

Step 2, Prep the chicken

Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking, ideally 45. Cold chicken hitting a hot pan cooks unevenly.

Pat both pieces bone dry with paper towels. Both sides. Press firmly. Wet skin steams instead of crisps, this is the single biggest factor in getting the skin right.

Step 3, Season

Salt both sides of both pieces, around 1.5g per side. Sprinkle from a height for even coverage.

Light rub of olive oil on the skin side only, about a teaspoon per piece. Rub in with your fingers so the whole skin surface has a thin coat.

Few twists of black pepper from the grinder, then a light dusting of smoked paprika across the skin. Around ¼ teaspoon per piece. Do not rub the paprika in, the oil is the glue. Press gently with fingertips so it sticks.

Quick salt and pepper on the underside too.

Step 4, Heat the pan

Cast iron on the hob, setting 4 on a 1-6 hob (medium-high, not full whack). Empty pan, no oil yet. Five minutes to come up to temperature.

When the pan is wisping a faint amount of smoke or a flicked drop of water evaporates instantly, it is ready.

Heat lesson learned the hard way
First attempt I cooked at setting 5. Skin scorched before the fat had rendered properly, and the meat overcooked from the residual heat. Cast iron retains heat aggressively, setting 4 is correct for chicken. Save setting 5 and 6 for steak and smash burgers.

Step 5, The sear

Tablespoon of avocado oil into the hot pan. Tilt to coat the surface. Wait for it to shimmer, about 10 seconds.

Lay both pieces in skin side down, away from you. They should hiss aggressively. Press gently with a fish slice for the first 30 seconds to make sure the skin makes full contact.

Do not move them. Do not poke. Five to six minutes.

Rotate the pan 180 degrees on the hob at the three minute mark. Cast iron has hot spots, and rotating evens out the colour between the two pieces. This was the single biggest fix between attempt one and attempt two.

At five minutes, lift one piece slightly with tongs and check the underside. Should be deep golden brown. If pale, give it another minute.

Step 6, Flip and into the oven

Flip both pieces with tongs. Skin now faces up, raw underside on the pan. Do not sear the second side, the oven will handle it.

Whole pan into the oven on the middle rack. Oven glove, the handle is hot.

Step 7, Roast and check

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Two pieces of bone-in supreme cook faster than one big crown-style piece, so checking from 15 minutes is correct. The first time I followed a 25 minute timing for a single piece and overshot.

At 15 minutes, take the pan out and do the skewer test. Push a metal skewer into the thickest part of the bigger piece, deep into the meat but not touching bone. Hold for 5 seconds. Pull out and touch the metal to the inside of your wrist.

Skewer feels	What it means
Hot, makes you flinch	Done, pull and rest
Properly warm but bearable	2-3 more minutes
Just warm	4-5 more minutes
Cool	Way underdone, give it 6+ more minutes

For 500g split into two pieces at 200°C fan, mine were done at 17 minutes. Bigger pieces will go closer to 20.

Get a thermometer
The skewer test works, but a digital instant-read thermometer ends the guesswork. Pull at 72°C internal in the thickest part of the meat (not touching bone). Carryover during the rest takes it to 74-75°C, which is the safe target.

Step 8, Rest

Pull the chicken onto a board or warm plate. Rest for 8 minutes minimum. Do not cover tightly with foil, steam ruins the skin. A loose foil tent is fine, or just leave it.

Cutting into the meat before resting dumps the juices on the board and you end up with dry chicken. The rest is part of the cook, not optional.

Step 9, Butter baste

While the chicken rests, the cast iron is still full of fond and rendered chicken fat. Pan back on the hob, setting 3 (low-medium). Add 30g butter, two smashed garlic cloves (skin on is fine), and a sprig of thyme or rosemary if you have one.

The butter foams and melts into the chicken juices. Tilt the pan so the butter pools at the lower edge, then spoon it over the rested chicken on the board. Keep spooning for 30 to 45 seconds. Get the buttery juices over the skin and the meat.

Plate up immediately. Pour the remaining pan juices over the top.

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Two Attempts, What Changed

First attempt I overcooked it. Second attempt I dialled it in. The fixes were specific.

Variable	Attempt 1	Attempt 2
Hob setting for sear	5	4
Sear result	Skin scorched, fat under-rendered	Deep golden, fat properly rendered
Oven check time	25 min (single piece timing)	15 min (two piece timing)
Pan rotation during sear	None	180° at 3 min mark
Inconsistency between pieces	One darker than the other	Both matched
Final result	Slightly overcooked, dry around the edges	Juicy, crispy skin, evenly cooked

The pan rotation was a small thing that fixed a real problem. Cast iron heats unevenly across its surface, with a hot spot directly above the hob ring. Whichever piece sits over the hot spot browns harder. Rotating the pan halfway through the sear evens it out without having to move the chicken.

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Nutrition, Per Piece

Macro	Amount
Calories	~420 kcal
Protein	~52g
Carbohydrates	~1g
Fat	~23g
Fibre	0g
Sugar	0g

These numbers are for the chicken cooked with skin on, including the seasoning oil and a portion of the butter baste. High protein, low carb, fat mostly from the rendered skin and finishing butter.

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Summary

Detail	Value
Source	Haywood Farm, Somerset
Pan	Cast iron skillet, 26cm
Cut	Bone-in skin-on supreme
Total weight	~500g (2 pieces)
Hob setting for sear	4 of 6
Sear time	5-6 min skin down, no flip in pan
Oven	200°C fan, 15-20 min
Pull temp	72°C internal, rest to 74-75°C
Rest	8 min minimum
Finish	Butter, garlic, thyme baste in the pan

The pan does the work. Pat dry, season, hot pan, sear, oven, rest, baste. The only real skill is reading the heat and pulling at the right time.

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Cooked May 2026. Second attempt nailed it.