How To Debone Chicken Thighs
There is a very good reason to learn how to Debone Chicken Thighs. Now if you have been paying attention to your average shopping trip, the cost of chicken has been going through the roof, much like everything else, and the cheapest pack you can buy is the most flavourful and the most work — Skin-on With Bone Chicken thighs!
That said, most of us will want to eat that without chewing on the bone in the middle, so here is a quick guide on how to Debone Chicken Thighs! (With or Without taking the skin off!)
Equipment
There is not a great deal you will need to Debone Chicken Thighs. Seriously, two items, have a look.
- Knife of choice
- Chopping Board of choice
The board matters little, as long as it is sturdy, and you can use it for meat and with a sharp knife.
The Knife, however, can be a little more “personal preference”. You can use just about any knife for the job, but remember that chicken thighs are not actually that big — so if you grab your biggest available butchers knife, you might be overcompensating.
Sometimes a smaller, more precise tool can be better. If you have access to a fancy set of kitchen knives then your Honesuki knife comes recommended — though I would guess that if you have picked out your culinary kitchen set then you probably don’t need a guide on how to Debone Chicken Thighs.
Ingredients
If you do not know what ingredients you need to Debone Chicken Thighs, firstly have a look below, secondly how?
- Chicken Thighs (With the bone in and the skin on)
Do not be ashamed, I led you to this trap, you are smart, believe in yourself.
Method
Okay! You have prepared your workspace in your kitchen, it’s time to actually talk about How to Debone Chicken Thighs. Let’s get started!
Step 1
Really, it depends on if you want to keep the skin on, or take it off.
To take the skin off, hold your chicken thigh down with one hand, and with the other hand take hold of the skin at one side, then pull, readjusting your grip on the skin as needed to get as close to the thigh as you can, until the skin has been removed. Rinse and Repeat until all your chicken bones are skinless. If you want to, you can season and fry this up for an extra crispy snack.
To keep the skin ON, then… don’t take it off. Ignore the previous paragraph. Place your chicken thighs on the chopping board skin-side down, and get ready for Step 2.
Step 2
Unless you come across some form of mutant chicken bone, you should only have one bone to remove — other than if the bone has shattered for some god-forsaken reason, in which case I pity you.
Take your knife, and use the point to score down the bone, steadily angling to the side of the bone to strip the meat from it. Do this down both sides of the bone, stripping as much of the meat as you can manage, this is where a good knife and practised technique will be helpful to you.
Step 3
Once you have cleared the meat from the sides of the bone, you want to lift your chicken thigh and fold one side under it, so that you have both sides of your chicken thigh meat on one side of the bone, pulled taut so that you can now slice between the bone and the meat at the back of the thigh. This should leave you with just the tips of the bone still attached to the thigh.
Step 4
Now, you need to cut through the meat holding the tips of the bone. You can do this as close to the bone as you like, and it will vary depending on if you want to keep the cartilage (some find this to be a yummy snack, I however find it revolting and sickening to find unexpectedly in my mouth), or remove it.
Either way, you will be looking to take your blade, and slide it in to the gap created between the back of the bone, and the meat. Then, cut towards the tip of the bone and separate that meat. Repeat for the other side, and THAT is How to Debone Chicken Thighs. Well done you!
Do this for the rest of your thighs as needed, or you can do it when you get your chicken home from the shopping before you pack it all away! Impress your favourite person or family with your excellent culinary tactics and skills!
Secret tip — if you want to make chicken broth/stock, then keep the bones somewhere! Frozen is ideal, but it’s just one more way to be self-sufficient, and make sure that no part of your sacrificial meat chicken gets wasted!
Final Thoughts
I hope that you found this guide useful! Feel free to comment with your success stories and tell me all about how you definitely didn’t detach digits during this detailed doing.
For other content here at Showing You the Whey, why not have a look at How to Make Your Own Baking Extract, or maybe How to Make Rice Flour — either way, there is surely something more for you with us here!
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