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Deboning (Désossage) a Chicken
Appears in
Published 2010
- Lay the chicken breast-side down. Cut down along the center of the back.
- Using short strokes with the tip of the knife, scrape along the bone, following the contours of the chicken. Pull the skin and flesh away as you go.
- Continue down the chicken, until the thigh joint is exposed. Scrape the joint clean.
- When the shoulder blade is exposed, slip the knife underneath to disengage it.
- Continue down along the ribcage, all the way to the thigh joint.
- Cut around the thigh joint to disengage it from the socket.
- Once the joint is disengaged, scrape along the thigh bone toward the knee joint.
- Once the flesh has been scraped from the bone, pull the thigh loose, exposing a thin membrane. Cut away the membrane to expose the breast meat.
- Scrape off any flesh from the shoulder blade.
- Starting at the ribcage, begin to separate the breast meat.
- Scrape down, following the curve of the breast bone.
- Cut the joint at the base of the shoulder blade.
- Hold the wing drumstick and push up to expose the joint. Cut through the cartilage to free the wing and continue freeing the breast meat.
- Cut through the cartilage to remove the shoulder blade.
- Scrape all the way down until the breast meat is attached only at the sternum.
- Now turn the chicken over and repeat on the other side.
- Gently scrape away the flesh to expose the cartilage that runs along the edge of the sternum.
- Carefully cut the flesh, being very careful not to cut through the skin.
- Once one end is cut, follow along the sternum until it is completely freed.
- The skin should be completely intact.
- The final step is to remove the leg bones.
- Cut through the flesh along the length of the thigh bone.
- Following the length of the bone, continue around scraping it clean.
- Locate the knee joint and cut through the cartilage.
- Pull the bone back to “break” the joint.
- Finish cutting any remaining attached cartilage.
- Cut around the “knee” joint to expose it.
- Using the back of the knife, start scraping the flesh off following the length of the bone.
- As the flesh is disengaged, fold the meat inside out to expose the bone and gently pull.
- Cut to disengage.
- Find the end of the wing bone, and as with the leg, cut around the joint.
- Scrape along the length of the bone and cut free.
- Now remove the leg meat.
- Separate the flesh from the skin using the tip of the knife.
- The leg and thigh meat will have a thin silvery skin which will need to be removed.
- Holding the knife at a very shallow angle, scrape the flesh off of the “skin.” Reserve the meat for the filling.
- Trim the white meat of any nerves, sinew, and any remaining bits of cartilage.
- The chicken is ready to be filled.
