Partially Boning

Appears in

Published 1989

With a boning knife, cut off the wing tip and middle section, leaving the largest wing bone. With the breast of the bird down, slit the skin along the backbone from neck to tail. Cut out the wishbone.
Carefully cut and pull the flesh and skin away from the carcass, working evenly with short sharp strokes of the knife. After each cut, ease the flesh and skin away from the carcass with your fingers.
Cut the flesh from the saber shaped bone near the wing, and remove the bone.
When you reach the ball-and-socket joints connecting the wing and thigh bones to the carcass, sever them so that they are separated from the carcass but still attached to the skin.
Continue cutting the breast meat away from the bone until you reach the ridge of the breastbone, where the skin and bones meet. Turn the bird round and repeat on the other side. At the end, the meat will be detached from the carcass and the skin will cling only along the ridge of the breastbone.
Pull gently to separate the breastbone and carcass from the flesh (the skin tears easily). The carcass and other bones can be used to make stock.
The partially boned bird (above), with leg and wing bones left in, is now ready for stuffing.