De-boning Chicken Thighs…how to.
De-boning Chicken Thighs…you’ll never find these at the supermarket or even your local butcher.
Why would you want to de-bone chicken thighs? Because, you can’t buy these. Well it is very very unlikely that you will ever see them for sale. You can buy boneless skinless thighs, but they are missing the best part, the skin. I am not sure why this is. It would save the step of removing the skin and increase the weight per thigh, getting the butcher/store more money for each thigh due to the increase in weight. I think Boneless Skin-on thighs are absent from the butcher case, as a remnant from the low-fat diet trends of the 80s and 90s. Or, maybe it is just a lack of awareness of how awesome they are. This is a great beginner friendly butchering project. You will need a sharp serrated paring knife or boning knife. A chef knife will be awkward, but it could work if it's all you have. A serrated paring knife is not the same as a “steak knife”, just so you don’t get any ideas;) Here is a link. I keep 5 of these on hand. https://amzn.to/3RISB8y
Place a thigh skin side down in front of you on a cutting board. You will be able to see the end of the bone on each side of the thigh. One side should clearly have the round “ball” part of the femur; the other side of the bone will likely have some connective tissue and some cartilage from where it was attached to the drumstick. Orient the “ball” side pointing at your 12 o’clock and the drumstick side pointing at 6 o’clock.
Use a sharp serrated paring knife or boning knife. Trace along the left side of the bone from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. You are just releasing the meat from the side of the bone. Do not cut through the meat to the skin. Trace the right side of the bone from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. The bone should be clearly exposed.
Lift the thigh by the “ball” side of the bone. Cut down toward the bone and staying close to the bone, release it from the meat. When you get to the bottom portion of the bone where the drumstick was connected you will need to release the bone by cutting around any excess cartilage.
Save the bones in cryovac in the freezer until you have enough to make Chicken Stock. Here is a link to a Duck Stock video, but it is the same process with chicken bones. https://www.thestrengthkitchen.com/recipes/duck-stock-how-to
Place the thigh Skin-side down on the cutting board and butterfly/release any thicker portions of the meat with your knife to allow the thigh to lay in an even thickness. There is alway one spot on each thigh that has a bit more muscle mass that rises higher/thicker. Opening up this chunk of meat will help the thighs to cook at the same speed.
You can de-bone all of the thighs and store in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days depending on the expiration date. Or, de-bone season, preheat your oven and cook them the same day. Alternatively, if you can de-bone a whole bunch of thighs and then cryovac them and freeze them, so they are ready to go. If you pack them flat in the cryovac they will defrost super fast, which makes them a great last minute dinner choice.
Thighs can take a lot of abuse. They are quite difficult to overcook. You really need to cook the heck out of them to make them dry. Thighs are heartier than breasts and have more connective tissue and fat. This makes them take a bit longer to cook, but they will be moist and tender with less worry about overcooking.
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