A new skill for Kyle

There are times when I just do not feel like doing it all. Other times, I do not mind, but sometimes my “do it all gene gets up and leaves. Today was one of those times…

Whenever I do a big shop at Sam’s Club, I try to grab at least 1 rotisserie chicken for dinner. The weeks can get stressful sometimes and this is a huge help on reducing stress for me. Some weeks I will even grab 2 if it is an extra crazy week. You can do a lot with a rotisserie chicken. A lot of different meals can be made from the meat of just one chicken. My kids in particular like to have chicken and cheese sandwiches. Sometimes they will just eat the chicken, cheese, and bread – forget about making the sandwich.

Now with buying this many rotisserie chickens, comes a fine art…carving the chicken. Let me confess that I do not carve a chicken. I started initially, then I realized that there was a LOT of meat being left behind. One is wasteful if they are carving a chicken (or a turkey for that matter). I decided there had to be a better way. It is more like de-boning an already cooked bird. It is way more pleasant than de-boning it before it has been cooked. Trust me on this.

Of course, I seem to be the only one in the house that knows this technique so it always defaults to me when it comes time to “carve” the chicken. Dang it!

I decided that it was time for someone else to learn…

Kyle is learning to “de-bone” his first rotisserie chicken. He was a little hesitant at first. I had to assure him that it would not hurt the chicken at all. “Just get your fingers in there and pull the meat away from the bone.”

You actually start by pulling the chicken legs (and things) off first. They are usually tied together, so you have to get them out of the way. Untie them, and pop them off at the “hip” bone so to speak.  You now have your leg quarter detached. Put it on your plate.

Then you split your breasts off the bone. This is a little trickier as it is sometimes harder to get the entire breast to come off in one piece. If it splits, it will split where you would butterfly the breast – the top layer will usually come off first and then the lower layer. To do this, you find the firm ridge from the about where the “wishbone” is to the breast bone is. Get your thumbs in there and split it apart. You can now run your thumbs down the ridge of the breast bone on both sides lifting the breast meat off the bone by slipping your thumb (or finger, whatever you are more comfortable with) underneath it as you go.

You then work your way around the chicken (top and bottom, front and back) as you go removing the remaining meat until all you have left is bones…you can go back and de-bone your legs and thighs that you have already placed on your plate.

You will have a plate of fairly in tact chicken meat.

You will have a chicken carcass still in its container that you can now put the lid back on and dispose of. All you have to do is wash your hands. No knife to wash. No cutting board to wash.

It only takes a few minutes to do this process and it can be done warm or cold. I recommend gloves if you are going to do it warm. I have a pair of “heat proof” gloves that I use to do it hot. Normally I will let them cool almost completely before doing this.