How to bone a chicken: the simple and quick technique to do it at home

Boning a chicken is an operation that can discourage the less experienced in the kitchen. But actually it is not at all difficult, just become familiar with this technique and, once you have learned how to do it, you will see that it will be very simple. It's just a matter of learning to recognize the points where the meat comes off the joints better and how to use the knife in the right way.

Boning a chicken is an operation that can discourage the less experienced in the kitchen. But actually it is not at all difficult, just become familiar with this technique and, once you have learned how to do it, you will see that it will be very simple. It's just a matter of learning to recognize the points where the meat comes off the joints better and how to use the knife in the right way.

Of course in the supermarket, as well as in the butcher shop, you can also find whole boneless chickens, but this job will allow you to save a little money. In addition, becoming familiar with meat will give you much more satisfaction when you prepare your tasty recipes.

Once boned, you can cut your kitchen into small pieces and freeze it, prepare a tasty chicken galantine, cook it on the grill or stuff it with a delicious filling, because it will still be perfectly intact. If you are ready to learn this simple technique, let’s see how to bone a chicken quickly and easily.

Bring the necessary tools

First, equip yourself with the necessary tools. You will need a rather large cutting board and a well-sharpened pointed knife. The more flexible the blade, the better you will be able to work. In this way you will be able to cut the skin well along the surface of the bone, even in the most difficult points.

You can rinse the chicken under running water before the operation, but it is not essential to do it right away. Many recommend washing the meat at the end, once boned, to prevent any germs or bacteria from forming.

The important step is instead the removal of hair from the skin; the easiest and fastest way to do it is to pass the surface of the chicken over the flame of the stove for a few seconds.

Remove the carcass

Well, at this point we can move on to boning the meat. Unlike the rabbit, for example, chicken must be boned on its stomach. Then place it with the chest facing the cutting board and the back facing up. Identify the spine with your fingers, it will serve as a line to follow for the cut.

Proceed from top to bottom. Cut the skin with the tip of the knife and cut it by hand along the spine. Scrape against the bone so as to uncover it well.

With one hand hold the knife, with the other try to lift the flaps of leather on both sides. Keep the blade parallel to the bone. Go down the sides, following the ribcage, all the way down to the thighs. If you see that the thighs resist because the skin pulls, you can make small incisions.

At this point you should have almost reached your chest. If you find it more comfortable, you can turn the chicken over. The advice, however, especially if you are inexperienced, is never to work with the tip of the knife facing you.

Remove the meat from the thighs and wings. Help yourself with your fingertips, putting pressure on the meat where you feel the presence of a small bone. Use the tip of the knife to scrape and clean as much as possible. You should now be able to completely remove the ribcage carcass. You got a partial chicken boning.

Boning wings and thighs

Proceed by removing the bones also from the thighs and wings. With the tip of the knife cut the first thigh. As you did with the ribcage, cut with the blade parallel to the bone, scraping it so that the meat tends to come off more easily.

Hold the end of the thigh bone with one hand and pull, holding the rest of the chicken still with the other hand. Do this vigorously. The bone should now have slipped out; if there are some fibres attached, remove them with the tip of the knife. Do the same thing with the other thigh.

The operation is the same also for the wings. Cut the bone of each wing lengthwise and scrape until it is free from the flesh, raising the side flaps. Hold the meat firmly with one hand and with the other pull the bone of the wing until it comes out.

Check that there are no bones left in the flesh. In that case, proceed by scraping with the tip of the knife. Now it's up to you to decide what to do with the chicken; you can open it completely, lay it on the cutting board and cut it into pieces, or recompose its original shape and stuff it.