It's amazing the skills you can reach adulthood without.

[xiphias]

I'm finally learning how to butcher a chicken before cooking. I think I did a pretty good job with this one, and I only used two knives -- a boning knife and a paring knife. And I think I could have done the whole thing with just the paring knife. I'm starting to understand how chickens are put together, and therefore, how to take them apart.

The trick is to see if you can disassemble a chicken without actually cutting through any bones, and as little cartilage as possible. It's actually rather fun. Kind of like a puzzle.

I doubt I'll ever get good enough to have the SPEED of a professional chef, but I may, eventually, be able to get the chicken butchered that NEATLY. It'll just take me ten times as long. But, for a home cook, that's not too bad.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Cool! Now for real fun, you should try de-boning a whole chicken without dismembering it. (-:

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Um.

I don't think I'm at that level yet. But if you spot me use of a very, very accurate and tunable teleporter, I bet I could figure it out.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I've only done it once, myself, and it took so long I was afraid the bird wouldn't be edible afterward. And there were some, um, errors I kind of had to tuck skin around.

But it was pretty cool, in a gross anatomy-meets-high cuisine sort of way.

Who the heck's working on that teleporter, anyway?

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I am, but it's hard to get good help.

Jacques Pepin can debone an entire chicken (and leave it whole) in a minute flat. Worth watching.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

Cool. I still don't know how to do that, myself. My cooking-with-meat skills involve pretty much none of the butchery side of things. Eventually it would make sense to learn, but probably can wait till I have a real kitchen. :)

There is a line for due sount

[wolfdancer.livejournal.com]

My sister can debone a chicken with her bare hands, in under 5 minits. Well i had to lear how to do that, after that coment. It was a fanish chalange. You start with a whole fryer. tho if you star with a split it is a bit simpler. USe your thumb to run alone the bone and joints and pop the meat off the bone, cooked or raw. just foloe the lines of the bones and you can do it in under 5 minits I have done it in 3 using a cooked chicken, if i was not being that picky.

I'm too lazy

[shmuelisms.livejournal.com]

So we have our fresh chickens chopped up for us. But I can butcher a chicken myself, if I have to. Good for you. Don't you just love, the "texture" of room-temperature uncooked chicken? For some mysterious reason, It can totally freak me out some times.

Re: I'm too lazy

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It's like. . . leathery. But squishy.

Don't forget

[shmuelisms.livejournal.com]

the sticky and greasy qualities of the texture too. :-P

Re: Don't forget

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I was leaving those out on purpose. Seriously. I typed them. And then I deleted them. Because I didn't want to write them. 'Cause, eew.