De-boning a Bird
In the wonderful movie, Julie & Julia, de-boning a chicken is presented as the biggest challenge facing Julie in her quest to cook through Julia’s book. In reality, de-boning a bird is fairly simple, and with practice takes just a few minutes. I take a little longer with turkeys since I like to remove all of tendons in the drumstick.
This turkey was stuffed, smoked, and sliced up for sandwiches using this sourdough bread:
Also served with cherry chutney.
OK, so how long does that REALLY take?!?! I need a slow motion option for your video haha! I think after that movie most folks became even more intimidated by this…great job on demystifying this chicken challege!!!
That is the J&J movie, not yours :O)
It usually takes 5-10 minutes. It took somewhat longer with this 15lb. turkey since it was still partially frozen and I had to take a phone call in the middle. I strongly recommend the video from Jacques Pépin in the which he shows how to debone any bird with just 4 cuts. Maybe in a million years I’ll be as adept as Jacques.
I tried to find a link to the video, but a quick search did not turn it up. Here is where I purchased the DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Pepin-Techniques-Recipes/dp/B000LXHJZA/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266865758&sr=8-11
OK, you totally inspired me. I began by deboning my chicken thighs before grilling tonight. A moderate success overall…but it did take me 5-10min for only 4 thighs haha! Really great job you did! My trouble is knowing how to following the bone perhaps?!?! Any advice?? Next I’ll do a breast, then the whole bird! Thanks again for the show and reference :O)
Check out the beginning of this video I did that shows a little on how to debone a thigh.
http://vimeo.com/3430858
Next time I debone something, I’ll try to make a video that shows the technique more clearly. A very sharp knife is one requirement. Bandaids are also useful if you are a klutz like me.