Chicken Skins...

Alfietinker

Sorry if this is a silly question...

I usually buy chicken breasts but have started to see the error of my ways! Now I couldn't quite stretch to a whole chicken so as a compromise I bought some chicken thighs and drumsticks (free range), which we don't usually eat but was sooooo much cheaper than the breasts.

Now DH and I can't stand skin, partly because it's so fatty and the thought of it just isn't nice.

Is there an easy way to remove the skin from chicken before cooking it? I tried to pull it off and it just didn't want to come. So I thought "oh well, we'll just eat round it". I browned the thighs (making a casserole) and when I took them out the pan I was horrified at the ammount of fat left over. I thought if I leave the skin on the fat would surely be absorbed into the meal? (We're on diets so not good)

In the end I had to sort of half peel, half hack the skin off but it seemed to come off in two layers?

What am I doing wrong?

liz545

Try using kitchen scissors/poultry shears to snip the skin off, it should come off quite easily!

Alfietinker

Mmm, I haven't got any sharp kitchen sissors (sp?), and I realised how blunt my knife was. I may ask for a decent one for Christmas. So do I just keep snipping/cutting at the 'join' pulling at the same time?

Addiscomber

Yup. Pretty much. It isn't always easy to get off, sometimes you have to have a good tug, especially at the thin ends of drumsticks, and yet the darn things are slippery.

Alfietinker

Ewww, that's why we've always bought breasts! I keep chooks and just keep thinking of them as I have to part the feathers to lice them. :eek:

beverleyhills

I keep the skin on if I'm roasting chicken and remove it before serving.

For casseroles you need to skin before cooking. Hold the end where you want to start away from you, hold the skin and pull towards you. It will start to roll back toward you and give enough to pull really hard to get it off the end.

Alfietinker

Now roast chicken is something I haven't achieved yet! Well I managed to get the skins partly off last night and cooked them in a mediterranean type tomato casserole which we'll reheat for tea tonight. I'll let you know how I get on. I put the drumsticks in the freezer for another day.

i_wanna_save_money!

I always ask my butcher to remove the skin off drumsticks for me and he doesn't seem to mind. The first time I asked him I felt terribly cheeky but he said thats what he's there for. Also, I find chicken pieces cheaper off him than tescos anyway.

Alfietinker

Oooh! Now I'm working up to be able to buy a whole chicken and ask the butcher to joint it for me (it seems the cheapest way). Do you think he'd also take the skin off then?

I haven't bought a whole chicken this way yet as I've got to make sure hubby accepts the new way (rather than breasts - he's quite fussy). :rolleyes:

I did buy a chicken once but the only free range ones he had were frozen and wouldn't fit in the ice box at work so he sawed it into quarters - including the giblet bag! :eek:

Raksha

Try using a piece of kitchen paper in your hand to grasp the skin with (works for fish skin as well)

V.Lucky

I asks my butcher to joint a whole chicken for me, and he is more than happy to do this, and still only charges me the normal price for a chicken too. It's really just a couple of extra chops of his knife! Great for the summer and BBQ's as works out really cheap this way as there are all sorts of cuts to suit all tastes.

I think butchers are fab, can you see Mr T doing this?? I think not!!

Makes it easier ot pull skin off too if they are in smaller pieces.