Deboning Chicken & Chicken Stock

The purpose of this part of the lab was to learn how to debone chickens. This included separating legs, wings, breasts, and tenders, along with extra tips about parts of the chicken to include and avoid.

Safety and Sanitation

Gloves were worn whenever handling chicken. Gloves were discarded after use and hands were also washed. Work surfaces were also washed and sanitized, to prevent harmful contamination from raw chicken.

Tools and Equipment

The tools I used were gloves, a filet knife, a cutting board, and 3 metal bowls.
The filet knife was used to cut all the parts of the chicken, and the yellow cutting board was used to prepare the chicken on. One bowl was for scrap, one bowl was for the carcasses to make chicken stock, and the last one was for all the wings, legs, and breasts. Finally, the gloves were to avoid contamination on my hands from the raw chicken.

Ingredients

The only ingredient was one whole raw chicken. No changes were made to this in the lab.

Procedure

First, each station was set up with a secured yellow cutting board, a filet knife, and 3 metal bowls - one for the carcass to go in chicken stock, one for product, and one for scraps. Next, one whole chicken was placed on the cutting board. Each of the limbs was stretched and dislocated to loosen the joints. Then, both the wings were cut at the armpits, and through the joints. Each wing was then cut into 3 parts through the joints: the shoulder, the main section, and the wingtip. The wingtip was put in the carcass bowl, and the rest was added to the product bowl. Next, the oysters were found on the chicken, and cuts were made to separate the oysters from the body. Then, the legs were carefully cut away from the chicken body, with the knife cutting through the joints to ensure no bones were cut. The chicken legs were then placed in the product bowl. After this, the chicken was flipped over, and the skin was removed. The chicken membrane and extra fat was also removed in the process, and discarded as scrap. Next, the knife was cut into one chicken breast, while pressing against the sternum. The knife cut all the way down, past the chicken tender, and the breast was removed. The collarbone was also removed in the process. Next, the chicken tender was separated from the breast, and the same process was repeated for the other breast. Finally, the breasts and tenders were placed in the product bowl, and the carcass was placed in… the carcass bowl.

Challenges

During this lab, I occasionally found it difficult to debone the chicken legs, and removing the breasts took a long time. In the future, I could resolve these issues with more practice. After all, this was my first time.

Successes and Growth

As far as my successes, I deboned the chicken wings easily and quickly. Overall, I learned a lot about deboning chickens in this lab, and learned many useful skills for the future. This was my first experience doing any preparation with raw meat in general.

Advice for Beginners

When it comes to deboning, a sharp knife can cut bones quite easily, however you should always avoid cutting through bones so that you don’t have little bits of bone in your meat. Instead, cut through joints; the gaps in between bones. In addition, when cutting a chicken, it’s very helpful to know which side of the chicken is the front, and which side is the back. Make sure you know this before beginning.

Final Evaluation

I would rate the appearance as a 7/10, since all my cuts included the correct parts of the chicken, however they weren’t very neat. As far as the labour intensity, it would be a 5/10, as cutting the chicken was difficult and didn’t feel super rewarding. Despite that, it is a very important skill to have, as chicken and chicken stock is used in a lot of cooking.

The purpose of this part of the lab was to learn how to make chicken stock. This included cutting of different vegetables to go in the stock as well.

Safety and Sanitation

Gloves were worn whenever handling chicken. Gloves were discarded after use and hands were also washed. Work surfaces were also washed and sanitized, to prevent harmful contamination from raw chicken.

Tools and Equipment

The tools used were a chef’s knife, a cutting board, a peeler, a medium cooking pot, a couple large metal bowls, and a scale.

The chef’s knife was for cutting ingredients, and the peeler was for peeling things like carrots. The metal bowls were for measuring and mixing the ingredients, and the pot was for cooking the stock.

Ingredients

The ingredients used were approximately 1kg of chicken bones, half an onion, a bay leaf, a few stems of thyme (one herb box of thyme), ½ tsp of peppercorns, 4 parsley stems, 1 clove of garlic, 1 carrot, and one celery stalk.

Procedure

Same as with the deboning, each station was set up with a cutting board, a knife, and some metal bowls. A scale was used to get rough estimates of the ingredients needed. First, about one kilogram of chicken bones was added to the stock bowl. Next, all the vegetables were gathered at the station, and all the vegetables (other than the carrot and onion) were washed. After this, the carrot was peeled and chopped in half, along with the onion. The celery was also cut in half, and these ingredients were added to the chicken bones in the bowl. The parsley, thyme, bay leaves, black pepper, and garlic was also added. The total amount of the vegetables equaled roughly ½ of the weight of the bones. Next, the bowl of ingredients was dumped into a large pot, and the pot was placed on the stove. The pot was then filled with water, and heated to a simmer for several hours. Finally, the fat was scraped off of the remaining stock, and the stock was poured into several labelled plastic containers.

Challenges

I was not working on the stock during this lab, however I will say that the procedure seemed relatively simple compared to some other labs. My challenge was perhaps finding a group.

Successes and Growth

In this lab, I learned about what makes chicken stock, what it is for, and the benefits of making it in-house. I also learned why very few things in the kitchen are actually boiled.

Advice for Beginners

My advice: You often need more water than you think you will to fill a large pot. Make sure to fill the pot enough that all the ingredients can cook properly.

Final Evaluation

The final stock was a 9/10. It tasted great in all of the soups we used it for, with most of the flavour coming from the herbs cooked in the stock. The texture was very consistent, and it appeared that there were no particulates visible in the stock. The work to make the stock was also relatively light, and minus the cook time, it would have only taken one class to make.