Page 49 - Barbecue Chicken Made Easy
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terrific frying fat. The crispy skin pieces (cracklins) make a wonderful snack when sprinkled with salt and our Poultry Seasoning. Once the skin is removed, you can reverse sear the boneless meat, and when searing you can get a nice crust.
Boneless
Now we get tricky. You can actually remove the bones from chicken parts. It is fairly easy to bone out the breasts and thighs. Drumsticks and wings? That’s a job we leave for the pros.
Deboning the breast is simple. Slide the knife on one side of the breastbone and then down alongside the ribcage and gently stroke back and forth angling the blade towards the rib cage. Keep blade against bone and with a few cuts, you have a boneless breast and a ribcage for your stock.
Now handle the breast carefully. There are actually two muscles: The bulk of the breast is the pectoral muscle (pectoralis major), but on the back side, where the ribs were attached, there is a thin strip of meat, called the chicken tender or chicken finger (pectoralis minor). It is also sometimes called the tenderloin, but it
