Page 52 - Barbecue Chicken Made Easy

carefully carve it away from the meat and toss it into the stock (and yes, we know, that’s a picture of a turkey thigh).
Pounding Chicken Breasts for Even Cooking
Here's the problem with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They don't like you. They are tear shaped for a reason. To make you cry. Take them much past 160°F in the center and they turn to cardboard. But if you cook the center of the bulge to 160°F, then the tapered edges will be dry.
And with that big bulge, they just don't fit on a sandwich properly, leaving no room for lettuce and tomato. Then there's the skin. It only covers part of the meat and it shrinks when it gets hot.
But there is a solution. Pound the meat out flat to about 3⁄4 inch thick. Because it is thin it cooks fast! This technique comes in handy for many chicken dishes, indoor or out: Chicken Rollups, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chicken Marsala, Chicken Paillard, Chicken Cutlets, and Chicken Scaloppine. Here’s how to do it:
1| Take the bones out. Just run a sharp knife over the rib cage trying to get as much meat as you can off. Freeze the bones for making stock.
2| Take the skins off. Set them aside and make cracklins or use them in your stock.