Chicken Thighs: To bone, or not to bone?

[thegame101]

Hi guys! Im planning on making chicken paprikash tomorrow using skin on thighs. I was wondering if there is any real benefit to using bone in..

For those that dont know the process its basically seared chicken cooked in a sauce for around 40min. Is that enough time to draw any flavor from the bone? Will I lose much meat from using de boned?
THX!

[barelfly]

I think the benefit of the bone will be keeping it from over cooking. Chicken thighs are hard to over cook anyways, but the bone-in thigh will cook well with a sear and then simmer in the sauce. This is how I cook chicken thighs when I make paella.

If I were to cook this, I’d go with bone-in.

[fracmeister]

I take a clue from Jacques Pepin on this and (skin side down) I make a slice along the bone, sometimes both sides but not removing it... This allows it to be pressed flatter for crisping the skin (and getting lots of that lovely fat liquefied as I dont add any oil in the many dishes like you are making...i often do one with a cream sauce). You dont lose any meat and the cooking time is somewhat decreased.

[Reds Fan 5]

This ^^^^^

[thegame101]

Great!
Thx guys!

[Richard Chrz]

I go for both, I love the bone in meats, I think sometimes you can taste that bone in your bite, or your sauce. But, I love a buttermilk soaked and breaded deboned thigh in chicken parm.

[DavidNorcross]

I prefer the bone in. Agree with Richard Chrz. I think the bone adds flavor but I could be imagining things...But thighs are my favorite chicken cut for sure.

[hoovarmin]

I am way too lazy to debone chicken thighs, and for that reason it would either be bone-in, or I'd just buy boneless thighs with the skin on.

[FireMan]

Ok, we have one vote fer paella style, one fer Jacque Pepin, one fer I don’t know if I taste it, one fer I taste it & one fer lazy bones leave it if in. My vote is strongly split between paella style & Jacque Pepin. There. 🕶

[Old Glory]

I de-bone and save them for stock.

[FireMan]

Chicken!

[Mosca]

I too, do the thing where you cut down both sides of the bone.

[ecowper]

Sooooooo ….. I’m half Hungarian. And my grandmother, who was born in Hungary, would never cook the chicken boneless. I have the recipe it, and follow it religiously. My mother, who was born here, not in Hungary, but has been back many times, says that grandma’s recipe is authentic.

That’s the best input I can provide :-)

[captainlee]

I like bone in. So many times when removing the bone the meat looks hacked up, especially if you buy it that way from the retailers.

[randy.56]

Done it both ways, prefer bone in, she agrees.

[CHNeal]

The honest truth is…my knife skills suck just enough to keep me from trying to debone anything but a rib roast!

[Washblue]

That’s my situation…
I’d be tired of eating chicken after cooking all the thighs I practiced my deboning procedures on!

[fzxdoc]

I really dislike eating bone-in thighs in sauces like a delicious Chicken Paprikash. The skin can get rubbery after the simmering step, and the diners struggle to pick the meat off the bones, separating fat and gristle, which you can't really see for all the sauce. Ugh.

BS thighs in Paprikash are so much simpler to eat. The downside is that I have to throw a few extra in. People who are usually satisfied with one bone-in thigh usually look for a second piece of BS thigh in our house.

I have no problem eating bone-in skin-on thighs in finger foods like fried chicken. But when making a dish like this for the family or for company, it's BS thighs all the way. They're delicious, easy to eat, and don't get overcooked. If you want some flavor from the bones, you could always put a couple of them in the sauce as it simmers.

I'm never convinced that the bones add all that much flavor in this situation. Saving them for homemade broth is a better option for me.

Kenji has a nice guide for deboning chicken thighs. I use that method all the time.

Kathryn