I have got to start deboning chicken thighs....

[Michael_in_TX]

I love boneless skinless chicken thighs. Convenient, simple, and don't have to mess with the skin if I don't want to. What's not to like?

By chance this afternoon, I just happened to notice the price difference between skinned, boned chicken thighs and their boneless versions. I knew the boneless thighs were a bit more expensive, but I didn't realize they were 2.4 times as expensive at my local HEB!

(And I go through a lot of boneless chicken thighs!)

Time to get a bit better at my knife work!

[rickgregory]

If you use the entire chicken anyway, debone whole chickens. WAY cheaper.

[jfmorris]

Yep - this is the way to get the lowest cost per pound, and why I tend towards grilling whole or split chickens.

[rickgregory]

The other advantage, if you have freezer space, is that you get bones for stock. Toss bones in a big freezer bag, pull out when full and roast (or not) and boom, stock.

[Jerod Broussard]

They use Wizard Scissors at the plant to cut out the femur.

[Texas Larry]

"Wizard Scissors"? New to me.

[MBMorgan]

Here’s a good how-to from Serious Eats:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/04/knife-skills-how-to-debone-a-chicken-thigh.html

[RobertC]

See his steps 1 and 2? You don't have to do that. The cut is always on the drumstick side of that line of fat. You can see the line of fat in his photos.

[RonB]

My first thought on seein' the title was that if ya can't tell the meat from the bone, you're cookin' it wrong...

[IowaGirl]

Jacques Pepin does a stellar job teaching how he debones a whole chicken. If you just want to debone the thighs or hindquarters, you can easily get the gist in this video. Here's the version I have watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8

I deboned about a dozen hindquarters shortly after watching the video, and I was doing tolerably well (not remotely anywhere as good as Chef Pepin) by the twelfth one. A couple dozen more and I'll be even better (but still not anywhere as good as Chef).

[RobertC]

He's a great teacher. I happened to do a chicken ballotine yesterday, using techniques I learned from that video. Pay attention to exactly how he places his hands to get the greatest amount of leverage. If you try it almost any other way, it takes more effort.

[IowaGirl]

I agree. Lots of practice certainly, but he's also he's paid close attention to the mechanics of the process. On top of that, he's a really good teacher -- it's one thing to be able to do something well and another thing to be able to explain the process to another.

[gcdmd]

For those of you who haven't read his autobiography, "The Apprentice," it's well worth your while. He is a very impressive guy. Some friends of mine had the good fortune to spend some time with him and his wife, Gloria, and found them to be delightful down to Earth people.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I use a dexter boning knife or even a good pairing knife to debone thighs and cut up wings.

[Michael_in_TX]

Another reason for doing this myself is that the boneless thighs I get at the store are a bit small. I wonder how much desired meat is lost when the thighs are deboned, which I assume is an automated process or at least mostly done by a machine.

[RobertC]

A little bit faster than the way we did things in my stepdad's butcher shop.

[gcdmd]

Jerod Broussard
Do you include the oyster with bone-in thighs or would we have to buy hindquarters to get that?

Also, do the bones and skin get used for stock or broth either by your company or another?

[Jerod Broussard]

gcdmd bone in thighs "should" have it. May vary per customer. Skin goes down the drain to rendering. Pretty sure the bones go to rendering as well.

[TripleB]

I always debone thighs and then make chicken broth with the bones. 2 for 1 winner chicken dinner

[Old Glory]

I do the same thing. I use a Japanese boning knife made for chicken. Works great. Once I have a bag o' bones I make soup.

[HouseHomey]

RobertC He’s a phenomenal teacher for sure. I love this man. IowaGirl I think I’ve seen this video 12,396,407 times and I just watched it again.

Its been a while since I Boned a whole one out for that purpose.

I do not like the chefs step tutorial and their hands are way, way too dirty for me. In their step there is no need to handle the chicken that way. It comes with a handle already.

Knife hand clean always. Or
change gloves but a clean dry knife handle is a necessity for me.

Geeze man those machines are mesmerizing. Both right and left legs too.

[IowaGirl]

Can't say I've watched it 12 million times, but a lot -- I finally downloaded it so I could watch it whenever I want without burning my limited internet bandwidth.