OMG, chicken WITH the bone?

astridfeline

So I was talking to a classmate of mine this morning about FOOD, of course, and she me told she had friends who had never eaten chicken on the bone. WTF?? Or fresh fish with bones either. They are so used to processed foods, she said this guy didn't know what to do with his piece of chicken--how to eat it! She herself is Taiwanese so grew up eating fresh foods (bones and all!) in her family.

This reminds me of the bit in the Jamie Oliver video that talked about how processed food is so soft you barely have to chew it, and lack of chewing fails to turn off the hunger signal, so you eat more...and more...

Well that conversation blew my mind. I thought I ate a lot of processed food growing up, but not so much that we never had chicken on the bone :laugh: :laugh: OK maybe that chicken was from KFC!!:bigsmile:

Amy_B

That's really weird!

ivykivy

I basically eat boneless chicken breasts now. I myself have never cooked a whole chicken I always buy breasts and legs. I guess it's an age thing

Amy_B

I basically eat boneless chicken breasts now. I myself have never cooked a whole chicken I always buy breasts and legs. I guess it's an age thing

You're making me feel old! :laugh: I'm only 28. I actually just started making whole chickens like 2 years ago. Yummy!

alapointe

I hate chicken on the bone. For some reason it really grosses me out. I only eat skinless, boneless breast of chicken.

bwilton77

I eat mainly boneless skinless chicken myself but I've cooked a few whole chickens in my time. The backs make great homemade soup when your done. But for convenience reasons I prefer to have boneless chicken and fish it's easier to cook and it takes less time to prepare. But I have to admit I've never met someone who didn't know how to eat chicken thats on the bone. Have they never had KFC? That is weird.

BrendaLee

I hate chicken on the bone. For some reason it really grosses me out. I only eat skinless, boneless breast of chicken.

It grosses me out too. I can only eat boneless, skinless...and even that kinda grosses me out. I trim it down 'til there's practically nothing left. I don't know why they leave that big artery looking thing on boneless, skinless chicken breasts. :sick:

astridfeline

I guess I am the odd ball...I hate boneless skinless chicken breast--it's so dry and tasteless. I like the thigh/drumstick best I thought it might be partially a generational thing too, since my class mate is in her 20's (I'm >40)--but apparently it's a cultural thing too. I was thinking maybe Americans only ate chicken strips and nuggets--but it does make ya wonder if they never had KFC or Popeye's.

XFitMojoMom

Growing up my mom made shake and bake chicken. I always looked forward to a drumstick... my brother and I would wrestle for it.
Then when I had to actually start cooking my own... OMG - Chicken:sick: , it has to be one of the most disgusting meats to prepare.:sick: And I totally got turned off from drumsticks. The fat, the griscol, the ummm...veins..:sick:
So... I went to boneless chicken breasts & thighs.
And occasionally for sake of EASE... I will buy frozen chicken breast. The sodium content is higher, but I'm usually under or on the cusp.

I don't think you are odd, but maybe you are cooking your chicken too long? I never get a dry tasteless boneless breast, unless I forgot it on the BBQ...

margaretthedevil

You know you can actually chew on the bone (eating the bone marrow inside)...and eat the tendons, cartilage, and other connector stuff on the whole chickens. According to my grandma with her "wise" knowledge of traditional Chinese cooking, it's actually really good for your bones and joints to consume these things much better than popping those calcium pills. But I've probably turned you off from eating chicken altogether now. :laugh: I'm guessing it's mostly a cultural thing. It's common in some other parts of the world (mostly the eastern herm) to eat "undesirable" chicken parts like um intestines, organs, etc. But it's definitely an acquired taste. Better than to waste it right? :sick:

astridfeline

Growing up my mom made shake and bake chicken. I always looked forward to a drumstick... my brother and I would wrestle for it.
Then when I had to actually start cooking my own... OMG - Chicken:sick: , it has to be one of the most disgusting meats to prepare.:sick: And I totally got turned off from drumsticks. The fat, the griscol, the ummm...veins..:sick:
So... I went to boneless chicken breasts & thighs.
And occasionally for sake of EASE... I will buy frozen chicken breast. The sodium content is higher, but I'm usually under or on the cusp.

I don't think you are odd, but maybe you are cooking your chicken too long? I never get a dry tasteless boneless breast, unless I forgot it on the BBQ...

I probably am cooking it too long. I haven't figured out how to do that yet--I can easily roast a whole chicken, or make healthy oven-fried chicken (homemade shake n bake!)--but not the plain chicken breast

sarakenna1

Chicken is a funny thing. I've eaten it my whole life (on the bone mostly...) My favorite growing up was bone-in chicken breast. The meat tastes much better when its cooked with the bone, but I've never been able to naw on bones like some people. Bleh! Last year I went to El Salvador to work on a Habitat for Humanity project (super amazing... you should do it) but we had to eat chicken every single day because, well, its all they had there. About mid-way through the trip I couldn't stomach the chicken anymore, but we were working so hard every day that I felt like I was starving to death if I didn't eat the meager protien I was given! That sort of ruined it for me. I couldn't eat chicken for at least a month when I got back, and ever since then bone-in chicken has grossed me out. I'll still eat it but it just grosses me out a bit. Weird!

astridfeline

Chicken is a funny thing. I've eaten it my whole life (on the bone mostly...) My favorite growing up was bone-in chicken breast. The meat tastes much better when its cooked with the bone, but I've never been able to naw on bones like some people. Bleh! Last year I went to El Salvador to work on a Habitat for Humanity project (super amazing... you should do it) but we had to eat chicken every single day because, well, its all they had there. About mid-way through the trip I couldn't stomach the chicken anymore, but we were working so hard every day that I felt like I was starving to death if I didn't eat the meager protien I was given! That sort of ruined it for me. I couldn't eat chicken for at least a month when I got back, and ever since then bone-in chicken has grossed me out. I'll still eat it but it just grosses me out a bit. Weird!

Aha, I'm so glad you mentioned the burn-out phenomenon. I lived in guatemala for 2 years, and for 2 years I ate black beans & eggs twice a day, EVERY DAY. Sometimes some grisly meat or chicken alleviated the monotony. To this day I will not let a black bean pass my lips!! :laugh: :laugh: You are not alone.

RecliningFigure

I guess I am the odd ball...I hate boneless skinless chicken breast--it's so dry and tasteless. I like the thigh/drumstick best I thought it might be partially a generational thing too, since my class mate is in her 20's (I'm >40)--but apparently it's a cultural thing too. I was thinking maybe Americans only ate chicken strips and nuggets--but it does make ya wonder if they never had KFC or Popeye's.

I'm with you there. Cooking chicken with the bone in provides more flavor to the meat. Also, if you roast a whole chicken, you can then take the bones left over, and make chicken soup (double duty, and saves money, and you control what goes into the soup). But I understand there are differences. I grew up in a culture that fought for dark meat. When I was in Kentucky (you know, where they pride themselves on Fried Chicken) I ordered dark meat. The people I was with (mostly from the east coast) looked at me like I was disgusting. Oh well, I'm not going to apologize for the food that I love, or the culture that shaped my tastes. I still believe that dark meat is more juicy, and more flavorful. Also, I recently read an article (published this year) that dark meat may be more healthy than white meat. So you're not alone in this. I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I'm in my 40s.:laugh:

How I roast a chicken: I scrape out as much of the fat that I can. I chop herbs (like rosemary and parsley and mix with a little fat (some healthy oil) and do a quick stir fry and shove under the skin to roast. Yum. It's a recipe based on a Jacques Pepin standard. I rarely eat the skin (but not because I don't want to). If I can get the skin really crispy while roasting, I might have a little just because most of the fat has melted away. I'll probably also stuff the center with lemons. You get a wonderful brown roast color, and because you do it yourself, you know you took the time to get every bit of chicken fat out of that chicken. Normally, they don't do that at the grocery store with their roasted chickens.

weaklink109

To those who say that chicken breasts tend to be dryer and sometimes stringy, try boneless skinless chicken tenderloins. They are moister and to me, more flavorful. I do like thighs and drumsticks though.

To those who are burned out or grossed out by chicken. Sorry about that. I do eat a lot of it, but I still like my steak too.

RecliningFigure

Chicken is a funny thing. I've eaten it my whole life (on the bone mostly...) My favorite growing up was bone-in chicken breast. The meat tastes much better when its cooked with the bone, but I've never been able to naw on bones like some people. Bleh! Last year I went to El Salvador to work on a Habitat for Humanity project (super amazing... you should do it) but we had to eat chicken every single day because, well, its all they had there. About mid-way through the trip I couldn't stomach the chicken anymore, but we were working so hard every day that I felt like I was starving to death if I didn't eat the meager protien I was given! That sort of ruined it for me. I couldn't eat chicken for at least a month when I got back, and ever since then bone-in chicken has grossed me out. I'll still eat it but it just grosses me out a bit. Weird!

Aha, I'm so glad you mentioned the burn-out phenomenon. I lived in guatemala for 2 years, and for 2 years I ate black beans & eggs twice a day, EVERY DAY. Sometimes some grisly meat or chicken alleviated the monotony. To this day I will not let a black bean pass my lips!! :laugh: :laugh: You are not alone.

I've never been in a situation where I get sick of a food because that's all that I can eat. I have gotten sick of food that was bad. For example, my parents are pretty old, and they've lost all sense of taste and smell (or just sense). So they keep everything (I need to go into their refrigerator to clean it out, or they'll get food poisoning). Before I realized this about 10 years ago, I had some butter from their refrigerator. It was rancid. I couldn't eat butter for about three years. Consider that my nick name from childhood was "butter-girl" because I loved butter so much as a toddler, I would go into the fridge and stick my finger in the butter to have a taste. There there was the time when my husband and a friend decided to have a "who can groos the other person out more" during a sushi dinner and I was unfortunately enough to sit between them. I got sick. And although I love, love, love sushi (raw fish part) and although that love still makes me crave it, once I put it into my mouth and chew and swallow, I begin to physically get sick. I've been advised to seek psychiatric help.:laugh: Oh wait, I should be mad at them.

hasiangirl

You know you can actually chew on the bone (eating the bone marrow inside)...and eat the tendons, cartilage, and other connector stuff on the whole chickens. According to my grandma with her "wise" knowledge of traditional Chinese cooking, it's actually really good for your bones and joints to consume these things much better than popping those calcium pills. But I've probably turned you off from eating chicken altogether now. :laugh: I'm guessing it's mostly a cultural thing. It's common in some other parts of the world (mostly the eastern herm) to eat "undesirable" chicken parts like um intestines, organs, etc. But it's definitely an acquired taste. Better than to waste it right? :sick:

i umm actually eat the cartillidge and some of the bone .....lol anything i eat with the bone in by the end of it the bone is clean as can be like someone dipped it in bleach and stripped off the mea :blushing: :blushing: im a carnivore, but u know it could also be that when i was younger my mom taught me how to eat...and she is 100%korean, i do notice i picked up a lot of traits from her even tho she left when i was 7....as far as intestines and organs :sick:

Magenta15

astrid

if you keep ending up with dry chicken breasts, try marinating it then cooking it in foil for about 30 min or so depending on the size of the breast, it keeps the juices in and steams it and stays moist everytime and yet still quick

hope it helps

Pg:flowerforyou:

hasiangirl

astrid

if you keep ending up with dry chicken breasts, try marinating it then cooking it in foil for about 30 min or so depending on the size of the breast, it keeps the juices in and steams it and stays moist everytime and yet still quick

hope it helps

Pg:flowerforyou:

also slow cookers do wonders :bigsmile:

Magenta15

yes you're right, I rarely remember to use mine though, or get up early enough before work do use it LOL

PG :flowerforyou:

bethrs

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread-

I've been trying to switch over to more natural, less processed foods.
That being said I'm a vegetarian, but my husband is not and I'm the cook and grocery buyer. We are not rich folks- so while I'd love to buy chickens at my farmers market from the farmer, I really can't.

So- is the boneless, skinless chicken much more processed than the whole chicken in the grocery store? Is the stuff much different (granted it's handled more as it's been deboned and deskinned)? Does it add more chance for germs and such?

Thanks!

weaklink109

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread-

I've been trying to switch over to more natural, less processed foods.
That being said I'm a vegetarian, but my husband is not and I'm the cook and grocery buyer. We are not rich folks- so while I'd love to buy chickens at my farmers market from the farmer, I really can't.

So- is the boneless, skinless chicken much more processed than the whole chicken in the grocery store? Is the stuff much different (granted it's handled more as it's been deboned and deskinned)? Does it add more chance for germs and such?

Thanks!

The boneless skinless that come frozen often have some sort of salt solution sprayed on them, so that will affect the sodium level, but if you buy fresh, there shouldn't be any "processing" unless you count cutting the meat off the bone. Since you are not eating the chicken raw ( I HOPE not, anyway:noway:) the germ question is really a non issue. The most common "bug" associated with chicken is salmonella, but that is always a possibility -- regardless of whether it is a whole bird or a piece on one.

And as we have learned from the recent recalls, there are a whole lot of other places that salmonella can lurk, but cooking thoroughly--juices running CLEAR, not pink--should eliminate that. If you are really hung up on germs, you should be using a food thermometer to check the temps of all your cooked food to make sure it is done, but I personally don't do that, and I am over 50 and still alive and kicking.:laugh:

If you buy frozen, read the label to see what they might have added. The store I usually shop in has lots of boneless skinless options in the fresh chicken, and there is nothing added to them.

astridfeline

astrid

if you keep ending up with dry chicken breasts, try marinating it then cooking it in foil for about 30 min or so depending on the size of the breast, it keeps the juices in and steams it and stays moist everytime and yet still quick

hope it helps

Pg:flowerforyou:

also slow cookers do wonders :bigsmile:

Thanks guys, I will try these tips. :flowerforyou:

erikazj

I reckon the majority of people in the UK could cook a whole roast chicken...it's almost like second nature! I don't find bones, skin etc gross, but I do insist on free range chicken. The conditions in which they keep cheaper birds is something to be grossed out about, so free range is best for the birds and for you!

I can't believe there are people who are grossed out about bones and skin, when there is something like this on the market:

http://gizmodo.com/5234444/oh-god-its-a-whole-chicken-in-a-can

I can't believe it even exists :noway: I can't believe that anyone would buy and eat it!

Erika

Kityngirl

astrid

if you keep ending up with dry chicken breasts, try marinating it then cooking it in foil for about 30 min or so depending on the size of the breast, it keeps the juices in and steams it and stays moist everytime and yet still quick

hope it helps

Pg:flowerforyou:

also slow cookers do wonders :bigsmile:

Thanks guys, I will try these tips. :flowerforyou:

I always cook my chicken breasts on my foreman grill with just herbs sprinkled on them. Then when their done I treat them like a roast or steak and cover them on a plate and let them 'rest' for 5-10 minutes. They ALWAYS turn out juicy and moist when I do this. :bigsmile:

Kityngirl

http://gizmodo.com/5234444/oh-god-its-a-whole-chicken-in-a-can

I can't believe it even exists :noway: I can't believe that anyone would buy and eat it!

Erika

That. Is. Soooooooo. NOT. Right.:sick: :sick: :sick:

amandadaisylotus

Dry chicken = over cooked.

People are really careful with chicken and tend to over cook it. Lower heat, longer time, and let the chicken sit for a few minutes after cooking before cutting into it. Marinating is great but beware of the sodium content or make your own marinades.

RecliningFigure

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread-

I've been trying to switch over to more natural, less processed foods.
That being said I'm a vegetarian, but my husband is not and I'm the cook and grocery buyer. We are not rich folks- so while I'd love to buy chickens at my farmers market from the farmer, I really can't.

So- is the boneless, skinless chicken much more processed than the whole chicken in the grocery store? Is the stuff much different (granted it's handled more as it's been deboned and deskinned)? Does it add more chance for germs and such?

Thanks!

Here's one way to get organic chicken without paying too much for it. Look for a college that teaches (what do they call it, husbandry?) dairy and farm techniques. At our community college, not only do we have cows, we have chickens. They sell organic eggs every Wednesday and every once in a while, organic chickens (I really load up on them when this happens). I usually end up paying something like $3.00 for a flat (that's about a carton and a half, I think) and about $5 to $6 a chicken. They don't cost very much because they don't pay the students who are leaning. But then, that also makes me realize how much organic foods should cost. If this is what it costs when the workers are not getting paid, then it makes sense how much organic foods cost currently. It's Wednesday, time to pick up some more eggs.

RecliningFigure

http://gizmodo.com/5234444/oh-god-its-a-whole-chicken-in-a-can

I can't believe it even exists :noway: I can't believe that anyone would buy and eat it!

Erika

That. Is. Soooooooo. NOT. Right.:sick: :sick: :sick:

I think I'm feeling ill now.:sick:

RecliningFigure

You know you can actually chew on the bone (eating the bone marrow inside)...and eat the tendons, cartilage, and other connector stuff on the whole chickens. According to my grandma with her "wise" knowledge of traditional Chinese cooking, it's actually really good for your bones and joints to consume these things much better than popping those calcium pills. But I've probably turned you off from eating chicken altogether now. :laugh: I'm guessing it's mostly a cultural thing. It's common in some other parts of the world (mostly the eastern herm) to eat "undesirable" chicken parts like um intestines, organs, etc. But it's definitely an acquired taste. Better than to waste it right? :sick:

Sucking on the bones, not a problem. Wait, that didn't come out right. :laugh:

mrd232

I reckon the majority of people in the UK could cook a whole roast chicken...it's almost like second nature! I don't find bones, skin etc gross, but I do insist on free range chicken. The conditions in which they keep cheaper birds is something to be grossed out about, so free range is best for the birds and for you!

I can't believe there are people who are grossed out about bones and skin, when there is something like this on the market:

http://gizmodo.com/5234444/oh-god-its-a-whole-chicken-in-a-can

I can't believe it even exists :noway: I can't believe that anyone would buy and eat it!

Erika

Nah, there's some of us here in the US that grew up eating chicken with the bone or whole chickens...or quail or hens or turkeys, what have you.

Some of us have even had to lop of their heads :bigsmile: