Boneless and skinless chicken breast is one of the most expensive components of chicken meat in the grocery store or supermarket. If you want to cut down on your grocery expenses and don't mind going a bit harder at cooking, follow these steps to learn how to clean the bones in chicken breasts.
Step
Step 1. Place the chicken breast skin-side up on your cutting board
If the chicken breast was previously frozen, then the chicken breast should be allowed to thaw first.
Step 2. Start cutting off the thickest part of the chicken breast using a knife
Step 3. Find the position of the bone
The position of the chicken bone is in the center of the chicken breast and splits the chicken breast "vertical". When the chicken breast is halved, this "vertical" bone will be on one side. So, one piece of chicken breast that has been divided will have more bones than the other part of the chicken breast.
Step 4. Cut the meat next to the breastbone
Make cuts close to the ribs and gently push through the meat with your hands.
Step 5. Follow the bones all the way to the other side of the meat
Most chicken breasts only have one bone.
Step 6. Remove unwanted skin, fat or cartilage from the meat
Tips
- Be careful with the amount of meat you throw away along with the bones. If you're wasting too much meat, then purchasing boneless chicken breast may be just as frugal.
- Store the bones in a sealed plastic container in the freezer (the part of the refrigerator for freezing food). Once it's collected, you can boil it to make homemade chicken stock.
- Immediately clean the bones on the chicken breast after you buy it. Then, you can freeze or refrigerate the chicken breast if it's going to be used immediately.
