BBQ/Roasted Boned Whole Chicken

Submitted by John DOH

"Our family loves roasted chicken, but its frequently difficult to get a "sell" on the legs and wings, as there is too much bone in there to make it the "easy eating" that breast meat represents. The solution came in learning to bone out the bird; the bonus came in seasoning and cooking method. I learned this from a bona fide professional chef at an adult education evening a few years back; he was a meat cutter as well as a Chef, and showed us that, given a really good, sharp boning knife, this is pretty simple to do."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 2
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1 (5 lb) whole roasting chickens
• Lawry's Seasoned Salt

directions

1. This is easiest to do if the chicken has been allowed to warm to near room temperature.
2. Put chicken on counter, breast side down.
3. With knife or shears, cut away the wings, saving for stock.
4. Make an incision in the carcass to expose the drumlet and blade bone on one side, carefully cutting away the meat and extracting the bones, again saving for stock. Repeat for the opposite side.
5. (The hard part is now over!).
6. Slit the skin down the backbones, and very carefully cut out the "oysters" along the back, and slowly but carefully cutting, strip the breast and skin from the ribs and carcass to the sternum, then repeat for the opposite side, ensuring the skin remains intact.
7. The thigh joints should now be exposed, so carefully cut through the joint, and slit through the inside of the thigh to expose and remove the joint, ensuring the skin stays in place to hold the meat together.
8. Throw the thigh bone into the "stock" pile, and repeat the process with the drumstick, and returning to the opposite side to repeat the process.
9. Very carefully peel the skin and meat from the sternum, severing the wishbone connections, then carefully extracting the wishbone from the meat.
10. (The first time you try this takes 30-40 minutes, you can bring it down to 15 minutes with practice!).
11. You should now have a complete chicken, less wings, held together by its skin, and a pile of cuts that will make an excellent stock.
12. The chicken meat will be fully exposed, and the skin more or less fully attached, and the fats enclosed between meat and skin.
13. You may now season the meat from both sides, I personally use Lawry's seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and so on --.
14. The easiest way to proceed from here is to lay the meat out in a "seafood" wire basket to keep it neatly spread out, and then grill it briefly on the BBQ (losing the juices, but you can add smoke with wood chips) flipping the rack after about 7 minutes, or cooking it over a large roasting pan in the oven, capturing the juices for gravy -- note that spread out and thin like this, the cooking time is remarkably brief, and the "double seasoning" adds greatly to the taste and flavour.

Reviews

[JackieOhNo!]

Well, I was a "chicken" and had the butcher bone the chicken for me (my knife skills aren't the greatest). I marinated this for a day then seasoned the skin with the Lawry's Seasoned Salt. I used the wire basked over the grill and it took about 25 minutes to cook completely. The meat was so juicy, tender, and flavorful (nothing like grilled chicken meat at all). The skin was done perfectly, as well. (Usually, it overcooks in the interest of thoroughly cooking the meat). I will now have to practice boning a chicken, so I can do this more often! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[jennifer in new jer]

Terrific recipe which made for a delicious meal. Got an organic whole roasting chicken on sale today at wegmans, so I chose this recipe. Be sure to read through directions; they are easy to follow and very well explained by the chef. I followed the recipe exactly except I used an organic seasoning salt similar to Lawry's that I had on hand, and I did add some carrots and potatoes for my daughter. I followed the directions for roasting it in the oven as opposed to the grill as it is pouring out here. The taste was far better than any I have had before, even on the meat of the chicken as opposed to other recipes I have tried where only the outer part of the bird has any flavor. I then made a homemade chicken soup with the parts saved and that soup was just as terrific. Got two great meals out this inexpensive and delicious recipe. Will make this again. Thanks for sharing John!!!