I’ve found various ingredients out of stock during this quarantine period, but so far that hasn’t stopped my cooking efforts. I was only able to find bone-in chicken thighs this shopping trip. So, I skinned my own!
It’s really quite easy to do once you know a couple of tricks. I taught myself several years ago when I was desperate for a dinner idea and all I had in the house were fresh bone-in chicken thighs. There were eight in the package, and by the eighth thigh, I knew the best way to do this. Practice, experimentation, and determination are great teachers.
How to skin your own chicken thighs
- With the thigh upside down, position the exposed ball joint away from you. Now flip the thigh over horizontally, keeping that ball joint pointing away from you. (Or start from the skin side and position so the “V” shape has the point facing you.)
- Work your thumb under the skin closest to you and start pulling (at the point of the “V”). Most of the skin here is barely attached with a very thin membrane, so you can pull a good bit away from the meat. Once you meet resistance where it’s firmly attached, grab your kitchen shears (one of the small “must have” tools here) and snip each connection as you come to it.
- Continue pulling and snipping until the main part of the skin is gone. Then do fine trimming of fat on both sides if you wish. And you’re done!
Yes, that’s all there is to it!
It’s so easy! Knowing where to start and using kitchen shears are truly the keys to success here. Thighs are the juiciest part of the chicken to me, so I love to use them. But I’m no longer a fan of the skin. This technique for skinning them quickly lets me take that out of the equation.
Bone-in is also less expensive…BIG WIN! I wanna know when you try this method and how you like skinning your own chicken thighs. Be sure to leave a comment below!
