How to separate chicken breast from the bones

Content

Method 2 of 3: Removing only the bones while preserving the skin
Method 3 of 3: Separating the Cooked Chicken Breast from the Bone
Tips
Warnings

1 Defrost the chicken. It is very difficult to remove bones from frozen or partially thawed chicken. Make sure the chicken breast is completely thawed before proceeding with the bone removal. You can defrost chicken in the fridge compartment of the refrigerator by transferring it there from the freezer overnight, in a bowl of water, or in a microwave oven using a special defrosting mode.

2 Place the chicken breast skin side up on a cutting board. Make sure the cutting board is clean and the chicken breast is detached from the wings and legs. Otherwise, cut off these parts of the carcass.

3 Make a lobe cut along the thickest part of the breast. This will prepare it for cutting and will help locate the brisket quickly. Use a cutting knife to get the tidiest cuts.

4 Remove the skin from the breast. Slip your fingers into the incision you made and completely free the skin of the chicken breast. It should be easy on your hands, but you can also use a knife to slice off the skin.

5 Find the brisket. Look inside the incision to find the sternum.In most cases, chicken breasts come on sale with only one brisket that runs along the center. Sometimes ribs are also attached to the sternum, but you can ignore them, since the chicken meat itself will lag behind the ribs when you cut it from the sternum.

6 Cut off the meat to one side of the brisket. Slide the knife into the previously made incision so that it is between the meat and the brisket. With the sawing motion of the knife, go along the sternum to separate the meat from it.

7 Cut the meat on the other side of the brisket to free the fillets from it. Repeat with the knife the same sawing motion along the other side of the sternum. If the breast fillet still clings to any part of the chicken after this, tear or trim it off. You should have two pieces of pitted and skinless chicken breast fillets on your hands!

8 Remove leftover skin, excess fat and other unwanted fillets. If skin remains on the fillet, fat, tendons or cartilage are present, cut them off. They can simply be thrown away or saved for making homemade chicken stock.

Method 2 of 3: Removing only the bones while preserving the skin

1 Place the defrosted chicken breast, skin side up, on a cutting board. Check that there are no feathers or tears on the skin. Residual feathers can be removed with tweezers or tweezers. If the skin is torn, work carefully so as not to widen the gap.
2 Find the brisket. If you decide to leave the skin on the fillet, you will have to look for the brisket from the back side, turning the breast over and laying it down with the skin, and not cutting the meat from the outside. Find the ends of the sternum. You can start cutting off the brisket from any edge, depending on which of them sticks out more.
3 Make a horizontal cut between the bone and the chicken. Insert the knife between the brisket and the meat. Cut through the meat along the bone as deep as you can while pulling the breast up with your other hand. Be careful not to accidentally cut right through the meat!
4 Pull the meat off the brisket. Use both hands to pull the meat off the brisket. You can help yourself with a knife, but it is precisely pulling the meat off the bone that will avoid accidentally cutting the skin. As a result, you should have one large piece of chicken breast fillet with skin in your hands.
5 Remove unwanted areas from the fillet. Cut off cartilage, tendons, or excess skin.

Method 3 of 3: Separating the Cooked Chicken Breast from the Bone

1 Let the chicken cool. Do not start removing bones until the chicken is cold enough to handle. Hot fat can burn your hands if the chicken is too hot.
2 Cut the chicken breast in half lengthwise. Cooked chicken doesn't hold on to the bones as tightly as raw chicken, so simply cutting the breast in half is enough to reveal the breastbone. The meat can even separate itself from the bone when you cut it!
3 Run the knife along both sides of the sternum. If there is still meat on either side of the brisket, carefully cut it off with a knife. Do not press too hard on the knife. If it is very sharp, it may just cut the bone.
4 Remove the chicken fillet on either side of the brisket. In most cases, you can manually remove already cooked chicken meat from the breast bone, in addition, this will remove more meat. However, it is okay to use a knife if you need to.

Tips

Be aware of how much meat you are leaving on the brisket to be cut. If there is too much of it, perhaps buying a ready-made fillet will turn out to be an equivalent alternative for you in terms of savings.
Cook fresh chicken breast fillets as soon as you get home from the store.After that, portions of fillets can be frozen or put in the refrigerator if you are going to cook chicken soon.
Store bones, skins, and other meat scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer. Then they can be boiled to make homemade chicken broth.