Debone
To debone is to remove the bones from meat, poultry or fish before cooking, which makes it faster to cook, easier to stuff and simpler to carve and eat.
Also called Bone, Boned, Boneless, Deboned.
To debone means to take the bones out of a piece of meat, poultry or fish. Some recipes call it "boning". Boneless meat cooks faster and more evenly, is easy to roll or stuff, and needs no carving at the table.
How to do it
For chicken thighs:
- Place the thigh skin side down on the board.
- With the tip of a sharp, narrow knife, cut along both sides of the bone.
- Scrape the meat away from the bone, keeping the blade against the bone.
- Cut around the knuckle at each end to free the bone.
- Lift the bone out and trim off any bits of cartilage.
For a whole fish, fillet it, then run your finger along the center of each fillet to find the small pin bones. Pull them out one at a time with clean tweezers or needle-nose pliers, toward the head end.
For a leg of lamb, cut along the line of the bone on the thinner side, open the meat, and work the knife around the bone in short strokes until it comes free. You can then roll and tie the meat or butterfly it for the grill.
Why it works
Bones conduct heat differently from meat and change its shape, so the meat next to the bone cooks at a different rate. With the bone gone, the piece has an even thickness and cooks evenly. It also lies flat, so it browns well.
Common mistakes
- Using a wide or dull knife. A narrow, flexible blade follows the bone and wastes less meat.
- Cutting away from the bone instead of along it. You leave meat on the bone.
- Missing small bones, especially pin bones in fish and the thin rib bones in a bird. Run your fingers over the meat when you finish.
- Throwing the bones away. Roast them and make stock.
In recipes
"Boned", "boneless" and "deboned" all mean the bones are out. "Boned and rolled" means the meat was tied into a neat log after the bones came out. When a bird is opened flat with only the backbone removed, the recipe will say spatchcock.
Recipes that use this technique
20 recipes from the sites we collect.
Kotlettrad i ciderkokt kål
www.arla.se · 180 min
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Enchiladas med kyckling och cottage cheese
www.arla.se · 25 min
Kycklingsallad med ägg och ost
www.arla.se · 30 min
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Couscous med kyckling
www.arla.se · 30 min
Grillad lax med chili, ingefära och koriander
www.arla.se · 65 min
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Enbärsgravad lax med löjromssås
www.arla.se · 60 min
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Tortilla med het kycklingfyllning
www.arla.se · 30 min
Thaisoppa med kyckling och glasnudlar
www.arla.se · 15 min
Related terms
- FilletA fillet is a boneless piece of fish or meat, and to fillet is to cut that piece away from the bones. Here is how to fillet a round fish cleanly.
- ButterflyTo butterfly is to slice a thick piece of meat, fish or shrimp almost in half and open it like a book, so it is thinner and cooks fast and evenly.
- SpatchcockTo spatchcock a bird is to cut out its backbone and press it flat, so a whole chicken or turkey roasts or grills faster and more evenly, with crisp skin.
- French trimFrench trimming is scraping the meat and fat off the end of a rib bone so it stands clean, as on a rack of lamb, for a neat look and easy carving.
- StockStock is an unsalted liquid made by simmering bones, vegetables and aromatics in water for hours. It is the base of soups, sauces, gravy and risotto.