Hey Chicken: Take It Off - Take It All Off!
Half the fat is in the chicken skin...so take it off!
Half of the fat and saturated fat in chicken breast and thigh is in the skin, which is why so many of us enjoy our chicken skinless. I personally find the skin, dare I say it, "yucky" particularly if it's soft and not completely crispy. I actually can't remember the last time I ate the skin on chicken.
Here's the thing though...do you remove the skin before or after you cook it?
If you cook your chicken with the skin on only to take it off at the dinner table, then that's where all the great-tasting marinade, BBQ sauce, or BBQ rubs and seasonings are going to be. Plus it makes sense that some of the fat in the skin is going to melt into the chicken meat as it cooks. So go ahead and take the skin off before you prepare the chicken for grilling. It will grill much the same way as it did before except this time all the seasoning and flavor won't come off with the skin.
You save about 40 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 1.3 grams of saturated fat per chicken breast just by cooking and eating it skinless.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: chicken, fat, healthy diet
Half of the fat and saturated fat in chicken breast and thigh is in the skin, which is why so many of us enjoy our chicken skinless. I personally find the skin, dare I say it, "yucky" particularly if it's soft and not completely crispy. I actually can't remember the last time I ate the skin on chicken.
Here's the thing though...do you remove the skin before or after you cook it?
If you cook your chicken with the skin on only to take it off at the dinner table, then that's where all the great-tasting marinade, BBQ sauce, or BBQ rubs and seasonings are going to be. Plus it makes sense that some of the fat in the skin is going to melt into the chicken meat as it cooks. So go ahead and take the skin off before you prepare the chicken for grilling. It will grill much the same way as it did before except this time all the seasoning and flavor won't come off with the skin.
- 4 ounces of roasted chicken breast with skin contains 225 calories, 8.8 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat
- 4 ounces of roasted chicken breast WITHOUT skin contains 187 calories, 4 grams of fat and 1.2 grams of saturated fat
You save about 40 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 1.3 grams of saturated fat per chicken breast just by cooking and eating it skinless.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: chicken, fat, healthy diet
13 Comments:
Interesting. Don't want chicken without a little baked crispy fat though. Temperence is the thing, and I do not have a cholestrol problem.
When I make chicken soup, I do leave on some of the skin, without that, chicken soup isnt very good. I then let the soup cool a bit, then I take off the fat at the top of the kettle.
My husband and I have tried grilling/baking chicken breast without the skin only to end of with a tough, dry piece of chicken. I find that the skin holds the moisture in the chicken. Chicken breast is dry enough without making it worse.
Chicken turns out quite tender and juicy on the grill if you marinade it for an hour in Italian salad dressing. Take the skin off first. Thighs are really juicy no matter how long they are on the grill, too.
MMMMMM! Love that chicken skin, specially when it's good and crispy! I would rather just eat half the skin on chicken breast than eat a whole, dry, tough, skinless chicken breast. And don't tell me skinless is just as good, I have tried it all.
Just my 2 cents....
Johnny Bob
I cook chicken in the pot with the skin on - ORGANIC chicken though - and then I remove the chicken, take the skin off and cool the liquid stock and then remove the fat and you have the base for chicken soup. Add the chicken (with skin removed) and veg and voila - lovely chicken soup.
you guys must not know how to cook chicken if its always dried out and not juicy!
I've only ran in to a couple problems and thats when I first started cooking.
In fact I made an awesome skinless chicken brest last week!
To bake juicy skinless chicken breast, cover pan with foil and take it off about 5-10 minutes before it's done. Works with any kind of meat, keeps juices in and you use less water, also lower the temperature on the oven, just be sure to reach the correct cooking temperature for whatever dish you prepare. Marinading helps a lot too. Also use skinless in what cajuns call gumbo, great without skin on breast or any other parts. Sausage has a lot of fat so that helps with the flavor, cool and remove fat on top.
Brining chicken can also help with the dryness as well. I cook skinless chicken all the time, but always brine it first. The brine makes it more flavorful and juicy. There is a lot of salt in brine, but if done right the sodium content will not be too bad.
For all of you baking and grilling chicken breast w/o skin and wind up with hockey pucks,this is what I do.I buy Perdue split breasts,with bone and skin.Wash it well,paper towel it dry and I crust it (on the skin) with Mrs Dash's seasonings,or salt free garlic powder,ground ginger,and lemon pepper..SALT FREE! After 20 mins in the oven (for 2 med size pcs)I let it cool for 15 mins until I can handle w/o blistering my fingers,then pull off all the skin and bone.It's juicy,tender and delish! You can also push some seasoning under the skin,but I haven't had to,the flavor goes right through the skin to the meat.I cook on Sunday for most of the week.Some times I wrap the cooked chicken in foil and just leave in the fridg or freeze.This is after all the skin and bone is removed.To reheat,don't over do!Defrost frozen in the fridg,or what you put in the fridg out on the counter for about 1/2 an hour.Leave in the foil,I put the foil wrapped chicken in a foil pan and reheat for 15 mins. Test it and if not as hot as you like put it back for another 5 mins.You can also reheat in tomato sauce..yum.
Enjoy!
Bobbi
I LOOOVE(d) crispy fried chicken and never thought it could taste the same. After a few dried and true chicken pieces I discovered that cooking unskinned chicken does not require the same amount of time and heat. When grilled we take it off a little earlier (5 or so minutes), cover in foil and let it "finish cooking" in its own juices. If still pinkish we set meat in oven on warm. Like all healthier eating it takes a little more effort but is worth it.
i always cook my chicken without skin, if i'm boiling then, i add use onions carrots, different whole spices and bay leaves to the mix.. it tastes great..
in the oven covering with foil also does the trick..
on the grill i make a middle eastern marinade from garlic, yougurt and lemon juice along with salt and spices.. it is never tough or dry..
i normally buy boneless/skinless thighs. i prefer them to breast. the thigh may have about 2gms more fat but its still high in protein and its juicier than the breast.
if you barbque it right, you can't tell there's no skin on it.
the thighs also make great chicken salad.
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