How to Take the Skin off Chicken

Chicken skin contains most of the bird's fat. You can lower the amount of fat in your diet by removing the skin. Many recipes also call for skinless chicken meat. Save some money by skinning your own chicken instead of buying it already skinned.

Things You'll Need

• Chicken

Instructions

1. Place a whole raw chicken with the breasts facing down.

2. Slice through the skin along the backbone.

3. Cut off the wings at the first joint.

4. Cut around the end of each drumstick to loosen the skin from the legs.

5. Carefully peel the skin away from the chicken, starting with the cut you made at the backbone.

6. Cut or pull the skin from the breastbone.

7. Skin a single piece of raw chicken by grasping one end of the skin firmly and pulling.

8. To skin a whole cooked chicken or a cooked chicken piece, wait until it is cool enough to handle, then pull the skin away.

Tips & Warnings

• Chicken meat won't absorb any fat from the skin during cooking. Skin will also protect the meat from drying out during cooking and will add a little extra flavor. So leave the skin on during cooking and peel it away afterward.

• Almost all the fat in chicken comes from the skin.

• The fat from chicken skin can be rendered out and used in other recipes.