See those pretty crystals? They’re salt. Yes, we need this essential element to live, but the average Canadian consumes three times the daily recommended dose. Spend a few minutes Googling “high-sodium diet” and you’ll likely consider tossing your fleur de sel out the window. Fortunately, this isn’t necessary.
A while ago, I was talking with Dawn Thomas, the voice of Rouxbe Online Cooking School. She says their site doesn’t label recipes low-sodium (or low-fat for that matter) and doesn’t plan to. Why not? It’s unnecessary. Once you learn proper cooking techniques you control these factors. So over the next few weeks I’ll be devoting the occasional post to simple ways to reduce the salt in your diet. And as a special bonus, you’ll find you’re saving money.
An easy place to start shaving that salt lick from your diet is at the butcher counter with plain old fresh chicken. Not only will you avoid sodium-laced seasoned meats, you’ll have plenty of bones for homemade stock — low-sodium, tasty, rich stock.
I buy bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. As soon as I get home, I debone them and freeze the bones for stock. Now, I know a lot of you are thinking this is time consuming. Initially, I thought so too, but I got out my timer. Deboning a whole chicken breast (that’s left and right side, so two pieces) took me exactly 4 minutes 8 seconds. And I don’t even have a proper boning knife. Cubing the chicken breast took and additional 1 minute 15 seconds each breast. In just over 6 minutes I had enough boneless, skinless chicken cubes for two mains.
Money saved? At least 10% of the cost of the boneless version. I went to my butcher (Valeriote’s Market on Yorkshire for those who wonder where I get gigantic, local chicken), and he kindly indulged me in a true comparison. He weighed a 3.3 pound whole skin-on, bone-in chicken breast and calculated the price. It cost $11.55. He then skinned, deboned and weighed the same chicken breast again. This time the cost was $12.82. By buying bone-in chicken, I saved 10% on my meat bill AND had bones for stock. Plus, I had the option of keeping the skin on, which is essential for some recipes like Roasted Lemon and Cilantro Chicken, which I often make it with chicken breasts alone.
Want to save more? Buy a whole chicken and butcher it yourself. Seriously. It’s not that hard. With a bit of practice “Easy as deboning a chicken” will become part of your lingo.
To help you on your deboning journey, once again, I turn to the good people at Rouxbe Online Cooking School. They’ve kindly provided videos that will reduce the intimidation factor.
How to Butcher a Whole Chicken
Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes
How to Debone a Chicken Breast
Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes
Feeling inspired by your new found skill? Each video has a “Related Recipe” tab at the top. Just click it and you’ll see pictures of — related recipes. Click one and go straight to a great recipe that let’s you put your knowledge into practice. It’s so easy. Easy as deboning a chicken.
Me? I’m kicking back and letting Rouxbe do the work today. Or maybe I’ll make some stock…
What’ll you do with your chicken?
Oh yes, in the interest of full disclosure, here’s the explanation of my Rouxbe Affiliate relationship.
Like what you see? As part of their affiliate program, I have the power to give you a free, full-access, no-videos-barred, one-week pass to their site. All you have to do is go to Rouxbe Online Cooking School and redeem the 7-day Gift Membership. You can enjoy all Rouxbe has to offer for a full 7 days, no strings attached.
And then? Your Gift Membership will silently morph into a Basic Membership, which means you can access the recipes but not the Cooking School videos. However, if you’d like to purchase a Premium Membership, it is very reasonably priced. A full-year is only $99.
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Brilliant! I’ve never done this before, but now I want to. I’ve been buying all our meat directly from local farmers. I can get chicken pieces but nothing so pansy as boneless chicken breasts — how spoiled I am after years of supermarket shopping!
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 1:56 PM
@Jill U Adams, I’m glad you found this useful. I’m now going to carve up whole chickens. I like dark meat. My husband prefers white — so it’s a win-win for us and our wallets.
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Thanks for the video. I know many people will find it helpful.
Ed Schenk´s last blog ..Chicken Noodle Soup –Not my Grandmother’s recipe
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 1:58 PM
@Ed Schenk, Thanks Ed. I was hoping people would find this useful and not roll their eyes.
Your chicken soup recipes sounds really good. I love garlic!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you! For reminding people that cooking from scratch is not rocket science or difficult and gives you much more control over your health and budget as well.
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 1:59 PM
@Dana McCauley, You’re most welcomed! I must say I was intimidated by the thought of deboning chicken until I watched these videos and got out the timer. Now I’m evangelical about this.
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Great topics! I think most of use could do with less salt in our diets and one of the best ways is getting back to real food.
Chopping up or deboning a whole chicken is dead easy. I started teaching myself how to do it a couple of years ago when I started only cooking with organic or local meats. It wasn’t that hard to find whole organic chickens, but I had to trek across town to a butcher that had organic breasts etc. (and they were really expensive). Now I’ll buy a whole chicken, chop it up or debone it, use some of it, and then toss the rest in the freezer. Brilliant!
Amanda S.´s last blog ..Sustainable Dining in Vancouver
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 2:01 PM
@Amanda S., thanks for the confirmation that this is “dead easy.” All together now… “As easy as deboning a chicken!”
I admire that you taught yourself.
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Another really wonderful post!
You have the only cooking blog that I actually read entirely, rather than scan. I’ve been wondering lately (since the economy crashed) what kind of premium I was paying for boneless chicken parts, and you answered the question — thanks!
Another question: I recently made chicken stock from the carcass of a deli-style rotisserie chicken, and the broth was much, much darker than canned chicken broth. Do you know what causes this? Is it a sign I’m doing something wrong?
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 2:10 PM
@Hilda, Thanks for reading every word! That means a lot to me.
The darker stock isn’t unusual if the bones you use have already been cooked. Raw bones create a lighter stock. However, just to be nitpicky, you’re making STOCK. This should have a gelatinous texture when chilled because it contains some of the bone marrow. It’s richer and has a fuller feel in the mouth. The tins at the supermarket contain BROTH. It is a thinner liquid without the gelatinous properties. It doesn’t have the depth of flavour or fullness. So… as long as your stock tastes good and isn’t greasy (which comes from boiling it not simmering it) you’re way ahead of the game regardless of the stock’s final colour.
Okay, did you read every word of my long-winded answer?
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Hilda Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 4:54 PM
@Charmian Christie, Yes, I did every word… and then I laughed out loud at your question
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yeah, I add my thanks. I love when you post these Rouxbe videos. I learn something every time.
The market where I buy my chicken sells whole organic chickens, but all their chicken parts are conventional. This always frustrates me, but I see an obvious solution that escaped me before: I’ll just buy the whole damned organic chicken and break it down myself. More work, but I’ll be getting exactly what I want, and bones to boot.
Cheryl@5secondrule´s last blog ..Manipulation
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 2:14 PM
@Cheryl@5secondrule, I learn something from Rouxbe every time, too.
I’m actually surprised how little time it takes to cut apart a bird. Had I know it was this easy, I’d have been doing this ages ago. Nice to know you now have a solution for your organic poultry.
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I suppose its kind of like doing the dishes … seems like a monumental task until you do it and realize its taken but a few minutes.
I see the point on the savings, but I’ll be honest, raw chicken squicks me. I’m all about my butcher! LOL
The Diva on a Diet´s last blog ..Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Crackers
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Cheryl@5secondrule Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 6:38 PM
@The Diva on a Diet: I beg to differ. It’s not like doing the dishes… I HATE doing the dishes. I’d rather handle slimy raw chicken. (Seriously.)
Cheryl@5secondrule´s last blog ..Manipulation
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 6:49 PM
@Cheryl@5secondrule, Then it’s settled. Diva does my dishes, you do the chicken and I kick back with a glass of wine. Everybody wins.
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Nice post and video but for sure once anyone has deboned a chicken a few times it becomes ridiculously easy.
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 1:00 PM
@Poultry Ark, Thanks for confirming this. For some reason I always found the thought intimidating and now I’m fearless about the task.
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I usually buy chicken thighs with the bone on and skin on, and then remove it all. It is a fairly thankless task but it is worth it.
Plus the chicken stock, as you say, is so worth it!
Katerina´s last blog ..Chicken Thighs with Sage, Mushrooms and Onions
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Charmian Christie Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 1:02 PM
@Katerina, the chicken stock turns this from “thankless” to “gratifying”. I might get lazy about the meat itself, but the thought of stock keeps me on track with this.
I even bought myself a boning knife to see if it makes any difference. But that’s a post for another day.
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