lean chicken vs fat chicken

RobAMerc

I presume we are talking about the skin really are we ?
or does the fat live somewhere else in the meat?

Does that make the 4 drumsticks and 2 thighs roasted with skin I ate for dinner last night v bad ?

Thanks
Rob

BraziliaNZ

Yes the skin has a lot of calories

Frogdog

RobAMerc wrote: »

I presume we are talking about the skin really are we ?
or does the fat live somewhere else in the meat?

Does that make the 4 drumsticks and 2 thighs roasted with skin I ate for dinner last night v bad ?

Thanks
Rob

Why do you think that fat is bad?

El_Dangeroso

Wouldn't go eating a tonne of chicken skin as it's quite high in omega 6 but if you want to get all the goodness of collagen then you can boil up the skin with the bones to make a broth. Skim off the fat and the scum and cool in the fridge to a rich jelly stock. So good for digestion and skin.

RobAMerc

Frogdog wrote: »

Why do you think that fat is bad?

Actually, I don't really except I am always hearing people say "lean chicken breasts" etc and I was just wondering. I was always under the impression skin was high in bad cholesterol - but so was I about eggs which seems to be untrue.

Alopex

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Wouldn't go eating a tonne of chicken skin as it's quite high in omega 6 but if you want to get all the goodness of collagen then you can boil up the skin with the bones to make a broth. Skim off the fat and the scum and cool in the fridge to a rich jelly stock. So good for digestion and skin.

You any idea if organic chicken skin would be the same re the omega 6? really enjoying chicken + the skin recently. chicken breasts are just so boring on their own now....

rubadub

RobAMerc wrote: »

I presume we are talking about the skin really are we ?
or does the fat live somewhere else in the meat?

The fat is in the meat too, e.g. skinned breasts are a bit lower % in fat than skinned thighs.

When it is cooked with the skin on I think it is compounded though, since with thighs you have less meat underneath a thicker layer of fat than with breasts. So when it is cooking there is more fat per gram of dry meat beneath it, so it is like it is getting basted more.

What I sometimes do is get rotisserie chickens and take take the skin off in one go, then tear & shred the rest off and mix it all up, now you have a nice even mixture of breast (which I find too dry) and the "brown" meats (which I find too greasy).

El_Dangeroso

Alopex wrote: »

You any idea if organic chicken skin would be the same re the omega 6? really enjoying chicken + the skin recently. chicken breasts are just so boring on their own now....

Yeah, it's about the same, maybe a little less, you just can't fatten chicken without grain and that means higher ratio of 6 to 3 always.

I still eat fatty chicken about once a week though.

RobAMerc

so would skinning it before I cook it be a good idea to reduce fat ?

rubadub

RobAMerc wrote: »

so would skinning it before I cook it be a good idea to reduce fat ?

Yep, also saves on cleaning up all that fat afterwards too. Tandoori chicken is a good way to do it, you get tandoori spices in any asian store -much cheaper than supermarkets but it would be in dunnes or tesco too. You usually mix it with natural yogurt, lemon juice and a little oil (any of these could be omitted though). I get natural yogurt and make it into ice cubes and keep them just for tandoori (as big pots are only about twice the price of tiny ones).

You can get a full chicken and make it tandoori, you stick your fingers under the skin and lift it away, it peels off like a little jacket, then you deeply score the chicken to rub the marinate in. It also cooks far quicker than a usual roast chicken.

Or just get chicken fillets, many butchers do 10 for 10euro and they are about 130g each so works out cheaper than most supermarkets.

A trick with fillets is to wrap them in tinfoil with spices inside, this keeps them moist but also they are cooked "in a controlled environment", -i.e. when you take them out they are not exposed to airborne contaminants so they keep well in the fridge, just cool them ASAP, I leave mine out on oven racks in the wind out the back, chills very quickly. you could also freeze them in the tinfoil. This is good if you have lots from the butcher and would not otherwise cook them before the use by.

Kadongy

rubadub wrote: »

Yep, also saves on cleaning up all that fat afterwards too. Tandoori chicken is a good way to do it, you get tandoori spices in any asian store -much cheaper than supermarkets but it would be in dunnes or tesco too. You usually mix it with natural yogurt, lemon juice and a little oil (any of these could be omitted though). I get natural yogurt and make it into ice cubes and keep them just for tandoori (as big pots are only about twice the price of tiny ones).

You can get a full chicken and make it tandoori, you stick your fingers under the skin and lift it away, it peels off like a little jacket, then you deeply score the chicken to rub the marinate in. It also cooks far quicker than a usual roast chicken.

Or just get chicken fillets, many butchers do 10 for 10euro and they are about 130g each so works out cheaper than most supermarkets.

A trick with fillets is to wrap them in tinfoil with spices inside, this keeps them moist but also they are cooked "in a controlled environment", -i.e. when you take them out they are not exposed to airborne contaminants so they keep well in the fridge, just cool them ASAP, I leave mine out on oven racks in the wind out the back, chills very quickly. you could also freeze them in the tinfoil. This is good if you have lots from the butcher and would not otherwise cook them before the use by.

I did something like this with a full chicken after reading your post and was surprised how good it was. Very juicy meat.