KCBS Chicken

The 2 biggest questions about cooking KCBS Chicken

1. Does it matter if the thighs are bone-in or de-boned?

I’ve done it both ways; the bone-in thighs score higher for me and I’ve always said that meat cooked on the bone just has better taste.

The de-boned method produces a good looking entry, but I’m seeing a lot of judges give negative comments for cooking “chicken nuggets” It was popular at first because it was something different, but now that trend seems to be going away.

We use kitchen shears to snip the “knuckle” off the thigh and shape them, so everything looks uniform. But you have to be careful when cutting that knuckle off because if you get too far into the bone, that marrow will come out and can give some chicken a “bloody” look.

2. Do you recommend removing and scraping the underside of the skin, or just leave it alone and trim excess?

We flip the skin over and carefully scrape the fat off the underside. It’s a pain, but it will give you that bite-through skin that judges really look for.

If the skin comes off when scrapping, it’s no big deal because we use tooth pics to secure it during the cooking process. It helps the skin to stay in place and prevents it from drawing up. You have to be very careful to remove all the tooth pics when it’s done because you will get DQ’d if you accidentally forget one. It hasn’t happened to us (yet), but I’ve had a neighbor do it. It’s a terrible feeling to have a rep walk back with your box and give you the bad news.

Malcom Reed
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