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Just Can't Cut It

HendersonTRKing
HendersonTRKing Posts: 1,803
in EggHead Forum
Was gonna debone 2 chickens for galantine ballotine today. Pre-watched Jacques Pepin's video about 5 times before making the assault on the birds -- easy, right??  He says in that awesome accent of his that it shouldn't take more than a minute to debone a chicken. 

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!

Butchered it right good. Chicken mung everywhere, including the iPad I was using as I worked. 

So we ended up having some filleted breasts and thighs and a spatch. Tasty. Good thing the chx were $0.99/lb at BJ's!!!

Time for some remedial knife work I guess...


It's a 302 thing . . .
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Comments

  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,173
    No expert here....but believe it is a lot of practice that gets you to that point. Yours birds look good from here. 
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    That's funny, I've been there.
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    Deboning a chicken just takes some practice. I can't do it as fast as Jacques can but it's no longer tedious and nerve wracking. Keep trying - it's worth the effort. 

    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,670
    edited March 2016
    @SciAggie is right, just takes practice.

    Btw, for good knife work help check out Craftsy.  They have a great free series on knife skills.  It upped my game big time.

    Scroll down to his free knife skills classes:

    http://www.craftsy.com/instructors/brendan-mcdermott

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    @SciAggie and @Ozzie_Isaac speak the truff. That craftsy video changed my game and saved some blood. 
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  • StillH2OEgger
    StillH2OEgger Posts: 3,896
    I appreciate that you even tried it. I figure it would take me 45 minutes and my end product would not look nearly as good as what you tossed on the egg. I hope you post future efforts, if there are any. Easy for me to say from the couch, but I would like to see you any future attempts you make and how they turn out.
    Stillwater, MN
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  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    That chicken looks great @HendersonTRKing. @Ozzie_Isaac, thanks for the Craftsy link to the knife skills class. I think I'm going to need that one. Hubby just got a Ken Onion sharpener and I am a klutz and a little skeered, lol. 
    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC
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  • rmr62
    rmr62 Posts: 233
    I have done a couple with that technique, but it took a good 15-20 mins!!
    Lagrange, GA   LBGE
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Don't feel bad. Mr. Pepin makes everything look easy. But among his quotes there was one that was something like "You only need to do something about a thousand times to get it right." Few people outside of professional cooks ever get that much practice.

    At this point, I can reliably spread peanut butter on toast and dice onions. Thanks to Mr. Pepin, I can usually make a decent hard boiled egg.
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,453
    Glad you didn't need it, but I always keep this close by. It's cheap insurance for sure!

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • CtTOPGUN
    CtTOPGUN Posts: 612
    Ozzie_Isaac said:
    @SciAggie is right, just takes practice.

    Btw, for good knife work help check out Craftsy.  They have a great free series on knife skills.  It upped my game big time.

    Scroll down to his free knife skills classes:

    http://www.craftsy.com/instructors/brendan-mcdermott


     Thank you for that link! My knife skills need work. They were better when I was married and cooking most nights for us both. But they have slipped with lack of practice.

       Jim
    LBGE/Weber Kettle/Blackstone 36" Griddle/Turkey Fryer/Induction Burner/Royal Gourmet 24" Griddle/Cuisinart Twin Oaks/Pit Boss Tabletop pellet smoker/Instant Pot

     BBQ from the State of Connecticut!

       Jim
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  • HendersonTRKing
    HendersonTRKing Posts: 1,803
    I'm the first to admit I can use the remedial knife skills work, and I'm definitely going to check out the link.  That said, Jacques swears that you shouldn't be using your knife all that much for this particular mission.  

    The vid is below and it's awesome on a lot of levels.  Maybe the best thing about it is that when you watch it a couple of times, you are absolutely certain that you can just 1-2-3 debone a chicken.  He's really that good.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8
    It's a 302 thing . . .
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  • hondabbq
    hondabbq Posts: 1,986

    Brings back memories of watching this when I was a young apprentice.

    I think its time to relive my youth and make some galantine for this weekend.

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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    Hey man it looks like you have a lollipop over there in the scrap pile so you nailed that part!  

    I have only done this once and I managed to cut the chicken in half by slicing down the breast side instead of the back side.  

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    As Chef Jaques Pepin also states... Most people try to use the knife too much. I've done a few of these. Takes maybe 5 minutes now. But, I'm still LMFAO visualizing chicken slinging around in your kitchen :rofl: 
    First one I did looked like a slaughterhouse so I can empathize. Take your time and don't get flustered. Thanks for the laugh man. :giggle: 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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