# Pineapple Chicken



## TIM524 (Aug 30, 2013)

Put a layer of onion and potatoes in the bottom of my 12'' d/o, then added 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks, dumped a can of pineapple juice in and seasoned the meat.




Added a can of stewed tomatoes, some onion and bell pepper, then topped it with the pineapple rings.




Put some heat to it and let it cook for about an hour.




The last 15 minutes I added my favorite BBQ sauce and let it finish




It was AWESOME


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## Hoot (Aug 30, 2013)

I reckon I will be making this very very soon.
Looks great!
Thanks!


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## Addie (Aug 30, 2013)

About ten years ago my daughter asked me if I could come up with a dinner dish that had pineapple. Not a dessert. Hmmm....

I bought a roaster, loosened the breast skin, put a pineapple ring under the skin on each breast, put the chicken on a rack and poured the pineapple juice into the bottom on the pan. S&P on the skin, and stuck it in the oven. When it was nice and brown, you could see the outline of the rings. Looked so pretty. I then took the juices, pineapple and chicken drippings and made a reduced sauce and melted a pat of butter in it for thickening. Her family raved about it all week. She made her own mashed potatoes. This was a recipe that I just winged on the fly. I wouldn't touch it. I hate pineapple. And a pineapple sauce on mashed potatoes did nothing for my appetite. I ate at home that day.


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## philkel (Sep 10, 2014)

Wow that looks fantastic. I have Dutch oven, I should try your recipe. Thanks for sharing your recipe Tim.


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## buckytom (Sep 11, 2014)

looks and sounds great, tim. i have a pineapple looking for a purpose in life. hmmm...

my wife would appreciate that you removed the chicken skin.


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## CharlieD (Sep 11, 2014)

Is it coal on the top of the chicken?


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## Addie (Sep 11, 2014)

CharlieD said:


> Is it coal on the top of the chicken?



Yeh ''Charlie. A tradition from the days of being out on the range with the herd. Cookie (the cook) would put the food in the spider (what the pan was called if they had legs on them) and set it over hot coals and place more coals on the lid. Notice the lip around the edge of the cover. This was to keep the hot coals from falling off and burning the foot of Cookie when he removed it to check on the food. The whole thing is cast iron. The food cooks faster with this practice. Cowboys didn't want to wait for their grub. CI pots were the choice of all the Cookies out there on the range. It cooked the food fast and even over a campfire.


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## Caslon (Sep 12, 2014)

That looks tasty good. I don't have a dutch oven like you so I've been Googling how to make it using a large cast iron skillet instead.  I found some recipes that I'll be trying soon.  I wonder how I can add some sourness to make it sweet and sour chicken using the pineapple?  Maybe I should look up that recipe separately.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 12, 2014)

White vinegar is used in sweet and sour sauce.


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## letscook (Sep 12, 2014)

If you don't have the time or the dutch oven - this is a great one.

*Hawaiian Chicken*
4 chicken breast or pieces equalivent
Mix together & coat chicken pieces
1/2 cup flour
salt & pepper
Brown chicken in 1/3 cup of oil and set aside
Sauce;
1   13- 15 oz. can chunk pinneapple - drained saving juice - set pinneapple aside.
drain juice into a 2 cup measuring cup, then add enough water to make it 1 1/4 cups
Place juice into a sauce pan and add:
2 tbl cornstarch
3/4 cup cider vingear
1 tbl soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chicken bouillon cube  ( or add chicken broth to the pinneapple juice)
whisking  constantley till comes to a boil
Place chicken into a baking dish 
pour sauce over chicken
Top with pineapple and 1 green pepper sliced  (I do  for color a mixture of red and green)
Cover tightly and bake 350 degrees for 45 min and uncovered for 15 min or until chicken is done
Great served with rice.


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## Caslon (Sep 12, 2014)

The pineapple chicken recipe sounds good, so does yours  [letscook].  I might try yours because I'd like that little bit of sourness.  I just need to get the chicken,  bouillon cube , pineapple chunks and green pepper.  I have arrowroot instead of cornstarch.

Also, I want to halve your recipe as 4 chicken pieces are too much.  I guess I can just halve the ingredients.


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## letscook (Sep 12, 2014)

Yes, it easily can be cut in half.  
I have also done it with chicken wings, and for a pot luck dinner I did all drumsticks.


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## taxlady (Sep 12, 2014)

Caslon said:


> The pineapple chicken recipe sounds good, so does yours  [letscook].  I might try yours because I'd like that little bit of sourness.  I just need to get the chicken,  bouillon cube , pineapple chunks and green pepper.  I have arrowroot instead of cornstarch.
> 
> Also, I want to halve your recipe as 4 chicken pieces are too much.  I guess I can just halve the ingredients.


I've used a bit of apple cider vinegar for sourness. If you do add something sour, then arrowroot should theoretically work better than cornstarch.


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## Caslon (Sep 12, 2014)

taxlady said:


> I've used a bit of apple cider vinegar for sourness. If you do add something sour, then arrowroot should theoretically work better than cornstarch.



  From a web source. "It’s an excellent substitute for cornstarch and flour as a thickening agent in sauces, gravies, pie fillings, and puddings. Arrowroot starch is neutral tasting  and tolerates acidic ingredients, such as citrus". 

For a second there, I was a bit confused with your reply, then I thought it over.
Arrowroot will go well with the other ingredients in this dish that  sour it and are acidic, such as the vinegar.  Noted.


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## taxlady (Sep 12, 2014)

Caslon said:


> From a web source. "It’s an excellent substitute for cornstarch and flour as a thickening agent in sauces, gravies, pie fillings, and puddings. Arrowroot starch is neutral tasting  and tolerates acidic ingredients, such as citrus".
> 
> For a second there, I was a bit confused with your reply, then I thought it over.
> Arrowroot will go well with the other ingredients in this dish that  sour it and are acidic, such as the vinegar.  Noted.


Sorry I wasn't more clear. I did a lot of Googling when I was looking for a substitute for potato starch. I can't really say from personal experience whether or not arrowroot is better with acidic stuff than cornstarch, but my research tells me arrowroot should be better for acidic stuff.


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## Caslon (Sep 15, 2014)

letscook said:


> If you don't have the time or the dutch oven - this is a great one.
> 
> *Hawaiian Chicken*
> 4 chicken breast or pieces equalivent
> ...



Question. I bought 2 large boneless chicken breast halves weighing a total of 2 lbs.  Would that be the equivalent of 4 chicken breasts bone in?  They're rather large sized.  Ok to cut them in half?  I think I'll not halve the recipe since 2 lbs looks like quite a lot in boneless breasts.


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## Addie (Sep 15, 2014)

Caslon said:


> Question. I bought 2 large boneless chicken breast halves weighing a total of 2 lbs.  Would that be the equivalent of 4 chicken breasts bone in?  They're rather large sized.  Ok to cut them in half?  I think I'll not halve the recipe since 2 lbs looks like quite a lot in boneless breasts.



Yes you can cut them. If they are really thick, you may want to pound them so that they are the same thickness all over the breast. They will cook more evenly if they are the same thickness all over. Only use what you need, freeze the rest.


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## buckytom (Sep 15, 2014)

i'm not sure how well boneless skinless breasts would work with either of the recipes. i mean, they'd still be ok but i'd think they'd dry out.

i guess the sauce would make up for that to some degree.


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## Caslon (Sep 15, 2014)

Thanks for the tip about making them equal size. They do taper off at the ends.

I wanted bone in chicken breasts for this recipe. The thing is, my nearest supermarket (Albertsons) only has these huge bone in split chicken breasts, 2 per pack. Whatever happened to modestly sized bone in chicken breasts?  I mean, when I visit KFC or El Pollo Loco, their bone in chicken breasts are modestly sized, not gargantuate like the ones for sale at Albertson's.  I'm going to Ralphs and then Vons (Safeway) supermarkets  to see if I can buy modestly sized bone in chicken breasts.   Boneless skinless are mostly what I see now in chicken breasts.  And the bone in breasts are  split chicken  and are HUGE.


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## buckytom (Sep 15, 2014)

yes, huge breasts are over rated. 

ya still gotta love meaty thighs, though. 

how do you feel about roasts? i'm a rump man, myself.


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## taxlady (Sep 15, 2014)

buckytom said:


> yes, huge breasts are over rated.
> 
> ya still gotta love meaty thighs, though.
> 
> how do you feel about roasts? i'm a rump man, myself.


Which reminds me, I wonder what Harry and Bolas are up to.


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## buckytom (Sep 15, 2014)

lol. my thoughts exactly.

what happened while i was away? who took away the sillines and the fun?

i'm dyin' here.


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## Caslon (Sep 15, 2014)

I was as careful as I could be,  guys and gals, calling them chicken breasts...chicken breasts, ok?..hah.
KFC and El Pollo Loco no doubt can specify what size their chicken breasts are as part of their contract with the chicken growers.
Not so as a shopper.   The bone in split chicken breasts I saw at Albertsons are way too big to make with this recipe, IMO.

I'll shop for smaller sized ones.


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## Caslon (Sep 17, 2014)

Just a follow up on the Hawaiian Chicken.  I'll definitely use chicken breasts next time.  The skin (fat) and bones  just seem to have more flavor than boneless skinless chicken. Also, the recipe called for draining the juices of a  15 oz. pineapple can and then adding water to make 1 1/4 cups.  Next time I'll only fill it up to maybe 3/4 a cup total so that the sauce is thicker.  It was a bit runny and drained thru the rice on my plate.  Also, I'll cut up 2 green peppers instead of one because I like cut green peppers with this dish.  Other than that it came out pretty good.  I'll try this recipe again when I can get smaller regular sized chicken breasts.


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## Addie (Sep 17, 2014)

Caslon said:


> Just a follow up on the Hawaiian Chicken.  I'll definitely use chicken breasts next time.  The skin (fat) and bones  just seem to have more flavor than boneless skinless chicken. Also, the recipe called for draining the juices of a  15 oz. pineapple can and then adding water to make 1 1/4 cups.  Next time I'll only fill it up to maybe 3/4 a cup total so that the sauce is thicker.  It was a bit runny and drained thru the rice on my plate.  Also, I'll cut up 2 green peppers instead of one because I like cut green peppers with this dish.  Other than that it came out pretty good.  I'll try this recipe again *when I can get smaller regular sized chicken breasts*.



Good luck with that. Farmers are now using implants on their chickens. I bought just one chicken breast for The Pirate. He got two meals out of it.


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## letscook (Sep 17, 2014)

Caslon, 
could always add another tablespoon of cornstarch, what happened I think you when cooking - the pineapple and chicken release more juice then expected. 
You could drain the juice from the dish into a sauce pan and add lil more cornstarch mixed with lil water (a slurry) and heat it up again will tighten it up again.
I had that happen when I made it with some large wings.


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## Addie (Sep 17, 2014)

letscook said:


> Caslon,
> could always add another tablespoon of cornstarch, what happened I think you when cooking - the pineapple and chicken release more juice then expected.
> You could drain the juice from the dish into a sauce pan and add lil more cornstarch mixed with lil water (a slurry) and heat it up again will tighten it up again.
> I had that happen when I made it with some large wings.




Excellent suggestion


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## GotGarlic (Sep 17, 2014)

Addie said:


> Good luck with that. Farmers are now using implants on their chickens. I bought just one chicken breast for The Pirate. He got two meals out of it.



Implants?


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## GotGarlic (Sep 17, 2014)

Caslon said:


> Just a follow up on the Hawaiian Chicken.  I'll definitely use chicken breasts next time.  The skin (fat) and bones  just seem to have more flavor than boneless skinless chicken. Also, the recipe called for draining the juices of a  15 oz. pineapple can and then adding water to make 1 1/4 cups.  Next time I'll only fill it up to maybe 3/4 a cup total so that the sauce is thicker.  It was a bit runny and drained thru the rice on my plate.  Also, I'll cut up 2 green peppers instead of one because I like cut green peppers with this dish.  Other than that it came out pretty good.  I'll try this recipe again when I can get smaller regular sized chicken breasts.



Just a suggestion: When I make sweet and sour chicken or pork, or just about anything with green bell peppers, I like to use red and/or yellow peppers, too. They're sweeter and make the dish more colorful and nutritious (they have different nutrients than the green ones). Love sweet and sour dishes


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## Addie (Sep 17, 2014)

GotGarlic said:


> Implants?



 Breast Implants? Have you seen the size of the chicken breasts that are now in the markets?


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## GotGarlic (Sep 17, 2014)

Addie said:


> Breast Implants? Have you seen the size of the chicken breasts that are now in the markets?



I just roasted a couple the other day. They were quite tasty!  It's funny that if you buy a whole chicken, the breasts aren't that big.


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## Addie (Sep 17, 2014)

GotGarlic said:


> I just roasted a couple the other day. They were quite tasty!  It's funny that if you buy a whole chicken, the breasts aren't that big.



I want to see a chicken with those large breasts walk around the yard. They must be taking a lot of face falls.


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## taxlady (Sep 17, 2014)

Addie said:


> I want to see a chicken with those large breasts walk around the yard. They must be taking a lot of face falls.


I don't think those chickens have ever seen a yard.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 17, 2014)

Caslon said:


> That looks tasty good. I don't have a dutch oven like you so I've been Googling how to make it using a large cast iron skillet instead.  I found some recipes that I'll be trying soon.  I wonder how I can add some sourness to make it sweet and sour chicken using the pineapple?  Maybe I should look up that recipe separately.


What about vinegar for the sourness? Mum used to have a recipe for sweet and sour pork that had pineapple and vinegar among the ingredients. I think she may have used either malt vinegar or cider vinegar but I would think any vinegar would do (except that white vinegar they sell for cleaning)


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## Caslon (Sep 17, 2014)

Letscook came up with a sweet n sour Hawaiian chicken recipe that uses vinegar.

About chicken breast sizes....Why are chicken breasts so HUGE? - General Topics - Chowhound 

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2011/04/bring-back-small-chicken-breasts.html

Hehe, some call them Pamela Anderson birds.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 17, 2014)

Addie said:


> Breast Implants? Have you seen the size of the chicken breasts that are now in the markets?


I read recently that American farmers are allowed to use hormones to "encourage" growth in meat animals and to increase yield with milking cows. Perhaps that's the cause of the giant chickens.

I had a turkey drumstick not long ago that I had to break with my kitchen cleaver in order to get it into the slow cooker (which is a large one). It fed me two meals and a plate of sandwiches. I wouldn't like to meet the turkey it belonged to in a dark alley. Goodness only knows how tall it was!


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## Steve Kroll (Sep 17, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> I read recently that American farmers are allowed to use hormones to "encourage" growth in meat animals and to increase yield with milking cows. Perhaps that's the cause of the giant chickens.
> 
> I had a turkey drumstick not long ago that I had to break with my kitchen cleaver in order to get it into the slow cooker (which is a large one). It fed me two meals and a plate of sandwiches. I wouldn't like to meet the turkey it belonged to in a dark alley. Goodness only knows how tall it was!



In the US, it's illegal to use hormones and steroids in chicken and turkey.


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## Kayelle (Sep 17, 2014)

I wouldn't use anything but thighs for this recipe myself.


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## Caslon (Sep 17, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> I wouldn't use anything but thighs for this recipe myself.



That's my plan B if I can't hunt down any reasonably sized bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. So far no luck.   It's as if you have to find a source that grows chickens a bit smaller in the first place.   You know who has that ability?  KFC, El Pollo Loco, Church's Fried Chicken.   

It's so unfair. 

I don't really care for boneless skinless chicken breasts.  If you get them grown by less famous companies, they practically have the no taste and texture of what I imagine raw whale blubber has.


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## buckytom (Sep 17, 2014)

caslon, do you have an asian, middle eastern, or hispanic market nearby?

i've found the meats in "ethnic" markets are more reasonable in size and have a fat content more like years ago.


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

That's my next task.  I googled my local area meat markets, and some are asian.  I have about 5 places to call tomorrow.

I called Trader Joes and Whole Foods.  No luck.  I'm gonna have to try the local butcher market places.

Also, some say the organic sellers grow smaller chickens, but that they are expensive.  They are, yikes...$6.99 a lb.

I wouldn't mind paying that I suppose, but so far all the organic chicken parts are large split chicken   breasts , just like everyone else's packages.


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## taxlady (Sep 18, 2014)

I buy organic chicken. It's free range too, so it has a lot of flavour. It's $11.99/kg ($5.44/lb). I separate the breasts from the chicken and they are not huge. I refuse to pay a huge premium just so I won't get the bones for stock and the limbs for me. (DH doesn't like dark meat.) I think the boneless, skinless breasts are twice as much per kg.


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## buckytom (Sep 18, 2014)

absolutely! you can save a pretty penny if you learn how to break down a chicken, then how to remove tbe bones.

does anyone spatchcock anymore?


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

Now that I know  I want the sauce thicker  so it doesn't drain thru the rice on the plate and how to make it that way, and adding a lot more peppers, red, yellow and green...I'm sort of eager to try making this recipe again.   I'll use thighs if I can't get smaller sized chicken breasts.  I just really like a bit of skin fat and how it absorbs flavors. I also like how bone-in chicken adds something to the taste.


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## taxlady (Sep 18, 2014)

buckytom said:


> absolutely! you can save a pretty penny if you learn how to break down a chicken, then how to remove tbe bones.
> 
> does anyone spatchcock anymore?


Still learning how to get the breast off the bones so it looks nice. I don't bother taking the bones out of the thighs. I like the extra flavour from cooking the meat on the bone, and DH isn't going to be eating the thighs.

I haven't spatchcocked a bird yet. I keep meaning to.


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## buckytom (Sep 18, 2014)

thighs are tricky, but you have to think there's gonna be an ugly side and a smoothe side. sorta the same thing with breasts. the tenderloin is all fingers.

my wife actually asked me once if i could skin and debone a wing for healthy buffalo wings. lol.


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

i'm gonna try going to a small  asian butcher shop or wherever where they may possibly start out with smaller chickens to begin with, before cutting them up.   Most whole chickens I see at my 3 supermarkets are still kinda large.

I'm just not that crazy about boneless skinless chicken, tho I'm sure they make for good dinners.  Crispy chicken tenders, popcorn chicken,  Mcnuggets...lol.

I just don't   like boneless skinless big chicken breast recipe meals where they are cooked up full sized.  I tend to cut them up into smaller pieces on the plate and they didn't much absorb what  flavors I added.

I suppose I could have cut those large boneless skinless pieces into chunks.  I think that's maybe what I should have done since I didn't have bone in skin on breasts.  That way when serving on the plate, it wouldn't be this huge hunk of chicken with no flavoring inside.


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## taxlady (Sep 18, 2014)

I deboned thighs once. Not worth the effort to me.

I was a member of a computer club that had potluck Xmas parties. One of the members, a chef, brought a deboned turkey. He hadn't cut it into pieces! It was still one piece. I'm boggled.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 18, 2014)

Caslon, you could also cut a single bone-in breast into two or three pieces for this recipe and use the other one for another recipe.


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

As little as a few years ago bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts were available everywhere.

Thanks a lot, all you who made boneless skinless chicken breasts the norm.

Thanks a lot  blubber lovers !

I blames you.

Boneless skinless, boneless skinless, boneless skinless, boneless skinless...


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## Mad Cook (Sep 18, 2014)

Steve Kroll said:


> In the US, it's illegal to use hormones and steroids in chicken and turkey.


That's good. The article I read didn't specify poultry just 4 legged animals and I put two and two together and made five.

There must be another reason for the Chesty Morgan chickens then.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 18, 2014)

taxlady said:


> I deboned thighs once. Not worth the effort to me.
> 
> I was a member of a computer club that had potluck Xmas parties. One of the members, a chef, brought a deboned turkey. He hadn't cut it into pieces! It was still one piece. I'm boggled.


It's not really all that difficult to bone out a whole turkey. You just need a sharp boning knife and a lot of determination. Boning a chicken and leaving it whole is more difficult and a duck is a nightmare.

I've boned out turkeys and stuffed them with a pork based stuffing which included all the odd bits of turkey that came away with the bones. Great for big parties as it makes the carving easy and the bird goes farther. I've never done the 3 or 4 bird roast though, as it seems a bit too far to go.


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## Kayelle (Sep 18, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> It's not really all that difficult to bone out a whole turkey. You just need a sharp boning knife and a lot of determination. Boning a chicken and leaving it whole is more difficult and a duck is a nightmare.
> 
> *I've boned out turkeys and stuffed them with a pork based stuffing which included all the odd bits of turkey that came away with the bones. Great for big parties as it makes the carving easy and the bird goes farther.* I've never done the 3 or 4 bird roast though, as it seems a bit too far to go.



My Daddy would do boneless turkeys for his meat market during the holidays, and Mama would make the sausage stuffing. He could make a big profit on all the special orders that would come in from all over town. 

I have to hand it to you MC, as it takes a great deal of skill to do it right. He left the legs intact.


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

What is chicken or turkey without the the bones?  Lump meat. 

I bought one of those big turkey  boneless  thingys one Thanksgiving.

I never will again.  Parts are parts,  this thing cooked up weird.

Give me bones for flavor and skin for flavor...what do I care if I die a year earlier  because of the fat.


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## Kayelle (Sep 18, 2014)

Caslon, just cut those big bone in breasts in half..it's no big deal with a good knife.

I hardly ever use breasts when thighs are so much more flavorful, less expensive and can take longer cooking time, as this recipe requires.


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## taxlady (Sep 18, 2014)

Bone-in chicken breasts are easy to cut in half with kitchen shears.


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

I suppose so...lol

Would that be like small bone in chicken breasts you get at KFC and El Pollo Loco and Church's fried chicken?

Doesn't the size of the chicken from the get go factor in?


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## GotGarlic (Sep 18, 2014)

Caslon said:


> I suppose so...lol
> 
> Would that be like small bone in chicken breasts you get at KFC and El Pollo Loco and Church's fried chicken?
> 
> Doesn't the size of the chicken from the get go factor in?



I don't quite understand these questions. A large bone-in chicken breast cut in half is not like a small bone-in chicken breast; it's just a large one cut in half.

Factor in to what?


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## Addie (Sep 18, 2014)

taxlady said:


> I deboned thighs once. Not worth the effort to me.
> 
> I was a member of a computer club that had potluck Xmas parties. One of the members, a chef, brought a deboned turkey. He hadn't cut it into pieces! It was still one piece. I'm boggled.



When chicken thighs are on sale, I will stock up on them. Half will go into the freezer as is and the other half deboned for frying. I have done it several times just this past year. Thighs are my favorite part of the leg.


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## CharlieD (Sep 18, 2014)

My wife would not eat dark meat  or skin if you pay her. So I try to buy whole chicken and take the breast out for her. Takes couple of minutes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Discuss Cooking mobile app


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## Caslon (Sep 18, 2014)

Good news!

My Albertsons had chicken breasts bone-in   skin-in.

I'm going back tomorrow and buy another 4 pak to freeze.


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## Caslon (Sep 19, 2014)

These  are  still bigger than if you were ordering a chicken breast from KFC or El Pollo Loco.

Those companies dictate what size chickens are grown, breast size they want. 

The public?    Left out.


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## CharlieD (Sep 29, 2014)

Adapted this recipe to my cooking. I made a dinner for about 100 people the  other day. Cooked about 20 chickens. Had to use trays and bake it. As you can imagine it would not have fit in a pot.


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## letscook (Sep 29, 2014)

Looks delish


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## CharlieD (Sep 29, 2014)

Thank you. It really was. Some of the pineapple chunks got almost carmelised. They were like candy.


Sent from my iPad using Discuss Cooking


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## Caslon (Sep 30, 2014)

Meal for 100 looks scrumptious.  Throw away pans too... I'm envious.


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## buckytom (Oct 1, 2014)

_*recyclable pans!*_


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## GotGarlic (Oct 1, 2014)

buckytom said:


> _*recyclable pans!*_



Like


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