The Bag Hack For Effortlessly Deboning A Rotisserie Chicken
Mastering the art of the perfectly home-cooked chicken is simpler than it sounds, but sometimes the thought of turning on the oven is, for whatever reason, out of the question. In times like those, there's nothing like picking up a warm, juicy rotisserie chicken made by someone other than yourself. Whether you serve it in one fell swoop or eat it throughout the week, it's one of the finest grocery store offerings to speak of. The one downside? Carving it can leave you covered in greasy juice.
Enter a viral TikTok hack for effortlessly deboning this type of bird. Originally posted by Texan Katie Reames, the method involves transferring a rotisserie chicken to a large Ziploc bag and massaging it until the tender meat falls off the bone. After a minute or so of vigorous prodding, Reames is left with a bag of poultry meat in various shapes and sizes — including those little bits that may have otherwise clung to the bone.
@katierreames
This method has a mixed bag of reviews
Like other TikTok-bred food hacks that involve shaking (we're thinking of the way to peel garlic that involves two bowls), Reames' method for deboning a rotisserie chicken with a Ziploc bag has received both positive and negative feedback. Some users who found success wished they had learned about the trick sooner, while others discovered it right in time. "[It] actually works," wrote one user. "I tried it today with my Costco chicken."
Others doubted the claim that the method removes all the bones from the bird. "I did this and there were bones everywhere," griped one user. They added that "nothing was intact so I had to go through and pick out all the bones." Reames replied that this didn't happen to her, despite having tried the method successfully with two chickens. One possible solution? Those experiencing difficulty might want to be gentle when messaging the poultry legs, which contain the tiny, sharp fibula bones the users may be referring to.
Meals to make with your rotisserie chicken meat
If you plan to serve your chicken sliced on a platter with the white meat and dark meat laid out separately, you might want to throw on a pair of plastic or latex gloves and bust your carving fork. Reames' poultry hack, meanwhile, is ideal for dishes that call for small pieces of shredded meat.
To keep things super simple, you could toss the chicken in a pot of soup, add it to a sandwich or a bowl of rice and vegetables, or use a handful to level up a homemade burrito. If you have a bit more time to make dinner, you could make use of that pre-cooked shredded meat in a pot pie or another cozy, creamy casserole. Craving gumbo but don't have all day? Use it in a quicker-than-usual version of the New Orleans staple.
If it were us, we'd buy two rotisserie chickens and use one exclusively for snacking.