Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Do I need to remove chicken skin?
DEAR Meditalk,
I know very well that chicken skin has a lot of cholesterol. But, does it matter if I would just remove it after cooking? Or do I need to remove it before cooking?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Melba G.
Dear Melba G.,
Of course! You must have to remove the skin of your chicken before cooking because if you cook your chicken with the skin on, and take it off only off at the dinner table, then that's where all your yummy marinade, BBQ sauce, or seasonings are going to be -- and not much on your chicken meat. What a waste!
Remember too, that, some of the fat in the skin is going to melt into the chicken meat as it cooks. So, you'll still get the bad cholesterol, when you thought they were gone forever, because you have already removed them. So, darling, go ahead and take the skin off before you prepare the chicken for grilling or anything delicious.
It will grill and be cooked much the same way as it did before except, that at this time all the seasoning and flavors won't come off with the skin.
Here are some noteworthy facts worth comparing. Hope this would help you change your attitude towards the chicken skin.
* For 4 ounces of roasted chicken breast with skin, this contains 225 calories, 8.8 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat WHILE
* For 4 ounces of roasted chicken breast without skin, this only contains 187 calories, 4 grams of fat and 1.2 grams of saturated fat
So, there you go... you'll be saving about 40 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 1.3 grams of saturated fat per chicken breast just by cooking and eating it skin-free.
Good luck!
Meditalk
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