Chicken Feet

Has anyone ever cooked chicken feet? I've seen it on TV - apparently makes nice, gelatinous broth and is used in Asian cuisine

- but I've never tried it. I love kitchen experiments, but somehow this one I can't quite get myself to doing.

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Comments

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    A huge, well known chicken company in our area ships most of their chicken "paws" to the Asian countries. Even locally we see them in the meat counter. Can't say never but can say haven't yet eaten them. I do hear they are great to add to the other pieces for making broth.

  • solarnoon.aspen
    solarnoon.aspen Posts: 219 ✭✭✭
    edited October 2020

    We were freezing all of our chicken feet and giving them to our dog as a treat. Until.....we discovered that they are one of the important elements to making super chicken rack soup stock. Here's a quote from Nourished Kitchen:

    Nourished Kitchen » Long-Simmered Broth and Stock » Bone Broth Recipes » Chicken Foot Stock

    Published: Nov 30, 2009 · Modified: Jul 8, 2019 by Jenny · This website earns income from ads, affiliates, and sponsorships.

    Chicken Foot Stock

    Chicken feet – gnarly, repulsive and disturbing – make for the very best stock. Devoid of little else but tendons, bone and cartilage (sound appetizing yet?), chicken feet produce a fine golden broth that’s rich in all those obscure nutrients that make a good stock so nourishing: glucosamine chondroitin, collagen and trace minerals. Moreover, a chicken stock is an excellent source of calcium without . Understandably, a stock made from chicken feet gels beautifully just as a good stock should.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    It has been a long time since since I had access to a lot of chicken feet. Sometimes the tiendas around here carry them, but I'd rather wait until I have a backyard flock again. A friend who is a farmer, trapper, etc - hard working outdoorsman, had a lot of arthritis and all sorts of joint and muscle pain. A couple of years ago, he began having a cup of bone broth that includes chicken or duck feet (he raises both). The bones are usually from wild game, but about half of the ingredients are the chicken feet. Most of his pain has gone away. He swears by it.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited October 2020

    I have used chicken feet & combs & wattles. You need to wash & skin the feet. Skinning I found difficult. I would like to know an easier way to do it. The combs & wattles have an odd texture, not something that I expected. They are cleaned & just thrown into the pot.

    I actually prepared and froze all for use when I got up the nerve to try them. 😬

    Once everything was cooked, it was strained to take out all of the little bones left from the feet.

    It still gives me an odd icky feeling (it is just not something most people are used to using), but I do think that it was worth doing and may do it again. My only problem is the skinning of the feet part. That needs to improve.

    @solarnoon.aspen How do you skin yours?

    @Brueck.iris Its only a mental barrier that can be pushed through. You can do it!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @RustBeltCowgirl Thanks. I didn't know about the second way. Somehow I still like the thought of the outer layer coming off (ick factor).

    If I remember correctly, I had the most issues between the toes where they join. Some areas came off easily, while others, not so much.

  • happy-trails
    happy-trails Posts: 170 ✭✭✭

    Chicken feet are a hidden gem (albeit ugly & horrifying)! Here in upstate NY, I purchase our chicken from a pasture-raised farm nearby and they also sell the chicken feet skinned and clean. The health benefits are well-documented and quite impressive! I was so creeped out when I first started using them in the kitchen, I would only touch them with tongs... haha! Now, I faithfully add 1 pound of chicken feet into every batch of bone broth for the powerful and healing nutrition - minerals, anti-aging, collagen, organic acids, immune support, detoxification, gut healing... the list goes on and on. It gels beautifully each time, without fail. We consume bone broth every day; 1-2 gallons of bone broth every week. Our bodies feel so nourished - it's miraculous how much this broth also helps my skin, back pain and stiff joints. I have not been brave enough to eat the chicken feet straight, like wings... can't imagine biting into a mushy gelatinous texture full of little bones... haha.... so dissolving the nutrients in a broth is best, for now! I'd love to hear recipes for how you all have prepared chicken feet. Thanks for the post!

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting information. I did not realize they had so many health benefits. I have never used them myself even though we process a lot of chicken every year. Just never had the time to mess with them and we are off grid so freezer space is limited.

    I have found however, that when we scald the chickens for feather removal if the feet are dipped partially into the scalding water the skin peels pretty easy. The blanching methods mentioned in the above article seem like even more work that just dipping in boiling water for a minute or so and peeling right then.

    With all our joint and back pain I guess next round of butchering will include the feet.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Chicken feet bring back memories of my mother boiling them up on the day we butchered. She had them all to herself because no one else could stand the thought of eating them. In Bolivia, they thrown in a foot or two in for goodwill when you buy a chicken. They're used to thicken the filling for empanadas, dog or cat food, or stew. I use them in bone broth.

  • Angel
    Angel Posts: 61 ✭✭✭

    I make stock from chicken feet. The feet make a truly wonderful stock, gelatinous and rich.

    @vickeym , I think you're right about just dunking them. I dunk the feet in the scalding water, then peel. It is pretty easy, even if a bit time-consuming to get a bunch peeled. I then freeze them until I want to make stock.

  • solarnoon.aspen
    solarnoon.aspen Posts: 219 ✭✭✭
    edited October 2020

    @LaurieLovesLearning

    Some others have described the skin removal process. For us lots of it comes off in the scalding for feather removal. Those beautiful feet just need a little time in hot water and the skin peels off quite easily, but it's never been something I try to do. I just as soon keep the skins on. They are quite clean by the time the scalding is over.

    I had never thought of the skin as a big deal. When we make soup stock with a rack, feet and vegetables, it all gets strained off anyway. There's really no need to skin them separately.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @solarnoon.aspen It is most likely just the ick factor for me. Thanks for your reply.

    How do you do a scald? We didn't dunk the feet. How do you do this without cooking your hands? Do you have really good gloves (I find that all let heat through) or use a certain tool to do so?

  • solarnoon.aspen
    solarnoon.aspen Posts: 219 ✭✭✭
    edited October 2020

    @LaurieLovesLearning

    I've got a stick that holds the feet under - at least for some of the scald time. It allows me to move the chicken around in the hot water. But usually, I hold onto the feet and make sure the bird moves up and down so all the feathers get the scald.

    I'm not aiming to take off the feet skin, though. So, if it comes off, that's ok. If it stays on, I think it will just add to the soup stock some nutrients. Sometimes the plucker tears it off after the scald too.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    One of my patients from Asia (I am a chiropractor) once commented to me about how strange Americans were about eating chicken. She said the back was the most prized part of the chicken and chicken breast was the least. Feet were far above breast meat for value.

  • IrisB
    IrisB Posts: 142 ✭✭✭

    Thanks for all the comments. While you were busy writing I butchered a chicken. A good looking guy who unfortunately decided to consider me as his meal and attacked me one time too many. So now I have 2 feet in the fridge and I'm considering to throw them into the water when I make broth.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @tomandcara I agree with your patient. We don't realize how much our culture affects our view of what is "normal". One of the best things I did for myself was leave my comfort zone and learn about other cultures and their food. I realized just how wasteful Americans are and started living more environmentally-aware, mostly thanks to what I learned from friends from other countries.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭

    @Tave so true. I am grateful to have a great diversity of people and cultures in my life.

  • MelissaLynne
    MelissaLynne Posts: 205 ✭✭✭
    edited October 2020

    I read about processing and using chicken feet a while back and have been meaning to start, but I haven’t culled any birds since I read up on it. I will have to toss in the combs and waddles too!


    thanks to @RustBeltCowgirl for the link!

  • nicksamanda11
    nicksamanda11 Posts: 755 ✭✭✭✭

    I used chicken feet and heads recently to make and can a stock. It was kinda weird looking in the pan but it was tasty and I know it's good for us.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @MelissaLynne You only need to throw in the waddles if you are processing ducks. 😉

    I realize the word you needed was "wattles," but I couldn't resist. 😂

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    Chicken combs, wattles and feet contain hyaluronic acid/hyaluronan. My grandmother used to eat every part of the bird and now I know why.

  • IrisB
    IrisB Posts: 142 ✭✭✭

    Yes, I read your comment too late. Will do next time. Probably it's good to start just with feet and get used to unsual parts gradually.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @Brueck.iris Not me! I figured if I was going to try this strange new to me idea, I'd just jump right in, whole hog.

    Now, a chicken head...I don't think that I could quite do that. 😬

  • IrisB
    IrisB Posts: 142 ✭✭✭

    How interesting, I'd rather use the whole chicken head - less butchering work.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    True, but it was surprisingly really easy cutting off those extras.

  • Megan Venturella
    Megan Venturella Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭

    A Nigerian friend says the chicken’s comb is a delicacy, but I’m to “chicken” to eat it and just put it in the broth. I’ve made many a broth with peeled feet thrown in there, and enjoyed chicken feet as a part of dim sum. A Hungarian farmer I know puts the feet , head, testes (I’m not sure which word to sound polite. Testicles? Whatever!) liver, etc into soup. The soup was great but I panicked later when one of the smooth little balls went missing. I had planned on slipping it to the dog when after my friend left! So someone ate it after all...

  • Melissa Burford
    Melissa Burford Posts: 69 ✭✭✭

    I use chicken feet when making broth and stock. I've been able to find them at one grocer in my area and they are sold as chicken "paws."

  • spanthegulf
    spanthegulf Posts: 81 ✭✭✭

    I love this community! There's always something new to learn!!! Chicken feet, combs and wattles... what was old is new again!