This isn’t really a Boston area specific post, but I thought some other ho’s might be interested. I am a lover of crisp chicken skin, and will fairly often debone my chicken for quick cooking and easy eating, leaving the skin on. Well, it seems that Wegman’s, at least the Burlington store and the Natick store, sell cryovaced boneless skin-on breasts and thighs. This makes me very happy.
Thanks for the tip, always looking for these. Nothing better than skin down thighs in a cast iron pan.
Great info, thanks!
Thanks for posting this. I’m in NJ but have a Wegmans nearby. I’m often in search of bone-in, skin-on chicken. I’ll have to check my local store.
But then, what do you use to make your stock?
Good question. My freezer is pretty full right now. I need to be more disciplined and start doing clean-outs for the fall. I do have a fair number of bones in there, but I tend to make stock just a couple of times a year in a twelve-gallon pot and head to an old-school poultry shop in Cambridge MA (Mayflower Poultry) for reasonably-priced feet and backs. I like how gelatinous they make the stock, and I don’t have to fill my crowded freezer with bones. It is pretty well-reduced and portioned into 8 oz. containers so it doesn’t take up too much freezer space.
Pretty much the three local spots near me all have chicken with skin (foodtown, shoprite and stop and shop)
You should be able to do ok at one of those 
But are they boneless?
Yes both with and without bones. It is really easy to cut the bone out of a thigh too, which you probably know already lol.
This is a cool video. https://youtu.be/ZOZfygXk9ik
I only wish it were easier for me to get to that Wegmans, but I do make do with regular bone-in chicken that I have to debone. I usually make stock when I have whole chicken carcasses, but on occasion I’ve used the quartered breasts too. My personal experiences is that thighs or drumsticks alone don’t produce a very flavorful stock, or maybe you just need a lot more bones.
Now I thought this would be a place where you could just buy chicken skin and I would be totally up for that! I too like crispy skin, whether it be for a treat, as a texture contrast for a dish, or to melt and add to rice or some other dish for flavor.
Yeah, sorry the title is a bit misleading. Actually, I have called Mayflower Poultry in Cambridge a couple of days in advance and asked them to set aside chicken skin for me. Last time I bought 1/2 lb. Next time I’ll ask for a lb. or two and freeze it. Hopefully they’ll still do it.
I didn’t know that was a thing! You and I may have to duke it out for the skins from them next time. 
Maybe it’s a regional thing. I’ve looked pretty carefully at several Boston area supermarkets to no avail. It seems like I’m not alone there, either.
That is a cool video. I’ve seen Jacques Pepin do it, too. I’m passable at deboning thighs and breasts, but sometimes it’s really nice to have it done so I can throw together a quick dinner. I think the whole bird might be a bit of a stretch for me. Imagine the things you could stuff inside that bird…
I have on rare occasions seen skin-on, no bone chicken at my local Shoprite but it never seems to be when I need it. I’m not a fan of my local Foodtown, or really any Foodtown.
I spatchcock and take apart a lot of whole birds for parts and roasting, but I don’t really debone much, except the occasional breast. I have to say the floppy, boneless whole carcass is a little disturbing to see.
We’re on. En garde! 
A spatchcocked chicken is a little weird but it cooks up great on the charcoal with lots of crispy skin. 
I live in Westchester and there is no problem finding bone-in, skin-on chicken. Is this a thing now? How sad. I do have trouble getting a good rib roast with the fat on - people are so fat phobic, they don’t get that the flavor is there in the fat. They don’t have to eat it. Though I love it!!
I think MsBean may have meant boneless, skin-on chicken. And yes, fat phobia drives me crazy, too. Even if you don’t eat much fat, having it there during cooking protects the meat and prevents drying out. And, there’s something pretty seductive about nicely browned and rendered fat.
Yes I did mean boneless with skin. I especially like that combo if I’m doing a stuffed breast of some sort which can end up way too dry. My knife skills are meh and I tend mutilate bone-in breast. I love the convenience of someone else removing bones for me.
