# Chicken and sausage gumbo: Bones in or out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133 "2019-03-14T16:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/1 "2019-03-14T16:13:44Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “bones in” version sold in a restaurant, but I know when the Cajun side of my family cooks up a batch of C&S gumbo, they make it with whole chicken pieces, chicken legs and thighs (can’t remember if they throw breasts in there). I’ve always like this version better. The other versions I see don’t even use dark meat. Just cut up, boneless chicken breast. Which is a sin in my book. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/2 "2019-03-14T16:19:32Z")
Dark meat=flavor, bones=flavor. I hack the legs and thighs in half, if I have wings break them apart and toss them in too. I rarely have decent andouille sausage available though, I’ll use italian sausage instead. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/3 "2019-03-14T16:21:47Z")
All inedible material should be removed from a soup, stew, or baked good before serving. This includes bones, shells, shrimp tails, corn cobs, bay leaves, and whatever else you might be cooking in with the dish. Cook it with those things in if you like; you can get some good flavors that way. But remove them before serving. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/4 "2019-03-14T16:34:14Z")
Cook with bones; take out before serving. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/5 "2019-03-14T17:03:06Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Cook with bones; take out before serving. Yeah, this right here. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/6 "2019-03-14T17:09:05Z")
Where are you finding sausage with bones? I mean, EWW! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/7 "2019-03-14T17:14:02Z")
I’ve seen homemade with bones, but never in a restaurant. But recently I was at a Cajun restaurant that served theirs with broken up crabs in it. Not what I expected, and hard to eat! Besides being very hot, I wasn’t given any claw shell cracking implements, or tiny forks to dig out the body meat. It was delicious, until I got to the bottom of the bowl and there was tons of bits of shell. I much prefer all the seafood to be edible, and no bones or skin in my gumbo. And that’s how I make mine at home! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/8 "2019-03-14T17:35:42Z")
Taking the bones out before serving sucks all the fun out of eating C&S gumbo. Sort of has a Medieval Times appeal to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/9 "2019-03-14T19:55:51Z")
It depends on the setting but generally, bone in please. Not that I would turn down a nice pot of boneless gumbo either. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/10 "2019-03-14T20:32:38Z")
Bones out for me, please. All things being equal, I’d rather not have to pick them out myself. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/11 "2019-03-15T01:23:15Z")
I’ve never had it with bones, but I like the idea. There are a number of dishes I serve bone-in, and any other way would just be wrong for me (most commonly, chicken paprikash, but I’ve literally never been served it without bones, so it wouldn’t even occur to me to make sans bones). I’ll have to try bone-in next time I do a gumbo, but I’ve always made it with boneless, skinless thighs. Is it usually made skin-on as well? ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/12 "2019-03-15T01:37:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Is it usually made skin-on as well? I always remove the skin for any wet cooking application. Chicken skin that doesn’t get crispy from dry heat is just nasty, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/13 "2019-03-15T01:45:47Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > I always remove the skin for any wet cooking application. Chicken skin that doesn’t get crispy from dry heat is just nasty, IMHO. Got it. For stuff like chicken paprikash and coq au vin, I’ve always had and cooked those dishes skin-on, even if I don’t eat the skin in the final dish (though I usually do.) I like the chicken fat that renders out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/14 "2019-03-15T01:55:55Z")
I’d coat the thighs and drumsticks with Cajun spice, roast them, and cut the meat off the bone and add it to the gumbo. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/15 "2019-03-15T02:07:00Z")
I’d remove the meat from the bones, roast the bones, make a stock in the instant pot with the bones. skin, and that bag of vegetable trimmings I’ve always got in the refrigerator, strain the stock and use that as a base for my gumbo. It’s a little time consuming, so what I do is stay a batch or two of stock ahead, keeping 6 quarts of stock frozen most of the time. That way I can just pull out a couple quarts of stock and start cooking. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/16 "2019-03-15T02:08:43Z")
I remove the skin and bones in gumbo before serving. It is basically soup, has to be eaten with a spoon. For Jambalaya I brown the chicken first and leave the skin and bones in at home, take them out after cooking for serving others. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/17 "2019-03-15T02:11:07Z")
_If you took the bones out, it wouldn’t be crunchy!_ I’m sorry. I’ll see myself out. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/18 "2019-03-15T13:08:14Z")
I always brown the chicken first for gumbo. A whole chicken, cut up. Skin on. Then pour off the rendered fat until I have as much as I want in the pot, and use that for the roux. After the pot vegetables (holy trinity plus garlic), okra, and tomatoes have gone in and gotten soft through sautéing/braising, I add stock and put the chicken back in to finish cooking. After an hour or two — how much time you got? — the chicken comes back out, gets deboned and torn to pieces, and goes back in. Result: Maximum flavor extracted from bird; excess fat removed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/19 "2019-03-15T13:11:15Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I always brown the chicken first for gumbo. A whole chicken, cut up. Skin on. Then pour off the rendered fat until I have as much as I want in the pot, and use that for the roux. I don’t really have a reason for browning the chicken for jambalaya and not for gumbo. It’s just the first recipes I followed, and for no real reason I keep doing it that way. I certainly brown the sausage and any other meat I’ll use in either dish. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133/20 "2019-03-15T13:28:21Z")
I do it because Prudhomme did it. The first meal I had at K-Paul’s was a life-changer, so I’m willing to follow his lead like a baby duck. Mmmmmmm…baby duck. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-bones-in-or-out/831133.md?page=2)