# What do they do with chicken skin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645 "2020-09-15T05:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/1 "2020-09-15T05:54:42Z")
You always see skinless pieces of chicken meat in stores. Is there a market for all of that skin that they removed? ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/2 "2020-09-15T06:15:16Z")
I’m not 100% sure, but modern slaughterhouses can process the meat automatically. The parts that get removed (such as the skin) are ground and mixed with the feed that chickens eat at the farms that work with the slaughterhouse. Or so I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/3 "2020-09-15T06:38:37Z")
Id love to munch on packaged fried chicken skin. At least until the inevitable heart attack or stroke. ---
**Author:** ![CarlonSt32](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlonst32/32/4759_2.png) [@CarlonSt32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarlonSt32)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/4 "2020-09-15T07:26:15Z")
As I know it becomes livestock feed. Or I believe it somehow turns into fried skin as snacks. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2020, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/5 "2020-09-15T07:38:34Z")
It may be used to produce chicken fat (schmaltz), bullion and base, and other chicken flavored products, but I understand there is so much of it that it is primarily recycled as feed as described above. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/6 "2020-09-15T11:46:41Z")
Your wish is granted. I’ve seen lots of these types of products in Asia. Although the price is pretty ridiculous here (Maybe /case here?). In Asia they are priced a little higher than potato chips. [https://www.ninelife.ca/products/max-oceans-brand-crispy-fried-chicken-crispy-chicken-skin-sichuan-pepper-flavour-size-30g-x-4-packs?gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTtOo4E0Br\_XVAmOGK6FPjIxvz0xUiWZno4R\_s2ax-MvRYtQf\_mSKKRoCIO0QAvD\_BwE](https://www.ninelife.ca/products/max-oceans-brand-crispy-fried-chicken-crispy-chicken-skin-sichuan-pepper-flavour-size-30g-x-4-packs?gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTtOo4E0Br_XVAmOGK6FPjIxvz0xUiWZno4R_s2ax-MvRYtQf_mSKKRoCIO0QAvD_BwE) But of course, if you’re a real player you go straight for **Fish Skin** snacks. Especially Salted Egg Yolk flavour!! Yuuummmmy!! > **[9 Best Salted Egg Yolk Fish Skin in Singapore](https://www.timeout.com/singapore/restaurants/best-salted-egg-yolk-fish-skin)** > > The salted egg craze doesn't seem to be going away, and we're okay with that. Here are our top picks of salted egg yolk fish skin. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/7 "2020-09-15T13:30:59Z")
[Gribenes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gribenes). It’s delicious! ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/8 "2020-09-15T14:06:51Z")
Exactly what I was going to mention. I guess I read too slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/9 "2020-09-15T14:15:27Z")
[https://www.libbysmeats.com/](https://www.libbysmeats.com/) [https://www.slimjim.com/sticks](https://www.slimjim.com/sticks) And many, many more like that. Waste not, want not! ---
**Author:** ![Rob54](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rob54/32/4665_2.png) [@Rob54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rob54)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/10 "2020-09-15T14:41:49Z")
I think that everyone who is engaged in meat has a production of sausage, the sausage should have fat they add this skin to the sausage we love so much proper nutrition? no thanks! i will eat chicken skin why such a question? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/11 "2020-09-15T15:04:00Z")
Chicken skin is one of the few things I throw out. Too much fat for the dogs, my gf hates it, I hate it, no way am I feeding it to our hens. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/12 "2020-09-15T15:30:59Z")
Jesus, I’ll sometimes roast a whole chicken just to make a meal off the crispy skin. Plus whatever little else fits in my gullet after that - I wind up with plenty of leftover meat. I see chicken feet and such for sale at Wal-Mart, depending on the neighborhood, and imma say it here in print: if they sold chicken skins, I’d buy a few. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/13 "2020-09-15T16:27:10Z")
Poultry meal and poultry by-product meal are traded on the commodities market. I used to purchase it for the animal feed business I worked for. Millions and millions of pounds. and that was just our small company. [https://www.feedipedia.org/node/214](https://www.feedipedia.org/node/214) ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/14 "2020-09-15T18:50:09Z")
Yep, this! Food processing is at a whole other level than you can possibly fathom… and the leftovers are fed to animals at a premium price compared to their normal (soy) feed. For instance, in canned pears/peaches, etc. the “juice” or syrup is primarily just the core and skins which have been heated and enzymatically converted to sugar and then strained. Any solids remaining are fed to animals. Carrot peelings from the mini-carrot leftovers can go many ways, but extraction of any sugars and vitamins is a start, blending to go into beverages and anything too dirty or not of any human food ingredient value goes to the nearby animal farms. But it is \<\<1%. Carrot greens, etc. are also taken into many processing plants as well. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/15 "2020-09-15T18:57:53Z")
Once at a convenience store in a strange neighborhood, I found bags of Chicharones De Pollo (fried chicken skins). I was thrilled. I haven’t seen them since. Fried chicken skins are a traditional food for European Jews and are called gribbenes. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/16 "2020-09-16T00:57:03Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I’ll sometimes roast a whole chicken just to make a meal off the crispy skin. Here’s a tip: If you have leftover roasted chicken with skin that has lost its crispiness in the fridge, you can peel off the skin and re-crisp it in a toaster-oven on the broil setting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/17 "2020-09-16T02:49:07Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Poultry meal and poultry by-product meal are traded on the commodities market. I used to purchase it for the animal feed business I worked for. > > Millions and millions of pounds. and that was just our small company. > > [Poultry by-product meal | Feedipedia](https://www.feedipedia.org/node/214) I don’t think it was this particular page but it was a similar one that prompted this thread. They also described the production of protein meal from chicken by-products and listed things like necks, heads, feet, undeveloped eggs, gizzards and intestines - and they also left skin off the list. So I guess I assumed that skin was not used in the production of meal and figured there must either by some reason why it couldn’t be used or there was a more profitable use for it. ---
**Author:** ![Rob54](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rob54/32/4665_2.png) [@Rob54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rob54)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/18 "2020-09-16T09:00:23Z")
Chicken meat together with the skin contain vitamin A, which increases immunity, promotes growth and development, as well as vitamin E, which is called the vitamin of youth and beauty, and also increases the body’s resistance to infections. Chicken also contains B vitamins (B6, B12 and B2), which are involved in the assimilation of proteins and fats, and in the production of hormones. BUT! chicken skin is a very high-calorie product: Therefore, you should not abuse it. Moreover, if we are talking about broilers, and not village chickens. And the fatty layer, which is in chicken skin, raises the level of cholesterol in the blood, which negatively affects the work of the heart and blood vessels. So, I do not advise ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/19 "2020-09-16T10:48:17Z")
I spatchcocked and grilled a chicken last night. The skin did a good job protecting the underlying meat, but it got tossed after the meal. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645/20 "2020-09-16T12:45:02Z")
When I buy a rotisserie chicken at Costco, the first thing I do when I get home is remove all that tasty skin from the breast and eat it. It’s not very crispy at all, but it is very good. It’s my reward for making the trip. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-they-do-with-chicken-skin/920645.md?page=2)