Is it ok to eat chicken with your fingers?

The soup thread made me wonder : how do you guys eat chicken?

I find it really hard to eat chicken with knife and fork. It just takes ages to remove the flesh of those bones and I usually simply don't bother and use my fingers to pick the flesh of them.

I know it's frowned upon by a lot of people, but I even do it at restaurants (allthough I tend to avoid to ask chicken for exactly that reason; I chicken out of ordering chicken so to speak).

I feel that etiquette on eating chicken should just be rewritten. It's just way too annoying having to eat it with knife and fork.

So, how do you eat chicken and how do you feel about current etiquette demanding you eat it with knife and fork?

I actually just finished some chicken, and I used two forks :P
Greasy fingers won't cut it with work and writing...
As for the etiquette I think that eating with the fingers is out of the question, but I don't really care about it, at BBQs I demand that cutlery gets thrown away XD

I can stick an entire piece of chicken in my mouth and just pull out the bone, tied in a knot

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Originally Posted by Arjos

Greasy fingers won't cut it with work and writing...

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Soap was invented for a reason.

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

I can stick an entire piece of chicken in my mouth and just pull out the bone, tied in a knot

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Pics or it didn't happen.

Order boneless chicken :yes:

Depends where the chicken is from or what parts of the chicken your eating (and I guess your company).

If I ordered KFC, it'd tackle that bad boy with my hands! If I ordered a chicken breast at a restaurant it'd be knife and fork, and if I was eating around familiar company at home it'd be hands all the way!

Use hands then wipe them on a passing peasant when finished.

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Originally Posted by stratigos vasilios

If I ordered KFC, it'd tackle that bad boy with my hands! If I ordered a chicken breast at a restaurant it'd be knife and fork, and if I was eating around familiar company at home it'd be hands all the way!

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We don't even have knives and forks at KFC.

As for me, if I buy drumsticks or thighs I eat them with my fingers because a fork would be impossible. But I use the knife/fork for breast pieces.

Here in the US, chicken with the bones in is considered finger food. You only see it in delis and fast food places such as KFC.

This talk of chicken made me crave so I went out and had tandoori chicken for dinner. And I realised that eating something like this
Attachment 2813
is only fun if you use your hands.

chicken can be eaten with your hands.

anyhow... etiquettes are so victorian and only hysterical women still care about that. Are you a hysterical woman, Andres? :inquisitive:

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Rice is eaten with spoon and fork, the fork will be held in the left hand and is used to shove the rice onto the spoon, the spoon is held in the right hand. It is not proper to switch the spoon and fork.

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etiquettes dont take the individual into account and are therefor not from this time. I am a left handed person and i eat with my spoon in my left hand and fork in the right. my right to be an individual allows me to whipe my arse with victorian etiquettes.

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Originally Posted by rajpoot

Order boneless chicken :yes:

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I wouldn't want to see a boneless chicken :tongue:

Anyway, we're talking about chicken in a whole, or thighs (no idea what the correct english term for that is), right?

I just eat it with my fingers but I also tend to not order it when I'm in nice restaurants.

The more difficult one would be BBQ ribs.

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Originally Posted by Beskar

The more difficult one would be BBQ ribs.

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Ah, but it's permitted to eat those with your hands.

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Originally Posted by Beskar

The more difficult one would be BBQ ribs.

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I just had BBQ pork ribs last night. My dad and I were talking about how if you boil them, like most noob chefs do, they lose what makes them great. You tear into those badboys with toof and nail

Chicken wings is finger food. Elegant no? And for those who wish for a less messy experience, click here. I prefer my wings less sloppy so I pop them on the grill for a few minutes to sear the sauce onto them.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...cken_wings.jpg

Why would it be a problem? :dizzy2::inquisitive:

Don't use your hands to eat in a restaurant with a linen tablecloth

while it was permitted, I can eat chicken with mere spoon fork, or chopsticks, nope, not mere chicken meat, it's fried chicken. the key is eat some of the bones, it's not much a problem as long as you chew em throughtly

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Originally Posted by Hosakawa Tito

Chicken wings is finger food. Elegant no? And for those who wish for a less messy experience, click here.

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Shh...That's supposed to be a secret!

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Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

I can stick an entire piece of chicken in my mouth and just pull out the bone, tied in a knot

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Think of all the things you could do with such an amazing party trick... :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by stratigos vasilios

If I ordered KFC, it'd tackle that bad boy with my hands! If I ordered a chicken breast at a restaurant it'd be knife and fork, and if I was eating around familiar company at home it'd be hands all the way!

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I'm with stratigos on this one; KFC is supposed to be finger-lickin' good, it'd be complete heresy to eat the stuff with any form of cutlery! If I'm cooking chicken at home, it's usually breast meat and I'll use a knife and fork.

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Originally Posted by The Stranger

anyhow... etiquettes are so victorian and only hysterical women still care about that

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Won't somebody please think of the children?!

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Originally Posted by The Stranger

anyhow... etiquettes are so victorian and only hysterical women still care about that. Are you a hysterical woman, Andres? :inquisitive:

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Only on Saturday evenings...

Anyway, eating chicken with your hands has the advantage that you can lick the tasty fat off your fingers too. It just tastes better if you eat it with your fingers :shrug:

There used to be a time where I cared about what other people might think and that, perhaps, it may make them feel disgusted. Nowadays, I no longer really care because I find that if you go to a restaurant, you're not supposed to constantly look at the other people there. The people who don't like others eating their chicken with their fingers can only be disgusted, if they look at you. Staring is rude.

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Originally Posted by Andres

Only on Saturday evenings...

Anyway, eating chicken with your hands is the advantage, you can lick the tasty fat off your fingers too. It just tastes better if you eat it with your fingers :shrug:

There used to be a time where I cared about what other people might think and that, perhaps, it may make them feel disgusted. Nowadays, I no longer really care because I find that if you go to a restaurant, you're not supposed to constantly look at the other people there. The people who don't like others eating their chicken with their fingers can only be disgusted, if they look at you. Staring is rude.

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Disgusted people leaving the restaurant means more shicken for you. :yes:

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Originally Posted by Hosakawa Tito

Disgusted people leaving the restaurant means more shicken for you. :yes:

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One could say they chickened out.

Breast can easily be cut of after you remove wings and paws. As for the wings and paws, never seen anybody use anything but their fingers

I defy anyone to eat salt and pepper chicken wings with a knife and fork.

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Originally Posted by Fragony

Breast can easily be cut of after you remove wings and paws. As for the wings and paws, never seen anybody use anything but their fingers

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You can scrape of the meat with your knife. It's possible but far to much work for my taste.
That's the reason chicken leg/wing, rabbit, lobster, ... aren't my favourite food, there's far to much hassle to get to the good bits.

I once didn't mind peeling shrimp but that was because I caught them myself and it was 'part of the experience'.

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Originally Posted by Andres

Only on Saturday evenings...

Anyway, eating chicken with your hands has the advantage that you can lick the tasty fat off your fingers too. It just tastes better if you eat it with your fingers :shrug:

There used to be a time where I cared about what other people might think and that, perhaps, it may make them feel disgusted. Nowadays, I no longer really care because I find that if you go to a restaurant, you're not supposed to constantly look at the other people there. The people who don't like others eating their chicken with their fingers can only be disgusted, if they look at you. Staring is rude.

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yes and talking to Strangers is forbidden, so neither can they ever say something about it. gotta love this world!

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Originally Posted by Secura

I'm with stratigos on this one; KFC is supposed to be finger-lickin' good, it'd be complete heresy to eat the stuff with any form of cutlery! If I'm cooking chicken at home, it's usually breast meat and I'll use a knife and fork.

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https://img404.imageshack.us/img404/...resystamph.png

I don't get to eat at KFC much anymore but I agree that a knife and fork are heresy. Sporks are ok but only for the side dishes.

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Originally Posted by The Stranger

yes and talking to Strangers is forbidden, so neither can they ever say something about it. gotta love this world!

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It isn’t eating the chicken with his fingers that makes them stare…its eating his mashed potatoes with his toes.

im fingering a chicken right now.

in my defense, the entire thread was thus determined by its geist trhat it could not but culminate in this reply

Was it finger licking good?

no it was rather shallow and pedantic.

So, you were at a restaurant, pecked a chicken and tried to make it eggstatic? That's awfowl.

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Originally Posted by hero di classico

Was it finger licking good?

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KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN!!!!!

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Originally Posted by hero di classico

Was it finger licking good?

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That's just wrong, sniffing is ok though

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Originally Posted by Fragony

That's just wrong, sniffing is ok though

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This from the man who eats chicken with paws. Which Chinese restaurant were you at?

In my experience here in the States, eating chicken with fingers is usually normal, particularly with fried, baked, broiled, BBQ chicken, etc.. If the chicken is integrated with other things (like in a casserole dish or the like) then not. That said, licking your fingers while you do would be fine at Kentucky Fried Chicken, but not in a more "upstanding" restaurant. Really though, I move freely between heathen and debutant when it comes to manners depending on where I am and who I'm with, so I'm probably not the best source of manners info. That's my take though, in any case.

I was always taught that it is proper etiquette to eat chicken with your hands, so I don't fully understand the question. Granted, there is a protocol as to which portions and at which point one switches from utensil to digits. But mainly it's common sense.

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

This from the man who eats chicken with paws. Which Chinese restaurant were you at?

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!!!!!!!! ohnoes :laugh:

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Originally Posted by Yoyoma1910

I was always taught that it is proper etiquette to eat chicken with your hands, so I don't fully understand the question. Granted, there is a protocol as to which portions and at which point one switches from utensil to digits. But mainly it's common sense.

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-_- its all rather obsolete.

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Originally Posted by The Stranger

-_- its all rather obsolete.

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I have to completely disagree with you. Table manners are still very important, just as it's important not to be picking your nose while you talk to people. If you cannot maintain at least a modicum of decent table behavior, it shows that you have little respect for those around you.

perhaps, but a minimum of respect for your surroundings has nothing to do with order in which you use your cutlery and the way you hold your cup.

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Originally Posted by Yoyoma1910

I have to completely disagree with you. Table manners are still very important, just as it's important not to be picking your nose while you talk to people. If you cannot maintain at least a modicum of decent table behavior, it shows that you have little respect for those around you.

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Gah, 2.000 years ago was etiquette to vomit etc, while eating laying down and using your fingers...

Customs come and go, I agree that what matters is to respect one another, but some of the rules are just silly and made to create elitism...

It depends on the kind of chicken usually... Grilled or baked chicken I tend to eat with knife and fork; fried chicken tends to be with fingers... though it's more a personal preference.

Remember: it is good manners to barp and fart while eating and to leave some food on the plate when one is done. One must be polite to the chef, after all.

Who the hell eats chicken wings with their hand? You scrap off everything off the bone with a knife and fork into a food processor and you make chicken slop by adding in salt and BBQ sauce.

Does nobody here drink their meat like a normal person?

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Originally Posted by Yoyoma1910

I have to completely disagree with you. Table manners are still very important, just as it's important not to be picking your nose while you talk to people. If you cannot maintain at least a modicum of decent table behavior, it shows that you have little respect for those around you.

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Pretty much. Saying manners don't matter is like saying it doesn't matter to use correct English when on the internet and tHt iTs oK tO sPk lYk dIs aL dA tIme

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Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name

Who the hell eats chicken wings with their hand? You scrap off everything off the bone with a knife and fork into a food processor and you make chicken slop by adding in salt and BBQ sauce.

Does nobody here drink their meat like a normal person?

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That's sick bro.

If the chicken is properly cooked it should easily peel off the bones with a knife and fork, like undoing a coat. A couple of motions and all of the bones lift away to the side of the plate. If the meat is still fighting to remain attached then it's not been cooked long enough to become tender, and the cook should be ashamed. That's how I eat roast chicken, or other 'proper' chicken-on-bone dishes. It's possible to eat wings this way with a little practice; as long as they are not crispy to the point if being rock solid the point of a knife will pop open the wing joint and voila, exposed meat. Easier than swapping back to a knife and fork to tackle the accompanying vegetables.

Fried chicken, BBQ chicken, and all of the finger-food varieties should be eaten with the fingers. Otherwise you are missing the point.

crud!

I put no, when I meant yes.

that is to say, yes, it is ok to eat chicken with your fingers. I don't see the problem with it.

I like to take leftover chicken that I ate with a fork and knife and make a salad out of it and put it on bread then eat it with my hands in sandwich form.