I've seen many judges that taste the skin and remove it, some that remove it before tasting (even though they should taste) - I watched in amazement once as a judge was able to remove the skin (from 6 samples) with only one hand, leaving the other hand clean to record his score. Personally, I eat the skin. I love the skin, there is a lot of flavor there, but I wonder how much of the cook's flavor profile is lost when a judge removes the skin. When the cook removes the skin, rubs the meat, scrapes and rubs the skin, replaces the skin, cooks in a butter bath, etc. and then the judge removes the skin before even tasting the meat, then how much of the flavor is removed with the skin? How much flavor is left on the meat? I don't know the answer, I'm just playing devil's advocate. I have had some fantastic chicken that was skinless. It was pretty, sparsely sauced but nicely seasoned, had nice, even color and scored 9s. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to try to perfect a skinless thigh that is flavorful and pleases all of the judges rather than taking a chance that one or two judges at the table are going to remove the skin and 1/2 the flavor.
Then again, make me happy - just leave the skin on :laugh:
Julie