To Scrape Or Not To Scrape

When preparing chicken for a competition a common practice to get the bite through skin is to scrape the fat from under the skin. The process works to achieve the desired end result of a clean bite, but at what cost. We all know that fat is flavor, but does that adversely affect a chicken thigh that is already dark meat?


I would like to know what others think of this process. I have my own opinions, but what about you? If you had a taste test where bite through skin was accomplished through proper temperatures and timing next to one that was scraped, would you be able to tell the difference in flavor. Texture might be slightly different, but what about the flavor?

So here's the other question: if bite through skin can be accomplished through proper temperatures and cooking times then is it worth the effort to scrape the fat from the skin? Like I said, I have my own opinions on this but I would like to hear what others think of this. Feel free to comment below and I look forward to the discussion.