Methods for processing poultry food products are provided, more particularly methods for processing poultry thighs to produce wing-like poultry parts. The poultry parts comprise a skin-on bone-in thigh portion and/or a skin-on boneless thigh portion. The food products approximate the texture and eating experience of traditional poultry wings with the enhanced flavor and juiciness of dark meat. Also provided are food product packages comprising the skin-on thigh portions.

A positioning apparatus for positioning poultry legs which are conveyed suspended in a row has a bending device for bending and positioning the poultry legs, as well as a stationary holding and guiding device. The bending device forms a threading device for suspending the poultry leg in the region of the knee joint in a holding and guiding gap of the holding and guiding device. Co-running positioning elements are formed by driven pressing elements which grip the poultry leg from beneath on an axial side of the leg for bending and lifting. Each co-running positioning element forms with a stationary positioning element a functional pair of positioning elements. One of the two positioning elements engages in the hollow of the knee of the poultry leg, while the other positioning element is configured to rest against the thigh on the front side of the leg. Processing stations can be arranged along the holding and guiding gap. In a method for removing the thigh meat from the poultry legs conveyed in a row while they are being conveyed, the poultry legs are guided transversely in a first mentioned positioning apparatus with the lateral side of the leg leading and axially in a second mentioned positioning apparatus with the axial patella side of the leg leading. Along the first stationary holding and guiding gap, cuts are applied on the front side of the leg and on the rear side of the leg. Along the second stationary holding and guiding gap, cuts are applied on the lateral sides of the poultry leg and the thigh meat is pushed to the proximal end of the thigh bone.

Method and apparatus for removing a kneecap from a thighbone, the kneecap to which at least a portion of kneemeat attaches. A forward end of a chisel engages the thighbone and is subsequently moved between the thighbone and the kneecap so as to detach at least part of the naturally present connections between the thighbone and the kneecap.

The present invention is a method for cutting a turkey thigh. The method involves skinning the thigh to reveal uniform meat texture on the top part and uneven meat texture indicative of the bottom part. Next, four cuts are made at predetermined locations. These cuts include two longitudinal cuts, made with a handheld knife, designed to create left and right boneless turkey thigh parts; and two transverse cuts, made with a band saw, designed to form top and bottom turkey thigh parts, which contain the femur's proximal and distal ends respectively. Key parameters are applied to ensure accurate cut locations, such as distances from the center of the femur bone, are used for the longitudinal cuts; and distances from visually established top and bottom lines, are used to make transverse cuts. The application of the method results in the creation of the center-cut bone-in turkey thigh part.

A meat-attached matter removal device includes a pair of gripping arms, an arm driving unit, and a circular blade body. The pair of gripping arms grip a base of an attached matter, which is attached to a chicken thigh meat, from both sides and raises the attached matter from the chicken thigh meat. The arm driving unit drives the pair of gripping arms. The circular blade body passes over the pair of gripping arms to cut the attached matter raised by the pair of gripping arms from the base of the attached matter.

A meat-attached matter removal device includes a camera configured to detect a posture of a deboned meat and a position of an attached matter, which is attached to the deboned meat, with respect to the posture of the deboned meat, a pair of gripping arms that is moved to the position of the attached matter based on a detection result of the camera, that is configured to grip the attached matter from both sides of the attached matter and from a base of the attached matter at a side of the meat and that is configured to raise the attached matter from the meat, and a driving unit including a contact/separation driving unit configured to make the pair of gripping arms to approach an opening/closing driving unit configured to perform an open and close movement of the pair of gripping arms.