"---Since the spices are on the skin and it gets removed and not eaten, is there any point to the spices?---"

That's why you should put the seasoning/spices under the skin and inside the cavity.

"---Are we missing out on something by ditching the skin?---"

Truly crispy skin is heavenly like Peking Duck skin, but it does take some correct methods to achieve that.

dcarch

debra, I'm one of the few people here who absolutely will not eat the chicken or turkey skin, not even duck skin. Chicken wings are pretty much a wash for me, LOL, since they're nearly all skin.

As dcarch says, I put the seasonings under the skin and stuff the cavity of a whole roasting bird with herbs and aromatics. I do cook with the skin on, mostly, as it adds flavor and moisture.

I'm also one of the few that really doesn't care for boneless skinless chicken breast, I like the dark meat parts of the bird best, so you probably shouldn't just go with my opinion.

Lots of people love the crispy skin, and think it's the best part of the bird, so maybe you are missing out, or maybe, like me, you just don't like it. Because taste is subjective, not objective, only you can say for sure, try it and see!

Annie

And I am the opposite of Annie. Love the skin, hate BS chicken. I find it tasteless and so often it is overcooked and dried out. I go for the dark meat. When I roast a whole chicken, the breast meat is saved for chicken salad or a pot pie.

Nope, Peppi, not quite the opposite, we'd have to fight over the thighs and legs, but you could have ALL the skin.

When I roast a whole chicken, the breast meat is saved for the dog. I don't eat the stuff. Don't tell Dylan, though, or he'll feel deprived, LOL.

Annie

For chicken, I generally eat more of the battered/fried chicken so skin is on and when done properly it's crisp and tasty and I tend to eat it all. I've been known to pick away at the ribs and stuff for the coating crispies too... For something baked or otherwise prepared so the skin is rubbery and floppy, I pull it off. I prefer white meat and legs but don't like thighs at all except for pulling the meat off, scrape the excess fat and use the meat in a casserole or something. The local hog trough makes a "Bourban Street Chicken" that uses the thighs in a BBQ sauce that's quite good. Legs aren't as greasy so I don't mind them and they're easy to eat.

I sometimes buy the split chicken breasts though, trim them well and then do a flour and fry which crisps up the skin and although many maintain the bone in is so much more flavorful, I just don't find it so. This theory of bone-in automatically means more flavor just isn't so in my experience, although there is something to be said for gnawing on rib bones, pork chop bones, etc. But laziness and economy are setting in some too. There's a lot of waste on bone-in and skin-on.

For turkey, I used to eat the skin but it got to the point I'd pull the skin off when it was cooked and I'd microwave it in paper towel layers until it was crisp like a potato chip. My dog used to literally jump and try to take it out of my mouth, he liked it too. When people would cook a whole turkey until the skin is crispy and the dark meat is done, that usually means the breast is WAY overcooked, then of course those people would say the white meat is dry so they didn't like it! Of *course* they wouldn't like it! LOL There's a lot of people who don't know how to cook turkey.

I don't agree that there's no seasoning that gets through. When you cook it in the skin it does act as a self-baster and the seasonings do run on the meats. It's certainly not as intense, but it does season the meat. I buy turkey breast only. Not a fan of the greasy dark meat. For the most part now, I let the skin stay on to work as a cover to assist cooking and keep moisture in. I don't know whether my tastes have changed over the years or the taste of skin have changed but I like it less. I have tried to do certain things to be a little healthier, within reason, especially things that don't make a big difference in taste and enjoyment. However I am wondering about the chickens these days. And I'm not sure the skin is like it was years ago. Even people who grow their own are getting these chickens from today's bloodlines, very few have been raising them since the 1800s! Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe not totally.

As said, whether you like it is something you should try and see. To me, to get the skin to be the way I'd want it on turkey, it's more of a hassle to me than it's worth.