How To Cut A Whole Chicken
Learn how to cut a whole chicken into 10 pieces to save money, have better meat quality, get extra for the homemade stock and minimize the food waste. All you need is a whole chicken, boning knife and a cutting board.
Equipment
- 1 large cutting board plastic or other nonporous material
- 1 boning knife
- 1 chefs knife or kitchen shears
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
Instructions
- Get everything ready. Place the cutting board on a damp paper towel to prevent it from sliding. Wear disposable gloves (optional). Have one container for the chicken pieces, one for carcass and other stock parts, and one for trimmed fat.
- Remove the chicken from the packaging. Check for giblets or a small bag, and remove it. Pat dry the chicken well with paper towels.
- Place the chicken with a breast side up on a cutting board with the neck cavity facing you. Feel for the small v-shape bone, called wishbone. Make two shallow cut alongside the bone using the tip of your boning knife℃, wiggle it gently until you can remove it. Removing the wishbone make the process of cutting the breasts easier and cleaner.
- Pull one wing away and stretch the skin tight. Choose your preferred method:A. Regular wing: Cut through the skin into the shoulder joint. Bend the wing back until it pops out of its socket. Slice through the cartilage to free the wing. Trim off the wing tip and save it for stock. Repeat on the second side. You can also cut each wing into drummete or wingette. B. Airline Breast Style (the drumette stays attached to the breast): Slice the skin slightly above the joint connecting the wingette and drumette. Pop the joint,cut straight through, and leave the drumette attached to the breast. Scrape the meat and clean off the top end of the drumette bone (called Frenching) for an elegant restaurant presentation.Note: See the detailed images in the blog post.
- Pull one leg away from the body and cut through the loose skin connecting the thigh to the breast. Bend the leg all the way back until the thigh bone pops out. You will be able to see the small, round, tender piece meat bulging near the top of the hip joint along the backbone, and this is your oyster (the most tender part of the chicken). Use the tip of your knife to trace and mark a line around the oyster right away, then sweep your blade deep along the curvature of the bone so the oyster stays attached to the thigh. Cut through the remaining skin to free the leg. Cut the leg into thigh and drum where the joint connects them. Repeat on the second side. Trim off any fat.
- Place the chicken breast-side up and locate the white center cartilage line (the keelbone). Make a straight cut with your boning knife down one side of the keel bone. Keeping the blade pressed flat against the bone. Using short, sweeping strokes with the tip of the knife angled against the rib cage, peel the breast meat away from the ribs from top to bottom. Repeat on the second side.
- Turn each breast half upside down. Slice away the loose strip of the chicken tenderloin. It is optional, but removing these prevents them from detaching or drying out during cooking. Cook the tenderloins separately as they cook much faster.
Notes
If you do not have boning knife, you can use a sharp chefs knife for the whole process.
Store chicken pieces in the fridge for up to 2 days (the original whole chicken package best by date cannot be used after you open the package). You can also freeze them right away for up to 1 year.
Nutrition
Serving: 8ozCalories: 321kcalProtein: 24.6gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 6.6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 9.9gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 124mgPotassium: 304mg
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