Whole chickens are cheap…so why not learn how to cut one up instead of having to buy the pre-cut and pre-packaged stuff that’s more expensive per pound?
Here’s a quick pictorial to get you going…
Get yourself:
1 Small Whole Chicken (3-6lbs)
A good chefs knife
A good pair of kitchen shears
Ziploc labeled “Chicken Parts for Stock”
Extra Ziploc freezer bags for storage
After you get past the fact that you’re about to carve up a whole chicken…
Wash your hands and rinse chicken under cool running water then pat dry
Do a little dance with the chicken
Lay chicken breast side up
Pull the goodies out of the cavity and save the neck for stock
Ready for your first cut?!
Grab a hold of the wing and let the chicken hang to loosen the joint
Carefully slice the skin around the joint
Place chicken down and pull wing back to expose joint
Cut through the joint to separate
Same thing on other side
Firmly hold the chicken by its leg and let the body weight of the chicken loosen joint
Cut around skin and place chicken on board
With a firm grip, crack the thigh joint and cut through to separate
If you like, separate the thigh from the leg
Same thing on other side
Now you’re left with the main cavity
Place chicken breast side down…
Detach the back with kitchen shears and throw in stock bag
Now you’re left with the breasts still intact
Flip breasts right side up and firmly press down on chicken with both hands to crack breast-plate
Flip over to expose inner cavity and with the butt of your chefs knife cut through to separate
That was easy
Use right away in your favorite chicken dish or just freeze.
And don’t forget about the chicken parts…make homemade chicken stock on a lazy Sunday!
