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If you have a whole chicken that you want to use for frying or stewing, you will want to cut it into pieces first. Be sure you have a sharp knife and a washable working surface. If you have poultry shears, they are helpful when making some of the cuts. Cutting up the chicken takes a little experience, but knowing the proper method will make it easier. The following cutting method will produce eight pieces when completed, which consists of two drumsticks, two thighs, two wings, and two breast portions.
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Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast side up. To remove the leg-thigh portion, pull the leg away from the body and cut through the skin, down between the body and the thigh to the thigh joint. Bend the leg-thigh portion back until the thighbone pops out of the socket. Then cut around and through the joint at that point to detach the leg-thigh portion from the body. Repeat on the opposite side. |
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To separate the leg and thigh, place the leg-thigh portion skin side down on the cutting board and locate the joint. Using a sharp knife cut directly through the joint, separating the leg from the thigh. Repeat on other leg-thigh portion. |
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To remove the wings, place the chicken breast side down on the cutting board and pull the wings out away from the body. Cut between the breast and the wing joint to detach the wing. Cut off a little breast along with the wing, if a meatier wing is desired. Repeat with the wing on the opposite side. The wing tips can be cut off and discarded or frozen to use in stock at another time. Cutting the wing tips off is optional. They can be left on. |
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To separate the breast from the back, cut along the rib cage, starting from the tail end and cutting to the neck. Cut in this manner on both sides and separate the two sections. |
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The breast can be cut in half by placing it skin side down on the cutting board and using a sharp knife to cut down along one side of the breastbone, through the bone and meat to cut in two sections. The breast can also have the breastbone removed before it is cut in half. For instructions on how to remove the breastbone, see Boning a Chicken Breast.
Before discarding the backbone, be sure to remove the two small, tender pieces of dark meat located on the bottom half. There is one located on each side of the backbone. Locate the pieces, cut around them with a sharp knife, and then work the knife underneath them to detach them from the backbone. The two pieces of dark meat are small and sometimes they are too small to make it practical to remove, but if they can be removed, they provide an extremely tender and very flavorful piece of meat.
Cutting up a whole chicken following the instructions shown above will
produce the eight pieces shown above. |
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