How to Cut Chicken

Whole chicken

Chicken is a delicious versatile food, sold both whole and in pre-cut packages. While pre-cut may seem easier than cutting up a chicken, it also usually costs more. It takes very little time and just a few basic steps and tools to cut up or "disjoint" a chicken. It's just as easy to cut up the chicken while getting better value per pound of chicken. Good cooks also know that having this simple food preparation skill saves frustration when occasionally faced with only whole chickens for sale.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Cutting board
• Whole chicken
• Large sharp knife or sharp kitchen shears

1. Chicken leg before dividing

   Put the chicken breast side down on the cutting board. Pull the leg away from the chicken until the skin is pulled taunt. Cut through the skin and bend the leg back. When the ball of the leg bone pops out of the socket, cut between the ball and other bone. Put leg aside and repeat process with the other leg. Finish the legs by placing them skin side down on the board. Cut through the bones between the thing and the legs, dividing the thighs from the legs.

2. Cutting the chicken wing

   Turn the chicken on its back. Pull the wing from the body and locate the wing joint. Place the knife or shears inside the wing above the joint and cut the wing from the body going through the skin and joint. Repeat with the other chicken wing

3. Cutting through the backbone

   Enter the body cavity with the sharp knife from the tail end of the chicken. Cut through the shoulders. Keep the knife parallel with the back bone. Cut through the ribs. Turn the chicken around and repeat the procedure, entering with the knife from the other end.

4. Cut chicken breasts

   Pull the chicken breast from the chicken back after cutting. Cut the backbone across the middle of it into two pieces. Place the whole chicken breast on the cutting board and cut into two pieces lengthwise. The chicken pieces are now ready to wrap and freeze or cook.

Tips & Warnings

• Use sharp cutting tools to get through the bones properly. If de-boning the chicken also, save the bones to make chicken stock

• Always wash hands, cutting tools and cutting board properly to avoid spreading bacteria from the uncooked chicken.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Chicken cutting methods by number of pieces needed
• How to butterfly chicken
• How to cut a chicken video