The Southern Gourmand

I know that I’ve posted the how-to on this before, but I never took pictures on how to break down a whole chicken.  It’s one of those things that can come in handy, and can save you money, so I have a feeling that a lot of you would appreciate it. 

Ask five chefs how to do this and you’ll get five different answers.  Really, the possibilities are endless.  The method that I’m going to use is kind of a hybrid of the way that I was taught in my meat cutting class and the way that I was taught in my New World Cuisine class.  I picked the method that was easiest for me and required the least amount of muscle.  I’m a lightweight with scrawny little arms.  I can’t just hack my way through it.

1.  Place the chicken breast side up on the cutting board.

2.  Make a shallow incision on the skin between the leg and the torso to expose the muscle without cutting into it.

3.  Push down on the ankle bone until the top of the leg bone snaps out of socket. 

4.  Locate the oyster muscles (they’re on the back side of the chicken).  Using your finger, separate the oyster muscle from the bone by pushing it, being careful not to tear it.  The bone should be smooth and free of meat.

5.  Move the knife from the top of the leg down, over the bone that held the oyster muscle, coming up over the leg joint, and then back down, keeping close to the torso.

6.  Bend the leg and thigh to form a V.  Cut at the point of the V to separate the leg from the thigh. 

7.  Repeat steps 2-6 for the other leg. 

8.  Grasp the wing with one hand and lift the chicken by the wing. 

9.  Come just under the shoulder joint with the knife.

 

10.  Continue to cut, letting gravity guide the knife to separate the wing from the torso.

11.  Bend the wing into the shape of a V.  Cut between the shoulder joint and the middle joint.  Always cut between the joints.  If your knife gets stuck, you aren’t between the joints, so scoot to one side or the other and try again.

12.  Using the same procedure as step 11, separate the wing tip from the middle bone.

13.  Repeat steps 8-12 for the other side.

14.  Insert the knife into the neck cavity with the blade facing straight up.

15.  Scrape down each side of the wishbone to expose it. 

16.  Insert your fingers into the neck cavity and pull out the wishbone.

17.  Stand the chicken up on its neck with the backbone facing you.  Pull off the big sheet of fat at the bottom of the chicken.  Cut down through the ribs on each side of the spine to remove it.

(I separated the wings after this step, but you can do them before this, too. )

18.  Insert the knife tip into the top of the keel bone at a 90 degree angle.

20.  Saw through the cartilage, bringing the knife towards you, until you get to the very end of the white part, making sure not to cut into the red part.

21.  Remove your knife and grasp the chicken in both hands with the interior facing you.  Push back almost like you’re bending the chicken inside out.  The membranes around the keel bone should snap and expose it.

22.  Carefully use your fingers to break the membranes attached to the keel bone by sliding your fingers down both sides of the bone.  When the keel bone is completely exposed, pull it out.  If it doesn’t come out intact, that’s ok.  It will break about 50% of the time, so don’t be alarmed.

23.  Lay the breasts on the cutting board, skin side up.  With your hand, find the place where they join.  Place your cut there to separate them.

24.  Flip one of the breasts over.  At the narrowest part of the rib cage towards the bottom of the breast, place your knife just under the skin.  Separate the rib cage from the breast, making sure not to cut into the breast meat.

25.  If desired, remove the skin from the breast by pulling it off.  Trim off excess fat.  It should just come off when you scrape it down with your knife.

26.  Repeat steps 24 and 25 with the other breast.

Yay!  You’re done!  Here’s what you should have.

Here are all of the usable scraps (i.e. bones that you can use for stock).

And…here’s the stuff that you have to toss.