How to cut up a whole chicken into 8 pieces

Sunday, January 03, 2016

Buying and cutting a whole chicken doesn't have to be a scary thought. If you take it slow, step by step with us, you will be saving money and getting more out of your chicken in no time.

We are cutting the chicken into the standard of eight pieces.

Note: Always have a sharp knife. It is very dangerous to work with dull knives. It is counterintuitive, but you are more likely to hurt yourself with a dull knife than a sharp one.

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When we say you will get more out of your chicken, we mean that you will get the back with all the ribs when usually you wont when buying a pre-cut chicken. It is great for making homemade stocks.

Cut the neck as close to the body as possible and set to the side. Then you have to clip off the edges of the wings. Save these pieces and add them to your stock later.

Continue the process by cutting the legs from the body. pop the thigh bone out of the joint, and turn the chicken on its side. Cut through the rest of the skin. On the line of fat in the leg, you will see the division of the thigh from the drumstick. Cut along that line, and voila. Same thing on the other leg.

Then onto the wings, twist the wing till you feel it come out of the joint. and make an incision where you feel the joint. The twist again till you see the bone. Cut underneath the bone and repeat on the other side.

Using the natural lines of fat as a guide, you will slice down the cavity of the body, separating the breast from the back. Separate the breast in two by cutting down the sternum.

And there you have it. Not including the back, you have 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wings.

Now that you see how easy it is to prepare a chicken,you will wonder why you were buying the pre cut ones for so long.

Note: there might be a chance of there being the liver inside. just cut it out and discard.