One great way to save money in the kitchen is to buy whole chickens and cut them up yourself. Even expensive organic and free-range chickens can be very economical when, instead of buying separate breasts and thighs, you cut the chicken up yourself. You will get a whole batch of chicken stock out of it, too! Nothing is wasted. But cutting up a whole chicken can be intimidating, so here is a thorough video explaining each part of the chicken, and how to quickly and easily cut it into pieces.
This method is pretty much identical to our earlier video and post explaining how to cut up a roast chicken. But the video here is clearer, and Emma explains just where everything is on the chicken. This might seem obvious to some of you, but again, if you've never cut up a whole bird, this is a great place to start!
This method leaves you with neat, separate pieces of chicken that you can either cook immediately or freeze, well-wrapped, for future meals.
The savings breakdown is simple, too: Even if you spend as much as $15 on a really great bird, you will still save money. Two large chicken breasts (again, from a high-quality organic bird) will often run at least $10, and thighs and drumsticks run nearly that as well. Then you add in the wings, and all the stock you can make with that carcass, and you've saved some money! Plus you know that the chicken parts are all as fresh as the chicken itself; they haven't been frozen or in the cooler.
What You Need
Ingredients
One whole chicken
Equipment
Large cutting board
Chef's knife - should be very sharp
Bowl or platter for cut-up chicken pieces
Paper towels or rag
Instructions
1. Start by patting your chicken dry with paper towels or a clean rag. Then place it on a large cutting board. Make sure you are standing in a place where you have full range of movement for you and your knife. Have paper towels or a rag on hand to wipe your hands as you go.
2. Place the chicken breast-side-up on the cutting board. Use the tip of your knife to slit the skin where the leg is joined to the body. Cut a small slit in the meat as well, exposing the joint.
3. After the joint has been exposed, rotate and bend the leg away from the body so the joint pops out. Use the knife to cut down hard through the remaining skin and cartilage. You will need to use a bit of force with this, and if you enounter a complete block, you probably hit bone. If this happens, move a quarter inch closer to the joint and try again. Completely separate the leg from the body.
4. Repeat on the other side of the chicken with the other leg, separating it from the body.
5. If desired, you can also separate the thigh from the drumstick. This is a similar process to separating the leg from the body: Start by cutting through the skin and making a shallow slit in the meat. Rotate the joint so that it pops out, and then cut the thigh away from the drumstick by cutting straight down through the remaining cartilage and skin. If you hit a complete block, then you've hit the bone. Try to identify where the joint has popped away from the bone, and cut there.
6. Now move on to the wings. You are probably sensing the pattern here: Cut away a little of the skin and meat, and rotate the joint until it pops out. You can also do the same to the lower joint of the wings (the tips) and cut them away. These have very little meat on them anyway, and unless you really like them, they are best put in the stockpot.
7. To remove the breasts, cut a slit down the middle, between the breasts, to expose the breast bone, and then keep cutting down on one side until you hit the ribs. Once there, just run the knife along the ribs (almost parallel to the ribs) to cut off the breasts. Repeat on the other side.
8. Now you are left with just a chicken carcass. It can be used to make stock! Here's our post on making stock from a chicken carcass: How To Make Homemade Chicken Stock
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(Images: Faith Durand)
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Thanks nice video
Awesome! thank you for doing this!
Great video. One thing that I find makes disassembling a chicken easier is to use a boning knife instead of a santoku or chefs. The thinner blade makes following the keel bone (aka breast bone) easier.
This is a wonderful video! Thanks!
Great video! I want to add that one of the yummiest parts of the chicken, the "oyster" gets left behind when you cut straight through the hip joint. It's a really tender, juicy piece of meat that would be a waste to just turn into stock. What I do is sever the cartilage at the joint, then cut in an arc curving by the spine toward the tail. It's really easy, especially with a very sharp knife.
Also, if you hold the chicken by the wing, you can let gravity do the work for you in finding the joint and letting the breast just fall off the wing as you cut through the skin.
We also take the skin off the chicken, chop it up a bit, then put it on medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Half an hour later, you have yummy crispy bits of skin to eat with a little salt; cmon, the fat it out, so it's nearly guiltless. Then, save the fat you just rendered: schmaltz. Use that in place of butter or oil while cooking. It will set up like lard, so you could even use it for a base for, say, chicken pot pie dough.
A few minor quibbles but you basically got the approach right.
Because you used a SANTOKU you completely fail.
Unforgivable. Sorry.
@feltman: Why the hate for the santoku knife? If it's her preferred knife, let her be.
I personally would have used a carving knife or a small chef's knife. I use my santoku for chopping, but to each his/her own.
This is a great video, Faith! Thanks so much. I've always been intimidated by this task. After watching your video, I was able to cut up my first chicken without any problems. Thanks again!!
Probably should include separating the tender from the rest of the breast and removing that thick tendon from it.
@feltman, who cares what knife she used. it's a very helpful video for people like me who don't know how to cut up a chicken. you don't have to be a jerk about it.
i used to HATE cutting up whole chickens, i'd have the worst time doing it and end up scratching myself with sharp bones. thank you for the great video! no more dangerous chicken bone cuts for me!!
Great video. Very helpful. Will practice this tonight.
@feltman. Because you used bad manners in your post, YOU completely fail.
Unforgivable. And, I can't find the heart to close with a less-than-sincere "sorry".
Great video, great narration by Emma, but yes, the use of a Santoku knife for butchering the chicken is not the greatest idea (though understandable, since not everyone has a full set of chef's knives--but a normal French knife would have been better, I think). Anyway, great vid and instruction despite using the "wrong" tool.