Mum's ultimate kitchen flex - cutting up a chicken to perfection. Growing up with an old Red Rooster girl as a mother means chickens in our house have always been cut precisely, and most importantly CLEAN.
Buying a whole chook is not only cheaper than buying individually packaged portions, but it's also so much better for the environment and gives you endless freedom to play around with offcuts and bones.
This is a detailed how to guide on carving up your own chicken. In advance, I apologise for the lengthy read, but also you're welcome for saving you some serious coin and providing you with a life skill you'll be using forever.
The Basic Anatomy of the Humble Chicken:
The Breast: Keep the skin on and make an easy roast, or take off the skin and make schnitzel or stir fry.
The Maryland: Makes a fabulous little roast and absorbs any flavours you put on it.
The Thigh: The biggest Cinderella Story of chicken pieces. Once the cheapest cut, this fatty, darker meat is now featured in every recipe book. Toss in a baking tray with seasonal veg for the perfect tray bake.
Wings and Drumsticks: While my Italian Grandmother will tell you to rinse these in champagne and bake (it's a real dish!), my preferred recipe is thrown in the oven with some honey and soy sauce brushed over.
My Red Rooster Chick Tips:
Get yourself a sharp pair of kitchen scissors. If I could be the poster girl for Victorinox kitchen scissors, I would be. You'll also need a small paring knife to get as close to the bone as possible and reduce meat waste.
Always cut your chicken next to the sink. I like to wash off my pieces once they're cut, and put them straight into a paper towel lined container. You don't want pieces of chicken laying around, and you certainly don't want to be dripping chicken juice across the kitchen.
Keep a bowl next to you for all your offcuts, and freeze them in a snaplock bag. Use these to make stock, soups, broths etc.
Let's Quarter This Chook:
Place the chicken breast side down on the chopping board. With your scissors, cut out the back bone by cutting upwards on either side of the bone.
Turn the chicken over and cut straight up the middle to separate the chicken - congrats! You've halved a chook!
Now is the time to clean out the chicken under running water. In the lower half you'll find the kidneys and all sorts of fun (yucky) stuff. These come out very easily when you scoop them out with your finger. Don't discard these! Throw them in your Keep Bowl and save them with the rest of the bones.
Follow the natural line of the chicken breast and cut the thigh away from the breast. You'll notice there's a lot more fat on the thighs than when you buy them in packets - these add extra flavour, but I like to trim them slightly to keep things cleaner and healthier. Rinse the maryland and put aside.
Optional Step: Removing the bone from the breast
With your hands, break off the wing and set aside. Using your paring knife, follow the bone and carefully edge the meat away from the bone. This is by far the trickiest part of carving a chicken, and has taken me plenty of practise to perfect.
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