Learning basic butchery skills are very useful to every home cook. In this step by step tutorial, I will show you to properly break down a chicken into individual pieces and why cutting it yourself is a win-win! I know that breaking down a chicken might sound a little intimidating, but it’s actually an easy and straightforward job. When you cut a chicken into 10 pieces, you will get: 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 4 pieces of chicken breast, and 2 wings. Plus the carcass for stock!
Why would you Cut Up a Whole Chicken by yourself?
What You’ll Need:
Whole Chicken.Chef’s Knife, make sure that it’s a super sharp knife to make the job easier. Using a dull knife is unsafe as it requires more pressure to cut and can slip with great force behind it. This is my favorite Chef’s knife, I also love this Santoku knife. A boning knife can also be useful, but not essential.Kitchen Shears. Another kitchen essential! You’ll be using the shears to remove the backbone, and trim off any excess skin or fat. I love these multipurpose kitchen shears from OXO, you can certainly get poultry shears but the multipurpose ones work just fine.Paper Towels and a Cutting Board.
How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken
And that’s it! You successfully butchered the chicken into even pieces. Now that you know how to easily cut a chicken, learn how to brine a chicken, how to spatchcock (butterfly) a whole chicken, and how to carve a perfectly cooked whole chicken.
take it into practice!
I have recipes that require a whole chicken that you can break down before cooking. Try these:
Mexican Chicken Marinade. The best chicken marinade ever! Use any chicken parts you like.Grilled BBQ Chicken. This recipe can use any chicken parts, but I broke down a whole chicken into 8 pieces and used it all.Fried Chicken. Uses a whole chicken that you need to break down into 10 pieces.
For more delicious recipes, find all of my chicken recipes here. And to learn more basic kitchen skills and techniques, check out my basics category. © Little Sunny Kitchen
