Chicken - Breaking Down
Pinch the skin between the breast and thigh to pull the skin tight over the leg. This will ensure, when you make the initial cut with the knife, there is enough skin over the breast to cover it completely.
Cut the skin between the breast and leg
Pull the leg out to the side of the chicken. Pop the leg joint that connects the thigh to body.
Follow the curve of the back of the leg made by pulling the leg back.
Cut all the way around the thigh to the tail.
The thigh will come away. If it is still slightly connected at the
joint, make a cut directly between the bones to separate the thigh.
Repeat on the other side of the chicken to remove both leg/thigh quarters.
To remove the breast, make a superficial cut straight down just off
center of the keel bone. Cutting straight down will ensure that you are
removing the breast tender as well.
Glide the knife along the keel bone down to the tip of the breast meat.
Repeat by loosening the meat on the opposite side of the keel bone.
Pull the breast meat aside with one hand. Make smooth, long cuts with the knife following the ribs.
On the neck side, your knife will hit a bone. This is the wishbone. To
remove it, put an index finger in behind it and pull straight out. It
may break; if it does, just pull out the pieces.
Now that you have removed the wishbone, you can cut straight down
through the wing joint to remove the front of the breast. Pulling the
meat away from the bones, continue to make long, smooth cuts to remove
the whole breast.
Loosely stretch the skin over the whole breast. Trim excess skin from the tip of the breast meat.
Repeat on the opposite side of the chicken to remove the other breast and wing.
See the other Chicken Portioning Pictorials to learn how to break these pieces down even further.
