How to Cut up a Whole Chicken

assorted pieces raw chicken — Photo:
Sara Haas

For years you’ve bought pre-cut chicken pieces from the store. “It’s easier this way,” you convince yourself. But that convenience comes with a cost. Grocery stores will up-charge for the service of breaking down your chicken into pieces. And the more work they do, the more they charge. That makes sense.

But why pay someone to do what you can easily do yourself? Here we explore all that you need to know for cutting up a chicken at home.

How to Choose the Right Chicken

Before you even consider cutting a chicken, you need to know which one to buy. Matt R. Moore, author of Butcher on the Block, suggests you do what his butcher-grandfather always recommended and buy the best bird you can get.

That bird will always taste better than the cheap bird. Over-commercialized chickens are tougher, Moore says, so he advises choosing local or organic and go for a bird that’s no more than 4 pounds.

Set Up Your Space

It’s important that your work space stays clean when working with chicken to prevent any cross-contamination. That means setting up your work area before you even pull the bird out of the refrigerator. Moore recommends using a dedicated cutting board for chicken. Set it up with a damp paper towel underneath to prevent the board from slipping. Grab any cutlery you plan on using as well as a large plate or sheet pan for placing all of your cut pieces.

What Knives Should You Use?

A flexible boning knife and a chef’s knife are great tools for this task. Make sure they’re sharp to help you get the job done. If you don’t have a chef’s knife, Moore recommends a pair of good kitchen shears. He prefers the kind that can be disassembled, which makes them easy to clean.

As for the boning knife, Henry Liu, CEO of Cangshan Cutlery says that you should consider the weight and handle shape. Both are important as they contribute to comfortable and secure use. A good boning knife, says Liu, has a straight spine with a distinct point, which allows for controlled use when cutting around bones or joints.

How to Cut up a Whole Chicken

Step 1 Set up the board and knives. Place a damp paper towel under your cutting board and set your flexible boning knife and a chef’s knife or kitchen shears nearby.

knives, paper towel, and parchment lined pan

Step 2 Prep your bird. Remove the chicken from the packaging. Check the cavity and remove the neck and giblets (if present) and reserve for stock. Pat chicken all over with clean paper towels to remove any excessive moisture.

wiping down whole chicken with paper towel — Sara Haas

Step 3 Remove wings. Place the bird breast-side down. Pull the wing away from the body and cut into the skin (and only skin) near where the wing meets the body.

Cut into armpit following around and under the ball joint while cutting until you have completely removed it. Repeat with the other wing. Note, stay close to the joint when cutting to avoid cutting into the breast meat.

Step 4 Remove legs and thighs: Set the bird breast side up and like the wings, cut only the skin between the legs and the body. Next, grab ahold of the legs from underneath the bird and bend them upward to pop joints from the sockets. Use your boning knife to cut from the joint toward the back of the chicken.

Flip over the bird and identify the oyster (it’s that plump delicious bump on the back, near the spine of the bird that you don’t want to lose). Use knife against spine to cut around oyster and continue cutting along spine to remove the thigh. Feel free to move and rotate your bird to make this job easier.

Step 5 Separate legs from thighs: Flip pieces over and identify fat line between legs and thighs. Use either your boning or chef’s knife to cut down and separate the legs from the thighs. If you cut closer to the leg-side of the fat line you should be able to make a clean and easy cut.

Step 6 Remove the backbone: Find the fat line on either side of the breast. Stand up the bird and using your chef’s knife or kitchen shears, cut down through ribs, using the fat line on the sides to guide you. Pull to remove the backbone, using your knife to separate any parts that may not come with pulling.

Step 7 Separate breasts: Flip breast over and make a tiny cut in the breast bone (this will make cutting it easier). Using the tiny cut as a starter, cut into the breast bone with your chef’s knife. Grab your knife firmly with one hand and use the other, with a flat palm, to hit the top of the knife to break the bone. Slice in half to separate breasts.