Techniques › Butchery and seafood
Breaking down a whole chicken
Intermediate Butchery and seafood
Breaking down a whole chicken is cutting a raw whole chicken into legs, wings and breasts by working through its joints instead of its bones.
Written with AI help from the sources listed, and published by Cory. Sources: USDA safe minimum internal temperatures, USDA on the danger zone (40-140°F). Spot a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.
How do you do it?
- Set a damp towel under the board and use a sharp boning or chef's knife. Keep your free hand flat on the bird, out of the blade's path.
- Slice the skin between leg and body, bend the leg back until the thigh joint pops, then cut through that joint.
- Find the thin fat line between drumstick and thigh and cut straight down through the knee joint.
- Pull each wing out, feel for the shoulder joint, and cut through it.
- Snip out the backbone with kitchen shears, then cut along one side of the breastbone to split the breasts. Save the back for stock.
Why does it work?
Where two bones meet there is only soft cartilage and ligament, so the knife slides through with little force. Cutting through bone instead takes pressure, which makes the knife slip, dulls the edge, and leaves sharp splinters. Don't rinse the bird first: rinsing splashes bacteria around the sink, while cooking to 165°F kills them.
What are the common mistakes?
- Sawing through bone — splinters in the meat and a knife that can skid.
- Rinsing the chicken — spreads bacteria; pat it dry with paper towels instead.
- Leaving the oyster on the back — you lose the best bite on the thigh.
Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.
More butchery and seafood
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- Frenching a rack of lamb or porkScraping the ends of rib bones clean of meat, fat and membrane so the rack looks neat and carves easily.Advanced
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- Cutting steaks from a larger pieceSlicing a whole strip loin, ribeye roast or tenderloin into individual steaks of the thickness you want.Intermediate
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