I’m giggling and picturing a dancing chicken “breaking it down”. Piggy-backing on my previous post, I wanted to have a chat with you Food Fighters about how to properly break a chicken down into usable parts. As I mentioned, it’s super cheap, and once you get good at it, you can do it in no time flat! Here’s what you need:
A large cutting board
This should be a cutting board reserved exclusively for meat, otherwise you run the risk of cross-contaminating your veggies the next time you make a stir-fry.
A very sharp knife or kitchen shears
I prefer to break down my chickens with one of those 8-inch chef’s knives. That way I’ve got a sharp tip for precision work and a heavy base for cracking bone (sounds kind of badass when I write it this way). Others prefer to snip everything off with KitchenAid shears. Use whatever you have a preference for and whatever you’re comfortable with.
Two medium-sized bowls, one for stock/parts to discard and one for the pieces you’ll use for cooking
Also, have some disinfectant spray handy and clear your sink, so that the chicken blood doesn’t get all over your dishes. Here’s how you get started:
Step 1: Find your station
Stationing yourself to the side of the sink near a garbage is ideal, so that when you peel the plastic off of the chicken, you can toss it directly into the trashcan without leaving a trail on the floor. The idea here is to contain any potential for germ spreadage by dripping into the sink.
Step 2: Give that chicken a bath
If your chicken is excessively bloody, give it a little rinse with cool water. Blot dry with paper towels and plop her breast side down on your cutting board.
Step 3: Take out the offal
A lot of whole chickens contain a bag with the liver, heart, and kidneys. Pull the bag out and set it aside in one of your bowls. The liver isn’t suitable for stock (it’ll give it a strange taste), but the heart and kidneys can go straight in. Add salt and pepper to the liver and just saute it in olive oil and a little butter.
Step 4: Remove the legs
Start by pulling the legs slightly away from the body. You’ll see a layer of fat stretching across, but no meat underneath. Start cutting away there, separating the leg and thigh from the carcass. Make the cut and put the leg aside. Do the same on the other side. You can make an additional cut to separate the thigh from the drumstick if you prefer or just leave them intact. There’s a pretty obvious line on the leg that separates the two.
Step 5: Remove the wings
Flip the chicken so it’s breast-side up and tug gently on the wing. This should expose the joint, which is where you should separate it from the breast. I use wings in chicken stock to give it extra flavor and body, but you should feel free to whip up your favorite dry rub or hot sauce and go to town!
Step 6: Separate the two breasts
Begin cutting along the breastbone on one side. If you cut little by little, following the bone, you’ll get a filet with most of the meat, while leaving the carcass intact for stock. Do the same on the other side. Don’t worry if you’ve left a little meat behind. Try to cut as much of it off as possible, so that you’re not wasting it on stock. If you prefer your chicken breasts skinless, you can peel off the skin.
Step 7: You’re done! Put your chicken for cooking into one bowl and your chicken for stock into another. At this point, you may want to half the carcass to make it easier to fit into your pot.
Be sure to watch your hands continually throughout this process, especially if you have to touch things like faucets and drawer handles. After you’ve washed your hands and set aside your bowls (the stock stuff can go into the freezer, and the cooking chicken should go directly into the fridge until you’re ready to use it), put your knife and cutting board into the sink. Wash them with hot water. Lastly, disinfect your work surface either with soapy hot water or spray.
If you’re having trouble picturing the steps I’ve described, there’s a video below from the Kosher Tomato. She breaks down the chicken the same way I do. Give it a watch for a nice visual!
