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How to Quarter a Whole Chicken

A great way to save money in the kitchen is to buy whole chickens as opposed to pieces. Instead of roasting every chicken you buy, learn how to quarter a whole chicken and use it however you want!
Prep Time10 minutes
Keyword: Chicken
Servings: 1 chicken

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • Filleting knife
  • Chef knife or cleaver
  • Bowl for storing cuts

Instructions

Remove the legs:

  • Start out by slitting the skin connecting the leg to the rest of the chicken.
  • Pop out the hip bone by pulling on the leg. You will feel the bone that connects to the chicken, so pull them apart until you hear a "pop".
  • Once the leg has been dislocated, follow along the muscle with the knife and be sure to cut above the bone.

Remove the breasts:

  • Find the central bone of the back (there's a bone separating the two breasts).
  • Slit the skin alongside the bone. You should be able to see the bone once it's slit.
  • Use your filleting knife to follow the bone, sliding it down along the backbone, cutting the meat free as you go.
  • Because the back flares out a bit, you need to work your knife along that flared bone. It's a combination of scraping and sliding the knife downward.
  • Once you reach the end of the bone, you can begin the process of cutting the breast free. It's a half cutting, half scraping maneuvre.
  • Before we cut off the breast, we will pop the wing out of its socket as we did with the legs, then cut the breast free.

Separate the wings from the breasts.

  • If you want skinless chicken breasts, remove the skin through a combination of making small slices with the knife and peeling.
  • For the wing, cut above the same bone that was popped out earlier and cut the extra skin off.
  • As for the wingtip, there's no meat in it, so remove it and use it for stock.

Separate the drumstick from the thigh.

  • Take the thigh bone and follow it up to the drumstick to pop it out.
  • When it’s dislocated, find the bone and cut right above it to remove the drumstick.

Notes

  • When you're cutting above the bone, there's usually tendon that's in the way, so it can sometimes take a bit of finagling. 
  • Unless planning on using it right away, freeze the carcass for homemade chicken stock.