How to cut a whole Chicken.
Chicken is the most commonly used poultry in the world is a source of various dishes prepared in numerous ways.
There are still many of us out there who are not very confident with cleaning and cutting a chicken as opposed to buying it straight off the store.
In this ultimate guide on how to cut up a whole chicken, I’ll be showing you how to cut the chicken for grilling, baking, as well as curries.
So let’s begin with a step by step guide on how to cut and clean a chicken.
But First…
Buying poultry for your favorite chicken dishes.
You could directly purchase it off a store or from your local poultry stall.
Store-bought chickens are blast frozen and tightly packed with a longer shelf life.
Whereas if you go to your local poultry stall you could obtain the fresh meat which is more or less slaughtered on the same day in a manner where they basically sell off everything that’s available!
Please note the taste too is very distinctly varied in both these types of chicken meat.
Types of Chicken Meat.
(as per USDA-UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Classified Chickens):
- Broiler – a chicken raised for its meat, as distinguished from a “layer,” which is a chicken that lays eggs for the table
- Roaster – 5 pounds or higher; less than 10 weeks of age, usually 55 to 60 days of age.
- Capon – surgically de-sexed male broilers weighing 7 to 9 pounds and about 14 to 15 weeks of age; plump and tender; capons were once common but are now a specialty item.
- Rock Cornish Hen – less than 30 days of age and about 2 pounds.
- Rock Cornish Fryer – a small broiler-fryer weighing between 1 and 2 pounds.
- Hen – female adult chicken
- Rooster – male adult chicken
Different types of chicken
cuts you will use.
- Whole Chicken– this will be a whole chicken with breast, thighs, drumstick, wings.
A whole chicken is often baked with differents rubs and marinades.
- Half a chicken– when a whole chicken is split right down the center. often used in biryani, grilled or baked to serve with large portions of rice to be shared by 4-5 individuals.
- Quarter leg-this cut will include thigh, drumstick and will include a portion of the back. mostly used for baking, grilling and roasting.
- Chicken legs– will include the thigh and drumsticks. used mostly for grilling, baking and roasting.
- Chicken thigh- the top part of the leg. use for grilling, certain one-pot dishes, baking with rice.
- Chicken Drumstick- the lower part of the leg. used for deep frying, grilling, baking and curries.
- Wings– minus the tip and the middle part. used for deep frying.
- Drumettes– the upper part of the wing that looks like small drumsticks.
- Chicken Breast-used for baking, grilling, cut into smaller portions for curries.
- Chicken tenders– they are also known as chicken strips, tenders, fillets and chicken strips.used to make kid-friendly chicken snacks, stir-fries.
Chicken recipes you can try with these cuts.
lemongrass coconut milk baked chicken curry,
black pepper chicken marinated in yogurt-spice,
indian chicken chukka curry (dry spicy chicken),
creamy fragrant butter chicken (indian murgh makani),
classic chicken chettinad curry,
sri lankan jaffna curry powder chicken curry
slow cooked sri lankan chicken curry without coconut milk,
Teriyaki chicken with bell pepper,
chicken biriyani in a pressure cooker,
Utensils.
Chopping Board
Sharp Butcher/Large Knife
Tray
Large Bowl
Some paper towels
How to cut a chicken.
Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.
Ingredients.
1 Whole Chicken
Method
Place chicken on a flat surface, have a large bowl and a tray ready for the chicken parts you will be cutting, extra paper towels will come in handy as well.
Make sure you have a regular sharp knife or a cleaver to cut through thick bones.
Place the whole chicken on a flat surface the breast should be facing up.
Spread the neck, wings and thighs for easy access.
The neck– Use the cleaver to separate the neck with a quick chop with your palm to the cleaver to get through the soft bone.
The legs– pull the chicken leg away from the chicken breast. you will notice the joint where the chicken leg is attached to the side of the chicken breast, use the cleaver and with a hard chop you can cut though the leg joint to separate from the whole chicken.
Repeat the same process for the other thigh as well.
Wings- place chicken on the side, stretch the away from the body and bend the wing backward exposing the joint and cut through it.
You could see below the neck, thigh along with the drumstick, the wings and the whole breast separated.
How to separate the
chicken breast into
two parts.
I would recommend using a cleaver for this part as it would be easier to cut through some thick bones.
Raise the chicken breast to a standing position or place it sideways and slice through, separating the back rib cage from the fleshy front portions of the chicken breast. 
Below is a close-up of the rib cage which is the back portion of the chicken cut into 03 pieces. cut the fleshy tail and discard.
The rib cage although not often used for baking or grilling, can be used to make stock and you can also add them to your chicken curries.
I guarantee there’s a lot of individuals who love the boney ribcage as they tend to have more flavor once they are cooked in spices.
How to cut the chicken breast.
The breast bone is not as hard as the other bones.
Turn the chicken so the soft breast bone is facing you.
Using the knife or cleaver cut the breast in half as shown below, cut through the soft bone you see to separate into two equal parts.
Now that you have two breast halves these can be cut diagonally to give you four parts.
As you can see below all of the main parts of the chicken have been separated.
These are the parts you will use for your baking, grilling, broiling or stir-fries.
How to separate drumsticks
from the chicken thigh.
Once you take a good look at the chicken leg, you will find the joint that attaches the drumstick to the thigh.
Place a cleaver over it and make a hard chop to separate these two parts.
The tip of the wing is cut off and has to be discarded as shown below.
Now that the chicken is cut into the required pieces, peel off the skin.
A recap of all the pieces that were cut. Here you could clearly see the drumsticks, wings, thighs, breast and the back of the chicken.
How to cut the chicken
for curries.
If you are making any sort of Sri Lankan, Indian or even Asian curries, you can further cut certain parts of the chicken.
The chicken breast which you have cut into 4 equal parts, can be further cut 6-8 pieces and each thigh can be cut in half give you altogether 4 parts.
These smaller portions are ideal for curries and give you more chicken pieces for a larger crowd.
How to clean and wash
the chicken for curries.
Once you’ve cut the chicken parts and removed the skin, add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric combine and then wash the chicken over running water twice, completely drain and use for your curries.
Turmeric has antibacterial properties and using it to wash chicken helps any harmful bacteria forming as you handle the raw chicken.
how to cut a whole chicken(for grilling,baking and curries).
A step-by-step guide on how to cut up a whole chicken for your baking, grilling and curries.
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken
Instructions
Place chicken on a flat surface, have a large bowl and a tray ready for the chicken parts you will be cutting, extra paper towels will come in handy as well.
Make sure you have a regular sharp knife or a cleaver to cut through thick bones.
Place the whole chicken on a flat surface the breast should be facing up.
Spread the neck, wings and thighs for easy access.
The neck– Use the cleaver to separate the neck with a quick chop with your palm to the cleaver to get through the soft bone.
The legs– pull the chicken leg away from the chicken breast. you will notice the joint where the chicken leg is attached to the side of the chicken breast, use the cleaver and with a hard chop you can cut though the leg joint to separate from the whole chicken.
Repeat the same process for the other thigh as well.
Wings- place chicken on the side, stretch the away from the body and bend the wing backward exposing the joint and cut through it.
You could see below the neck, thigh along with the drumstick, the wings and the whole breast separated.
HOW TO SEPARATE THE CHICKEN
BREAST INTO TWO PARTS.
I would recommend using a cleaver for this part as it would be easier to cut through some thick bones.
Raise the chicken breast to a standing position or place it sideways and slice through, separating the back rib cage from the fleshy front portions of the chicken breast.
Below is a close-up of the rib cage which is the back portion of the chicken cut into 03 pieces. cut the fleshy tail and discard.
The rib cage although not often used for baking or grilling, can be used to make stock and you can also add them to your chicken curries.
I guarantee there’s a lot of individuals who love the boney ribcage as they tend to have more flavor once they are cooked in spices.
HOW TO CUT THE CHICKEN BREAST.
The breast bone is not as hard as the other bones.
Turn the chicken so the soft breast bone is facing you.
Using the knife or cleaver cut the breast in half as shown below, cut through the soft bone you see to separate into two equal parts.
Now that you have two breast halves these can be cut diagonally to give you four parts.
As you can see below all of the main parts of the chicken have been separated.
These are the parts you will use for your baking, grilling, broiling or stir-fries.
HOW TO SEPARATE DRUMSTICKS
FROM THE CHICKEN THIGH.
Once you take a good look at the chicken leg, you will find the joint that attaches the drumstick to the thigh.
Place a cleaver over it and make a hard chop to separate these two parts.
The tip of the wing is cut off and has to be discarded as shown below.
Now that the chicken is cut into the required pieces, peel off the skin.
A recap of all the pieces that were cut. Here you could clearly see the drumsticks, wings, thighs, breast and the back of the chicken.
HOW TO CUT THE CHICKEN
FOR CURRIES.
If you are making any sort of Sri Lankan, Indian or even Asian curries, you can further cut certain parts of the chicken.
The chicken breast which you have cut into 4 equal parts, can be further cut 6-8 pieces and each thigh can be cut in half give you altogether 4 parts.
These smaller portions are ideal for curries and give you more chicken pieces for a larger crowd.
HOW TO CLEAN AND WASH
THE CHICKEN FOR CURRIES.
Once you’ve cut the chicken parts and removed the skin, add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric combine and then wash the chicken over running water twice, completely drain and use for your curries.
Turmeric has antibacterial properties and using it to wash chicken helps any harmful bacteria forming as you handle the raw chicken.
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It’s free and on the blog, for you to try anytime.
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