Place the chicken breast side up. Pull one leg slightly to the side and cut the skin. Then we turn the joint and cut off the leg from the carcass at the joint. We separate the second one in the same way.

The next stage of cutting is separating the drumstick from the thigh. We run our fingers along the leg, feeling the joint. We cut along it and separate the drumstick from the thigh. You will get two thighs and two drumsticks.

We turn the wing up to the side, scrolling along the joint. Using a knife, cut off one wing, then the second.

We cut off the thinnest phalanx (the tip of the wing) - this part will be used for soup or broth.

All that remains is to separate the breast from the back. This can be done with scissors or a knife, cutting on both sides where the ribs end.

We got the back and breast. Now you need to clean the back from the insides and remove part of the rump where feces may remain. Cut the breast into fillets and remove the skin from it.

We clean the insides and rinse the back. We trim the tail with a knife and cut off the top part. If there are yellowish inclusions, then cut off a little more and wash this part of the carcass well. For ease of further preparation, the back can be cut in half across the ridge.

Let's move on to the breast. Using a knife, cut the meat from the bone and separate the skin. You will get a skeleton that will go into the broth, a large fillet (one or two parts) and skin.

The chicken can be cooked whole, but only if you are going to bake it, otherwise this method of cooking will be inconvenient.

Therefore, it is worth knowing how to cut a chicken into parts, because buying a whole bird is much more profitable than buying parts. And you can cook the pieces as you wish: stew, boil, fry, cook in the oven.

Preparation for cutting

If you had to buy a fresh bird, most likely it will not be gutted. In this case, it is advisable to buy a young chicken. It is ideal for preparing different types of dishes. If you buy a frozen carcass, it is usually already gutted.

Thus, you can choose the option that is more suitable for a particular situation.

If there are still feathers on the body, then you need to clean them, starting from the neck. You need to pull the skin with one hand and pluck it with the other. After gutting the bird, you can begin to singe the remaining fluff on the skin. This must be done carefully, making sure that the carcass does not burn.

Gutting

To gut the bird and cut it into pieces, you will need a sharp knife and kitchen scissors. It is necessary to carry out gutting carefully, because there is a risk of touching the spleen or bile, as a result of which the liquid will penetrate into the meat and it will become bitter.

Gutting is carried out in stages:

• The paws need to be cut off. To do this, you need to stretch the tendons and use a sharp knife to make an incision in the desired location.

• Carefully cut the anus in a circle through the skin without touching the internal organs. Then use a sharp knife to cut a line along the abdomen all the way to the anus.

• Remove the intestines, stomach, liver, etc. from the body. Unnecessary organs should be discarded. The stomach and liver can be useful for preparing various dishes.

• Pull out the goiter along with the esophagus, throw it away.

• Remove the ovaries.
• Pull out the heart and lungs of the carcass.
• At the end of the procedure, it is necessary to wash the carcass and cut into pieces.

Cutting chicken at home

You need to prepare for this stage if you have to cut up chicken at home. A wooden board is not suitable for cutting, as it absorbs foreign odors.

If there is no other option, it is better to wrap the board with cling film. The choice of cutting option depends on the dish you are going to prepare from the bird.

What's the best way to disassemble a bird?

All parts of the carcass can be used separately: for the oven, frying, boiling, etc. Cutting usually takes place in several stages.

How to cut up chicken without waste

This option is the most economical compared to others, because even bones can be used for a soup set.

You need to do this:

1. Gut the bird.
2. Place the carcass on a board, pull the thigh away from the body and cut the skin. Stretch the leg and cut the tendons and the joint between the thigh and the lower leg.
3. Cut off the wings from the carcass (like the thigh before).
4. Cut the breast down the middle and cut 2 pieces of fillet along the back.
5. If necessary, you can chop the vertebra in half to make it easier to remove the remaining parts.
6. Trim fat from all parts of the bird (this may be useful for frying).

This way you can cut the carcass into portions and use parts for different dishes.

How to cut a chicken carcass into 8 parts

This method is classic. You end up with 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 pieces of brisket and 2 thighs.

Sequencing:

1. Place the carcass on its back, cut along the thigh with a sharp knife and break off the cartilage at the junction.
2. Separate the leg from the thigh along the fat line between them.
3. Cut the wings from the carcass with a sharp knife.
4. Turn the carcass over onto its belly, run a sharp knife along the vertebrae and separate the fillet from the ribs. Remove the breast bone from the resulting piece and divide the fillet in half. The leftovers in this case are usually thrown away or used for a soup set.

How to cut chicken into equal portions

This method will require some skill:

1. It is necessary to lay the carcass on its back, separate the ham from the body (as was done in previous versions). Divide the ham into legs and thighs.
2. Divide the remaining carcass in half along the vertebrae.
3. Then cut it in half crosswise with a sharp knife.

In total, you get 8 serving pieces of approximately the same size. This option is ideal for preparing second courses in the oven.

This option is suitable for preparing chicken roll or minced meat. As a result of the procedure, the presentable appearance of boneless meat should be preserved.

The process looks like this:

1. Place the carcass on its back, make an incision along the skin along the back from the head to the anus.
2. Carefully begin to remove the fillet from the bones, starting from the brisket and ending with the vertebrae.
3. Continue to clean the fillet, cutting off the tendons in the right places and removing the meat from the bones.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the other side of the brisket. If cartilage gets in, carefully separate it.
5. The wings can simply be cut along a straight fillet line.

1. Before you start cleaning and dressing the bird, be sure to sharpen your knife, paying special attention to the sharpness of its tip.
2. It is easier to perform the procedure if the carcass is fresh or thawed.
3. The heart, lungs, liver and stomach are best used for making pies or stews. It is there that they reveal their true taste.
4. Defrost the bird in the refrigerator or in cold water.

How to cut chicken for roll and stuffing

The boneless cutting option is ideal here, since in this case all unnecessary parts, such as bones and ribs, are removed. After cutting, the skin must be removed. What will remain is the fillet, which is usually used for grinding into minced meat in a meat grinder or for beautiful slicing when preparing chicken roll.

How to cut chicken for shish kebab

If you only need fillets, you can use the boneless method of cutting meat or choose the method of cutting poultry into kebabs with bones.

The following processing option is suitable:

1. Separate the ham, divide it into 2 parts: leg and thigh.
2. Separate the wings from the carcass.
3. Separate the brisket fillet from the backbone and divide into portions depending on size (4 or 6 parts each).
4. Take skewers and string pieces onto them; it is advisable to place the bones along the skewer to make it easier to prepare the kebab.

Advice! Don't forget to marinate with seasonings and herbs to taste for a unique taste of the dish.

Conclusion

If you gut and cut the chicken yourself at home, you can save a lot. There are different cutting options for different purposes; it just requires some skill.

If you skillfully cut up a bird, you can prepare various dishes from it, and no part of the product will be wasted.

Prepare soup, stew chicken with potatoes, bake legs and wings separately, cook breast, and present with a side dish - all these tasks involve using parts of a chicken carcass, but these parts must first be obtained from a whole chicken. Of course, you can buy fillets, wings, legs, and thighs in cut form in the store, but this is usually much more expensive than buying a whole chicken.

Moreover, you don’t always know what to cook, and first you take the meat, and then you figure out what to do with it, so it’s much more convenient to take the whole product, rather than in parts. But if it comes to the point that you decide to cook from chicken parts, and there is only a whole carcass in the refrigerator, then you should know how to properly, quickly and efficiently cut it.

For this task, you need certain equipment that should be available in any home, and it’s worth preparing it first so that you don’t have to look for the necessary knife throughout the kitchen with dirty hands.

Necessary equipment

The best option is to have a special meat knife and a large wooden cutting board at home - in this case, the work will be done quickly and efficiently. But sometimes you have to work with what you have at hand. The main thing to remember is that cutting up chicken can lead to cuts, bruises and other injuries, so you should do everything gradually, take your time and be careful.

Let's list what you need to have on hand.

• Carving knife. It would be better if it were larger and sharpened. Then the process of cutting a chicken carcass will be faster and less nervous. There are special knives for cutting and gutting; they have a curved end, but not every home has them.
• Cutting board. It is desirable that the chicken fits completely on the board and that no parts of it are outside the cutting area. In extreme cases, you can use a small board, but then you will have to work more carefully. It is recommended to use plastic or wooden boards. But the latter absorb all odors and liquids very strongly, so it’s great if you have a board exclusively for cutting meat. However, it is not recommended to use glass boards because they may not withstand the pressure during operation.
• Two saucepans or deep plates. You will need dishes for chicken pieces and excess parts that will not be needed later. You need to ensure that all the required parts of the chicken fit into the prepared container. For those pieces that are not needed at the moment, you can also use a plastic bag - put the chicken parts in it and put it in the freezer or refrigerator.
• Scissors. For convenience, you may also need a tool such as scissors for skin and tendons, which are sometimes difficult to cut. And in principle, to separate a piece of chicken of the required size with scissors, this can sometimes be done more accurately.

As soon as everything is prepared, you can start working, but this is the case if we are talking about purchased chicken, which has been brought to a form in which it can already be cooked. However, if the chicken is not store-bought, but homemade, then before proceeding to the actual cutting, you should perform some steps.

Preliminary procedures allow you to get rid of unnecessary parts of the chicken and bring it to the desired appearance, as a result of which it is ready for cutting.

How to gut it correctly?

Before moving on to gutting, it is worth preparing the chicken for this. Before cutting, many stages are carried out to process the carcass.

Preparing chicken for cutting

All stages of preparation can be divided into several parts.

• Slaughter. Usually this part of the preparation is carried out by trained people. First, the chicken is closed in a closed space and fed with water. The result of this procedure should be cleansing of the intestines. After this, the trained person kills the chicken. Most often this occurs by cutting off the head or using electric current.
• Bleeding. After slaughter, the chicken’s body is secured in a suspended state so that all the blood drains into a pre-prepared container. There are special installations for this procedure, but at home it is enough to know the mechanism of how this happens and secure the carcass yourself.
• Plucking. It’s a labor-intensive and lengthy process, so you can’t rush, plucking a large number of feathers at once - there’s a high chance of damaging the skin and complicating the plucking process. To simplify the work, I recommend immersing the carcass in boiling water for 30 seconds, no more. After this action, the plucking process will be much easier and faster.

Usually they begin to pluck feathers and down from the tail and wings, having first placed the carcass on a flat surface and taken a comfortable position. Then the belly and chest are processed, only after that the feathers and down on the back are plucked, and last of all, attention is focused on the neck and legs.

After the chicken has been prepared for cutting and plucking has been done, the final stage begins before gutting.

Limb amputation

It happens that a chicken is killed by electric shock or other non-mechanical means, in which case decapitation will have to be performed at this stage. This is best done with a small kitchen ax or a carving knife with a wide blade. Then follows the process of amputation of the limbs - the paws need to be cut off along the tendon located near the lower cartilage. But it will be easier and faster to cut off the limbs immediately after amputating the head.

Anus removal

This stage, in turn, is divided into two possible options.

1. If the process of cutting a chicken is underway, a small cut is made around the anus. You need to be careful not to touch the intestine - do not forget that this has not yet been done in its entirety. In this case, it is better not to rush and do everything calmly, and the cut piece is thrown away, because we will not need it in the future.
2. If the process of cutting a rooster is underway, then it is necessary to make small cuts on the tail in order to expose the yellow glands - the testes. The testes will be removed later, but in this case you should also not rush or act thoughtlessly - especially for the first time.

Goiter extraction

A process that also requires precision. First, you need to make a skin incision around the neck. After this, they begin to slowly but forcefully pull out the goiter. If the preparation up to this stage was correct, and the incision was made well and in the right place, then the tubes of the larynx and esophagus should also come out along with the goiter. If the chicken was soldered before slaughter, and all procedures were carried out correctly and completely, then the crop will come out clean and without food residue - this will greatly simplify the work.

Opening the skin to the keel

It is necessary to perform this action so that the internal organs are visible, and the evisceration process is simplified in the future. Opening the skin to the keel is an incision of the skin from the previously formed posterior opening along the entire body. After carrying out the described procedure, the skin of the carcass will burst on its own, but if this does not happen, you can help by tearing it with your hands.

Gutting

To get rid of everything unnecessary in the carcass and carry out this stage correctly, you should follow the steps described below step by step. It is worth preparing in advance a container or bag for excess chicken parts and another container for those parts that will be later used for other purposes.

There is no point in delaying gutting and, in general, ideally, all procedures up to cutting should be carried out as soon as possible, so the carcass does not have time to rot or begin to ferment. And when everything is prepared for the procedure, you can take the chicken carcass and gut it to move on to the next stage.

Intestines

If it was not possible to pull out the intestines when removing the anus from the carcass, then you need to do this now and as carefully as possible so as not to tear the intestines and spill what is preserved inside. You should pry the intestine with your fingers, using the posterior previously formed hole. Then you need to pull the intestines out of the carcass, holding the tail with your remaining hand. When the organ is removed from the carcass, it should be placed in a pre-prepared container or bag.

Liver and stomach

The junction of both the liver and stomach with the carcass is cut with scissors for greater accuracy or with a sharp knife slowly and as accurately as possible. Particular care is required so as not to spoil the meat or hurt the spleen. You should avoid getting bile on the meat, then everything will go well. All organs are removed together, and other divisions and processes are carried out after removal from the chicken.

Tubes of the larynx and esophagus

An optional stage of evisceration, if during the pulling of the goiter everything went well, and both the larynx and esophagus were stretched together. Otherwise, you will have to get rid of these elements at the current stage. The larynx and esophagus need to be pulled out together and at the same time.

Genitals

In this case, it is most convenient to use scissors or a sharp knife with a thin tip. The testes of the roosters are cut off, access to which was opened during the stages of carcass preparation. And chickens' ovaries are cut off.

Heart and lungs

When you have seen where these organs are located, you should release them by cutting the restraining arteries, surrounding fibers and other obstructing elements.

Now the evisceration process is complete, and the extracted giblets should then be processed. Veins and arteries are cut off from them. The spleen should be separated from the liver, and the stomach should be turned inside out to remove all the contents. Next, the organs are thoroughly washed and folded for further use. It turns out that this process of gutting a chicken is not so labor-intensive, but it can simplify it even more a cutting fork, if, of course, it is present in the house.

As a result of the completion of gutting the chicken, we obtain a finished product for cutting. Moreover, if we have a purchased chicken, then usually it is a carcass immediately ready for cutting, and after preparing the necessary equipment, you can proceed to work.

Otherwise, you will have to perform all the previously described actions yourself at home.

Cutting methods

It is not necessary to cut up the chicken if you plan to cook it whole in the future, or if it is not yet clear what to do with it. But it is worth remembering that it is much easier to sort and store a cut broiler carcass than a whole one. At the same time, there are cutting methods when all the work can be done very quickly and efficiently.

The main preparatory stages before cutting are gutting the chicken, preparing the necessary equipment, thoroughly washing the carcass, and identifying options for further use that would be suitable for one of the cutting methods.

There are several cutting methods.

• Waste-free cutting. An option in which all parts of the chicken will be used in the future. A soup set is prepared, pieces for cooking with a side dish or even separately baking with vegetables. Small pieces are needed in order to economically use the product in the largest number of dishes.
• Portion cutting. An option suitable for baking, frying, stewing or grilling. It is required to cut the carcass into several medium-sized pieces. Remove the excess parts, and adjust the suitable ones to the desired size and use them for cooking.
• Boneless cutting. An option in which the meat must be completely separated from the bone. The bones can be discarded, and the resulting slices of meat are then used to prepare chops, rolls, baked chicken, or for grinding into minced meat.

After choosing the cutting method, you should move on to its main stages. To avoid problems, you should refer to the instructions for cutting up a broiler carcass. For different cutting methods, many steps will be repeated.

The process of butchering chicken without waste involves several steps.

• The first stage is washing the carcass under running water, then waiting for the moment when it dries, or forcibly draining the carcass - this will increase the grip of your hands and the chicken, and it will not slide much during cutting. After this, place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board.

• We take the chicken leg and pull it to the side until we hear a characteristic sound or see a bone - that means the leg is turned out, and then separation can be performed. In this case, all fibers and joints that interfere with the retraction of the legs should be trimmed with a knife. The leg is cut between the joints together with the skin and fibers of the meat. We apply the same procedure to the second leg.

• This step is optional, but can be performed for ease of storage or the need to prepare special dishes. You can separate the thigh and shin on the resulting leg. To do this, you can pull the shin away from the thigh with your hands and, having felt the joint of the joints, separate it.

• Next we separate the wings. Similar to the separation of the legs - we pull it back with our hand until the wings are turned out, and we separate it by running a knife between the cartilages. Next, you can cut off its small sharp limb from the wing, but this procedure is rarely carried out, because wings are usually small in size, and there is no meat at all in that small part, so it is easier to use the entire wing, or separate this small part for later use in the broth.

• Then we cut the breast along the body and carry out the process of removing the fillet from the bone using a knife. As a result, there will be two pieces of pure meat fillet and a back with ribs, which can also be used in the future.

• Next, you can separate the ribs from the back, but this is done only when necessary. Most often it is left in one piece and is often thrown away.

• Removing fat or skin – done at the discretion of the owner. If these products will not be used in the future, and you still have to get rid of them, then it is better to do it right away.

This completes the waste-free cutting process, and we have received several different parts of the chicken that are convenient both to cook and store.

Let's consider the process of cutting chicken into equal portions.

Most often, housewives like to cook not a whole chicken, but break it into portions, so that there is a greater variety of dishes, and besides, this saves food and budget. In addition, different parts of the chicken are suitable for different dishes.

When dividing chicken into portions, scissors and a sharp knife are best. It is worth noting here that it is possible to divide the carcass into equal pieces (8 or 10 pieces) - this is convenient so that everyone gets the same amount, as well as for preparing different dishes.

But before that, you should figure out how to properly divide the chicken so as not to spoil the meat.

1. First, wash the chicken thoroughly. Let's start separating the thighs from the body, to do this we pull the chicken leg until the cartilage pops out and carefully cut it off at the junction. Remember that you need to cut along the cartilage and connecting joints. We perform such manipulations with both legs.
2. Next, separate the thigh from the lower leg, To do this, we find the joint with our fingers and simply cut it along the knee joint. It is necessary to cut along the fat strip inside the leg. As a result, we get 2 approximately equal pieces from one leg.
3. Now let's move on to the wings, we also pull back the wing and cut it in the cartilage area. In fact, everything can be found by feeling with your fingers, and over time you will clearly see these connecting lines. There is no need to cut the wing, it is already the right size.
4. Breast. Turn the chicken on its side. We cut with scissors or a knife along the border of the back and breast along the fat strip - through the entire chicken. We perform a similar operation by turning the carcass on the other side.
5. Turn the resulting piece of meat over and use scissors cut pieces of chicken from the bone present there. When the bone is not supported by the fibers, you can pry it with your fingers and pull out the foreign element.
6. Divide the remaining portion in half vertically., and you get two equal pieces of clean meat. It is most convenient to divide from the skin side.
7. Cut off excess fat and tendon, leaving equal pieces prepared for culinary achievements.
8. The remaining parts: the spine, ribs, etc. – You can throw it away or save it for making broth.

Content:

Of course, chicken breeders cut up freshly slaughtered birds. However, most people have to deal with frozen gutted carcasses from the supermarket. And, before you start cutting them, you need to defrost them. But it is not worth doing this using various accelerated methods, such as pouring boiling water over it or placing it in a hot oven, since this makes the meat less tasty and tougher.

It is best to defrost slowly, placing the carcass on the refrigerator shelf. Thus, a one and a half kilogram chicken can be defrosted within a day. You can also place the chicken under running cold water. At the same time, in order to defrost 500 grams of meat it will take a full 30 minutes.

If speeding up the process is still necessary, then you can resort to using a microwave according to the following scheme: 2 minutes in the oven, 2 minutes break and again 2 minutes in the oven.

Cutting a gutted carcass

Most often, the chicken is cut into 8 parts:

1. A pair of shins.
2. A pair of thighs.
3. A pair of wings.
4. Two halves of breast.

To cut the carcass, you can use special scissors (secateurs) or a large sharp knife.

Sequence of work

All manipulations should be performed in a certain sequence:

1. Place the carcass on a cutting board, breast side up.
2. Using scissors, an incision is made from below, clearly in the middle of the breast.
3. Unfold the carcass and cut out the spine. Since this structure contains a large number of bones and very little meat, it is used to cook broth.
4. Pull one leg to the side and cut the skin along the body. Holding the chicken’s thigh with one hand and its carcass with the other, turn its leg up, tearing the limb off the body. Thanks to this manipulation, the thigh will come out of the hip joint. Since the joint is torn, it is very easy to cut off the leg from the body to the very tail. The separation of the second ham is carried out in exactly the same way.
5. Next, you should separate the wings from the body. For this purpose, we feel the junction of the wing and the carcass, determine where the head of the bone enters the joint and cut along the joint.
6. The next step is to separate the breast from the back. The direction of the incision is determined by the white line, consisting of adipose tissue, along which the sternum is connected to the ribs through cartilage tissue. We cut off the breast on the other side in the same way.
7. The bone, with cartilage on both sides, running the entire length of the center of the breast, must be carefully removed. To do this, cut the breast in its upper part, in the place where the two bones are located, exactly between them. The incision is carried out to the bone, which has a darker color.
8. To remove the sternum along with the cartilages to which the ribs were attached, you should pry it with both thumbs, as if breaking the breast in half. Then, with a little force, you need to push the bone up, pushing your fingers under it. After this, without removing your fingers, the bone with cartilage must be pushed out and squeezed out of the breast.
9. When the cartilage is almost completely removed from the meat, you should grab the bone and not squeeze it out of the meat, but gently pull it. As a result, both bone and cartilage will be removed from the soft tissue.
10. Divide the breast in half. The ribs remain on its inner part. They need to be removed by carefully cutting them off with a sharp knife. The result will be chicken fillet. It can be left as is, or it can be divided into parts.
11. The next step is to further separate the chicken legs into drumsticks and thighs. The incision is made along the joint.
12. The wings should also be given a more neat and appetizing appearance.

This completes the cutting of frozen gutted chicken from the supermarket. The result was eight pieces, not counting the bones, cartilage and back, which can also be used, for example, to make chicken soup.

Each piece is thoroughly washed under running water and lightly dried with a waffle towel.

Cutting fresh, uneviscerated poultry

The sequence of work with, in fact, a semi-finished product was discussed above. Now let’s figure out what additional work will have to be done with fresh chicken:

1. The very first manipulation is plucking feathers from the carcass. At home, there is no special equipment with which this process can be mechanized. Therefore, you will have to work manually. With one hand you need to take the chicken by the paws, and with the other at this time, sharply pull out all the feathers in a row from the paws to the head.
2. When removing feathers, you need to ensure that their tips do not break off and remain in the skin. However, such cases occur almost always. And in order to get rid of these ends, you should pull them out with tweezers.
3. After cleaning the feathers, the carcass is burned to destroy any remaining fluff. This is done using a gas stove, turning the carcass over a strong fire or a burning sheet of paper rolled into a tube. This manipulation should be carried out with the windows open, since the smell of burnt fluff is simply disgusting. To completely remove even the smallest fluff, you need to rub the chicken carcass with flour before firing.
4. The next stage is gutting the bird. For this purpose, a small incision is made on the abdomen near the cloaca, through which all the insides are removed. After removing the giblets, it should be rinsed from the inside with a stream of running cold water. The skin of the chicken should be cleaned with a soft brush.
5. The entrails are divided into inedible and edible (heart, stomach, liver) parts. The stomach must be cleaned immediately, for which it is cut, the contents are thrown out, and the inner lining is removed.
6. If the chicken is not planned to be cooked immediately after cutting, then all edible giblets are placed through the cut back inside the carcass.
7. The bird's head is cut off and the throat tube is removed from the neck.
8. The paws are cut off along the folds. Further cutting of the carcass is described in the previous section.

Almost every housewife knows how to cook chicken correctly. But not everyone knows how to properly cut up a chicken that will have to be worked with. Proper cutting of a carcass is not just an aesthetic point. Knowing how to cut a chicken, it becomes clear how many servings it can be divided into, and how to cook it properly after that.

The chicken carcass is divided into the following parts:

• breast (aka white meat);
• small fillet;
• leg;
• hips;
• shin;
• wing (first and second phalanges);
• offal (liver, heart, stomach, paws and neck).

The fattest parts of the chicken are the skin, wings, tail and legs.

How to cut up a chicken carcass

Proper cutting of chicken: how to cut chicken into portions

For those who don’t want to delve into the nuances of cutting, we can give only one piece of advice: bake or boil the whole carcass - the issue will be resolved. Others who are interested should continue their excursion into the world of cutting. There are several options for dealing with a chicken carcass. If you divide a chicken carcass into parts according to the classical scheme, the result will be 8 pieces.

Basic methods of cutting poultry

Cutting without waste

It is used when it is necessary to make a larger quantity of semi-finished products from a carcass into stock and to obtain assorted broth. Cutting is done into medium pieces.

Video - How to cut chicken without waste

Portion cutting

The chicken is divided into portions, all excess is thrown away. This option is good when you plan to bake or fry.

For such cutting you will need to fill your hand. It may not work out the first time. Only persistent training will ultimately allow you to achieve even, beautiful pieces.

Step 1. Place the carcass on its back. Cut off the legs at the cartilage joints. The process will become easier if you press the leg against the work surface, make an incision in the flesh and slightly turn the thigh out. The cartilage will open and it will be easier to find the place of articulation.

Step 2. Cut the drumstick from the thigh at the bend.

Step 3. Divide the remaining carcass into 2 halves. A pair of vertical incisions will be required along the spine and sternum (on either side of them).

Step 4. Cut the pieces obtained in the third stage horizontally in the center into 2 parts each.

The result will be 8 pieces, almost identical in size:

• 2 drumsticks;
• 2 hips;
• 2 lower breast halves;
• 2 upper breast halves with wings.

Boneless cutting

This is an option that involves separating the meat from the bone. It is mainly used for making rolls, rolls or minced meat.

Video - Removing bones from chicken

How to remove bones from chicken legs

The scheme for all options is the same:

• washing and gutting the carcass;
• incision along the sternum;
• wing separation;
• leg separation;
• cutting the legs into thighs and shins;
• separation of the breast from the frame.

Proper gutting of a chicken carcass

1. The carcass must be placed on the work surface of the table. Using a sharp knife or kitchen hatchet, cut off the paws at the tendons, bending them slightly at the knee joint. You don’t need to press hard, just carefully separate the paws and that’s it.
2. An incision is then made around the anus. The skin must be cut through so as not to affect the internal organs.
3. Next, you need to cut the skin along the sternum to the chicken's anus. Remove the insides through the hole and discard.
4. Then you need to pull out the liver and ventricle, cutting them where they connect to the carcass.
5. Then the goiter is removed along with the esophagus.
6. In roosters, the testes must be removed from the tail. A chicken, accordingly, has ovaries.
7. The heart and lungs are the last to be removed.

As a rule, store-bought chickens and roosters are sold pre-processed and gutted. But there are lovers who buy poultry exclusively at markets, where the poultry is sold ungutted.

The further sequence of actions is also the same:

1. The carcass is placed on the board with its legs up. Each of them needs to be pulled back a little to the side and cut along the joint. It is better not to cut along the tendons, as you will then have to cut the resulting pieces again.
2. Next, the legs are divided into thighs and legs, using the method of cutting at the joint. The location of the incision is easy to determine by touch. This is where the bones bend to the sides.
3. The wings also need to be slightly bent and separated from the carcass at the joint. Then, if necessary, the wing itself is again divided into phalanges at the fold.
4. Lastly, the carcass itself is divided into parts. First along the spine, then along the chest.
5. The last operation is to remove the breast from the frame and separate the small fillet from the breast.

After cutting into pieces, they should all be thoroughly washed. This is the best option for cutting up chicken.

Broiler. Gutting a chicken or broiler in 8 minutes. Cutting a broiler or chicken carcass

How to remove bones from chicken

1. The chicken should be placed on the breast on a cutting board.
2. Cut through the spine on both sides. Muscle tissue needs to be cut as much as possible.
3. Cut away the connective tissue that holds the breast and spine bones together.
4. The frame (ridge), freed from meat, is carefully removed.
5. The bones of the legs are removed by cutting the connective tissue at the site of its connection with the bones. All this is done again using a boning knife.
6. As a rule, bones are not removed from wings, unless the wings are specified in the recipe as stuffed.

How to fillet a chicken

To do this, place the chicken carcass on a cutting board, breast side up. Make a deep cut along the frame. Next, using a boning knife, trim the breast from the frame on both sides so that it is completely separated from it, but remains intact. Then you can easily separate the small fillet from the breast by hand.

Don’t be upset if you don’t manage to cut the bird the way you wanted the first time. One or two attempts will strengthen the hand, and next time it will find the places where the knife should be pointed. Experience comes quickly. It's just chicken. It is more difficult to butcher a cow.

Chicken cutting: video

This article is searched for:

• % meat on chicken parts
• chicken and the name of its baked parts
• chicken meat parts
• chicken parts