How to cut a chicken: step-by-step instructions with photos

In preparing chicken dishes, cutting the carcass is of great importance. The process is quite simple and includes only a few steps. By learning how to properly cut up a chicken, you can save money on meat purchases, since individual fillets, wings and drumsticks cost more than a whole chicken. In addition, when cutting the carcass, a soupy set of meat and bones remains, from which you will get a rich, tasty soup.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with three types of chicken cuts for all occasions. Choose your case and start cutting up the bird.

Preparatory process

Before it hits store shelves and tables, the chicken carcass undergoes several stages of preparation. The sequence is done in this order:

Poultry slaughter. The fed bird is caught, held upside down, placed in a tight space and given water, which allows the intestines to be completely cleaned. Then they use electric current (in industrial farms) or cut off the chicken's head and cut the artery.
Bleeding the carcass. The chicken carcass is hung by the legs so that the blood drips into the placed container.
Feather plucking. The bird is first scalded in boiling water, which makes it easy to remove all the feathers from the carcass.
Evisceration of the entrails. All internal organs are removed from the carcass.
Cutting into parts. The resulting carcass is cut into portions.

Tools

Before the cutting process, be sure to prepare the tools and work surface. Gutting a carcass is considered a dirty process; it is recommended to cover the surface of the table and all surrounding objects with oilcloth. It is advisable for the hostess to wear an apron and rubber gloves on her hands.

To cut poultry you will need the following tools:

Cutting board. Working with chicken is not complete without using a cutting board. For cutting meat, it is recommended to choose a hard plastic board. Wooden surfaces absorb odors and are therefore not suitable for this task. Or, if there is no other board other than a wooden one, it is advisable to wrap it with durable film before work.
Capacity. Be sure to prepare a container - the elongated giblets or ready-made portioned pieces will be placed in it.
Knives. There are special knives for gutting and cutting - they have curved ends. If such a tool is not at hand, wide and narrow knives made of thick steel and with a strong handle will do.
Carving fork. With its help, you can carefully remove the heart, lungs, intestines, crop, liver, and stomach from the carcass. The fork allows you to do everything quickly, without putting any effort, without contaminating the surface.
Kitchen scissors. They are used to cut the tendons of wings and legs. If there are no such scissors, it is quite acceptable to replace them with a sharp knife.

Having a set of kitchen tools on hand is ideal when cutting up chicken. But it is not always possible to purchase a kitchen set. For this reason, it is permissible to use several knives of different sizes. Tools must be well sharpened and washed.

Gutting and removal of unnecessary parts

After plucking the feathers, you need to prepare the chicken carcass for cutting. To do this, the bird is thoroughly cleaned of internal organs. If there are giblets in the carcass, this will lead to rotting and spoilage of the chicken, and in the end you will have to throw it away and it will be unfit for consumption.

Before slaughter, the bird should not be fed for 12 hours so that there are no undigested foods in its intestines, as food residues are completely excreted in the feces. This facilitates the further process of gutting without any difficulties. After removing the internal organs, they do not have to be thrown away; they are useful for preparing poultry feed - they are washed and thoroughly crushed.

What to do and in what order:

Remove the anus. The chicken carcass is turned over on its back, using a sharp knife, they begin to cut out the anus in a circle, without inserting the blade deeply so as not to pierce the insides. If the intestines accidentally cut through, the remaining contents will come out, causing the meat to completely deteriorate and the chicken to be unfit for food. The anus is not pulled out.
Make an incision by running the knife from the anus to the keel. This process is carried out equally carefully so as not to damage the bird's intestines.
Get rid of the entrails. The entrails are removed into a previously prepared container. The intestines are carefully removed by lightly pulling the anus. After removing the intestines, they begin to cut out the stomach and liver. The liver is cut out without separating it from the gallbladder - it is removed afterwards. This minimizes the risk of crushing the bubble and spoiling the product.
Get the goiter. The bird's crop is usually empty at the time of slaughter. But if the animal was killed without preparation or died as a result of an accident, and its crop is full, to remove it, you need to make an incision in the skin on the neck and pull out the organ through it.
Remove the genitals. When cutting a chicken, the ovaries are removed, and the testes of a rooster are removed. This process requires a sharp knife.
Get the heart. It is cut out with the same knife as the genitals.
Rinse the carcass. After all the insides of the carcass have been removed, it must be rinsed under cold running water.

This gutting system is great for quickly cleaning the carcass and further using the bird for cooking.

In the video, the man explains in detail and shows how to gut a chicken at home. What and how to do:

The classic way to cut a carcass

If you practice, then over time it will take much less time to cut the chicken, and the pieces will turn out neat and the breast will be whole. The housewife will be able to learn how to do everything carefully in order not only to leave the surface on which she works clean, but also to minimize waste.

A classic cutting method is proposed. Follow the instructions:

Wash the carcass well, dry it a little, and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
Place the carcass on the board so that the back is down. Grab the leg and pull it in the direction opposite to the bird’s body, cut the skin.
Hold the carcass with one hand, and grab the leg and thigh with the other. Separate the thigh from the carcass, turning it slightly upward. This promotes separation of the joints and the release of the femur.
Now you can easily cut off the leg and thigh by turning it inside out and turning the carcass onto its back. Make a cut down to the tail to completely separate the leg.
Cut the second ham in the same way. Next, start separating the wings. Feel the shoulder joint with your hands - it connects the wing to the carcass. Cut through it.
Separating the breast from the back is not difficult, as long as you cut in the right direction. It is determined using a white fat line.
Cut the breast from the other side in the same way.
There is cartilage along the entire length of the breast - you need to get it out. To do this, lightly cut the top of the brisket, where there are two bones. Cut between them until the knife hits the dark cartilage.
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You can't do this without using your hands. In order to remove the bone with cartilage without damaging the carcass, pry this bone with your thumbs, forcefully push it up and push your fingers under it.
Without removing your fingers, move down the breast, pushing and squeezing the cartilaginous bone.
The cartilage is almost completely removed. To complete the process, grasp the cartilaginous bone and gently pull it.
The process of removing bone and cartilage is complete.
Divide the breast into two parts.
On the inside of the chicken breast there are rib bones - they are removed by cutting them off with a knife. The chicken fillet is left untouched or cut into two parts.
The chicken leg is divided into two parts - drumstick and thigh. They cut at the joint.
The wings are also cut to make them more attractive and provide convenience for further use.

As a result, according to this scheme, the housewife can get 8 or even 10 portioned pieces of carcass. As an additional bonus, the back and bones from the breast can be used to prepare aromatic chicken broth.

Skeletal structure

At least a rough understanding of how the skeleton of a chicken works will help the poultry farmer carry out mandatory routine inspections of his livestock and diagnose various ailments in a timely manner. The chicken skeleton has the following feature: many of the bird’s bones are hollow inside. This is due to the fact that the chicken can fly, although it does not often do so. The total weight of bones in domestic birds rarely exceeds 10% of body weight. The second feature is that the chicken does not have teeth; instead, it has a dense horny process - a beak.

The chicken skeleton is conventionally divided into the head, torso and limbs. The head of the feathered resident is very small, sometimes it looks very caricatured on the voluminous body. The cervical part of the spine consists of 13-14 vertebrae, the thoracic part of 7, the caudal part includes 5-6 movable vertebrae. The thoracic region also has such a specific component as the keel. The forelimbs of birds are better known to us as wings.

The wing of a chicken consists of the coracoid bone, scapula, clavicle and the so-called free wing (its “composition” includes the radius, ulna and humerus). The hind limbs of a chicken are clawed paws, which in roosters are also equipped with dangerous spurs. The legs of poultry are attached to the pelvic girdle and consist of the tibia, tibia and fibula, femur and tarsus. Most often, a chicken has 4 fingers, but there are breeds for which the standard provides for a different number of fingers.

Laying hens are also characterized by the presence of a medullary bone, which roosters do not have. This skeletal component is involved in the formation of eggshells.

In half

Another popular way of cutting a carcass is halving. This method is especially suitable if you want to cook tobacco chicken. They operate according to the following scheme:

Place the carcass breast side up and hold the bird with your hand. Make incisions on both sides of the spine, which are then removed.
Cut the breast bone (keel) and then unfold the carcass. The breast bone is removed by simply pulling it out of the flesh.

The chicken is left unfolded or divided lengthwise into two even parts, depending on what dish the hostess will prepare.

For 8 parts

The most economical option is to purchase a chicken and cut it into pieces. In this case, it will be possible to cut the bird into 8 parts; they will later be used for boiling, frying or baking in the oven. An additional bonus when cutting is getting chicken broth for making soups and borscht.

For the cutting process, be sure to use a well-sharpened knife so that there are no difficulties when cutting off parts, cutting the skin and tendons.

After purchasing chilled poultry that has not been frozen, begin the cutting process:

Pull the leg slightly away from the body of the bird and cut the skin with a knife, then the meat to the joint. Turn the thigh to the side - this will help the two bones separate. Cut off the leg from the body. Repeat the same with the second leg. Divide the resulting parts into thigh and drumstick. At the junction of the two main bones, cut with a knife. This makes 4 delicious parts.
Place the chicken on its side, cut through the rib bones and cut the breast and wings from the back. After these manipulations, we managed to get a chicken breast and back for the broth.
Transfer the breast to a cutting board, skin side up, cutting off the skin at the neck area. Using your hands and a knife, remove the cartilage bone in the center of the breast. Cartilage can also be used to make broth. Cut each breast half into two parts, just below the wing. This made 4 more meat parts. Cut off the top of the wing and use it for broth.

As a result, we managed to obtain 8, almost identical pieces of meat - they will be used to prepare mouth-watering dishes. Cutting a chicken is not a difficult process, especially if you practice regularly.

If you need to cut the chicken into 8 pieces, but the instructions are very difficult to understand how to do this, then a video will come to the rescue, where everything is explained in detail:

Wing

part of a poultry carcass separated at the shoulder joint

Divided by:

The humeral part of the wing is a part of the wing consisting of the humerus with adjacent fleshy tissues, separated at the elbow joint
The ulnar part of the wing is a part of the wing consisting of the ulna and radius bones with adjacent fleshy tissues, separated at the point of their connection with the humeral part and the hand of the wing
Wing hand - part of the wing, consisting of the carpal, metacarpal bones and fingers with adjacent soft tissues

The shoulder meat of hens and chickens, turkeys and poults, and guinea fowl and guinea fowl is white meat. The meat of the shoulder part of the wing of ducks and ducklings and of geese and goslings is red meat.

Pokhlebkin’s Russian culinary dictionary says that fillet is the most juicy and expensive meat pulp.

The term “chicken fillet” has undergone some changes since its entry into culinary use. In French, the word fillet still means “ribbon”, “thread”. How is it related to chicken? Once upon a time, French butchers sold their goods by tying the best parts of the carcass with coarse thread. This was their way of special packaging. Gradually, the word “thread” began to indicate the quality of the product, and then even mean the best area of the carcass of any animal.

If we take into account that the carcass area should be premium, then the sirloin is a soft, boneless cut from the back of the animal or the sides of the bird. In strict accordance with culinary terminology, chicken fillet is the area of the breast that has been cleared of the keel and skin.

No waste

If a housewife knows how to cut up a chicken so that there is no waste, she is a real smart person, because such an activity is an art. This option is considered the most profitable. The process itself is simple and takes minimal time.

They operate according to the following scheme:

Separate the legs. The carcass is placed on its back, grasped by the leg with one hand and pulled to the side, where its junction with the body is cut. With a sharp movement, turn the leg out of the joint and finally run the knife along the skin so that it is separated from the body.
Separate the wings. Cut the shoulder joint, completely separate the wing, slightly pulling it to the side.
Divide in half. Make a cut along the spine and in the middle of the breast of the carcass.
Separate the breast and back. Run a knife along the junction of the ribs.

If you get a large carcass, each half of the breast is additionally cut into two more parts. Pieces of poultry are hidden in the freezer for storage.

The video shows an amazing way to cut up chicken so that there is no waste left - everything is used for further use as food. A man finishes a carcass in a few minutes without dirtying the work surface:

Wings

First, feel the joint, which is located just below the breast. Using a knife, make a sharp downward movement with the knife through the joint - this way the wing will easily separate from the carcass.

Repeat the procedure to get two chicken wings. Chicken wings can be left whole or immediately cut off the outer phalanx - there is almost no meat on it, it goes into soup and broths, it is not good for anything else.

For equal portions

If previously it was common practice to buy separate sets of chicken parts, and you didn’t have to deal with cutting up chilled carcasses, convenient step-by-step instructions for portioned pieces will come in handy. At first, such a process may seem complicated and incomprehensible, but this is only at the start, and on the second attempt no difficulties will arise.

Cutting poultry into portioned pieces involves obtaining 8 parts and a back. This is very convenient, because you don’t have to spend money on buying ready-made semi-finished products. Cutting process step by step:

Place the carcass breast side up. Let's start separating the thighs. You need to cut the skin with a knife - for convenience, pull the leg away from the body. Hold the leg in your hand and run the knife along the skin at the base of the thigh. Confidently break off the thigh, moving it to the side - the joints and protruding white bone will be visible.
Cut the joint at the white bone. Move the knife in the same direction - the thigh will completely move away from the carcass. Repeat the same steps with the second leg.
From two legs you will get four portions - 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs. To separate chicken legs, use your finger to feel the joint between the bones and press with the blade of a knife.
The next step is cutting off the wings. Repeat the same steps as with the thigh. Holding the wing with your hand, cut the skin, then bend the wing to the side and cut the joint under the bone. The same is repeated with the second wing.
Now separate the chicken breast from the back. It is recommended to use kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. The carcass is placed on its side, back up. There is a fat strip on both sides under the breast; they begin to cut it from the bottom up. Next, the carcass is cut to the very top on the left side. Similar actions are carried out on the other side of the chicken carcass. This will separate the back of the chicken from the breast. The back is used for cooking broth.
Next, you need to start cutting the chicken breast into portioned fillets. First, cut the breast in half, turn it skin side up, and make an incision with a knife exactly in the middle to rest against the bone.
The breast bone is considered one of the hardest, so you will have to make every effort. If you press well, you will be able to cut the breast along the bone into two equal parts.
Next, carefully separate the fillet from the rib bones and remove the skin. The fillet is folded to the side and cut off from the bone with the tip of a knife.

This way we managed to get 8 portioned pieces of chicken and a back for preparing chicken broth.

The man in the video shows how to quickly and accurately, without mess, cut a chicken into portioned pieces in his kitchen:

How to cut a chicken breast

Before you separate the breast from the bone, you need to remove the skin from the fillet. Usually it can be easily removed even with your hands; if necessary, help yourself with a knife. The skins can be fried to create an interesting fried chicken skin dish - chips.

We make cuts along the keel bone, first on one side, then on the other. There is a fork-shaped bone at the top of the breast; there are two options for removing it, either cut it out at the very beginning of cutting, or at the end. I'm leaning towards the second option. Carefully place the knife under the meat from the keel side. Using a back-and-forth motion, we cut the flesh from the bone, while the knife blade seems to slide over the bones. One fillet is separated. Then separate the second fillet.

It's time to cut out the fork bone. Feel for it in the meat and carefully cut it off.

We managed to cut the chicken breast from the fillet, separating the bone, I get two pieces, each of which consists of a small and large fillet.

The small fillet is attached to the large fillet by muscle fibers; you can leave it in if you are going to cook a roll or large chops. Otherwise, small fillets can be cut off and used, for example, to prepare minced meat.

If you want to fillet a chicken breast for chops, you should know that there are several options.

The resulting pieces of meat can be used whole, after beating them with a hammer. During beating, the thickness of the pieces will even out. The chops will turn out very large.

The second option is to cut the breast lengthwise, creating two thinner pieces. They can be cooked without beating; the resulting thickness will allow this to be done.

By buying a whole chicken in a supermarket, you can save on the difference in price between cut and uncut chickens. When purchasing live poultry, you need to know how to cut up a chicken, from slaughter to cooking.

Boneless cutting

When it is necessary to prepare minced meat, meat rolls, or semi-finished products from pulp, the ability to separate meat from bones comes to the rescue. It is important not only to be able to cut meat, but also to maintain the attractive appearance of the pieces. It is best to remove the bones from the entire carcass without damaging the skin.

Farmers who supply chicken products to restaurants may face such a request. Such skill is appreciated and considered a plus for the seller. For boneless cutting, use the sharpest possible knife. The process provides two cutting options: open and closed.

Public method

For the open method of separating meat from the bone, follow this scheme:

The skin is incised vertically along the entire back. It is acceptable to start with the breast, but this may cause damage to the carcass. The bones in the back are located very close to the skin and can tear it if pressed.
Using a knife, carefully remove the meat from the skeleton, moving from the tail from bottom to top. The ischium, wing and hip joints are broken to expose the ribs. Use your hands to help move the pulp.
Free the femur completely by trimming the veins in a circular motion. Move the meat with your fingers.
Carefully scrape the flesh down to the outermost cartilage, maintaining the connection between the thigh and body. Having reached the bottom point, cut the upper joint.
Turn the resulting “stocking” inside out and repeat the same on the other side.
Trim the ribs using scissors. Get rid of the keel and fork bones by trimming the remaining joints.
Leave the wings on the carcass along with the bones or cut them off from the skin. The process is over.

Private method

In order to use the closed method of boneless cutting of a carcass, follow these recommendations:

Through the lower hole in the carcass, through which the bird is gutted, cut the tail and expose the ischial frame. The incision is made in jerky movements, moving up to the upper femoral cartilage. For convenience, it is permissible to slightly tuck the skin and pulp during the process. Next, use a blade to carefully cut the joint at the junction.
The veins are trimmed along the entire circumference of the ham. Where the knee touches the shin, a fracture of the joint is made. The same machinations are carried out on the second side of the carcass.
Then you need to trim the meat from the ribs to the neck, still tucking in the skin with the flesh already separated.
The neck is sharply pulled out with hands. The breast fillet is cut off from the body and the wing joints are broken off.
The fork-shaped bone must be removed, and the flesh of the drumstick must be cleaned around the circumference, cutting the ligaments. The bones are cut off in front of the cartilage, the skeleton is removed and the skin and meat are turned out.

The closed version of cutting meat is great for stuffing a carcass. This way you will be able to prepare incredibly tasty and presentable-looking dishes that will surprise your guests at the festive table.

Cutting a chicken so that it looks presentable, does not lose its attractiveness, and has no bones is difficult, but doable. How to do this is shown in the video:

About mechanical deboning

What it is

In business, the entire process is automated. Large poultry farms have special cutting equipment. And not a single poultry processing plant can operate without mechanical deboning.

Mechanically separated meat (or mme) is obtained using a meat and bone separator. He separates the muscle pulp from the bones, passing the carcass through filters. MMO is used for the production of minced meat, semi-finished products and other products in which the absence of solid particles is important.

Peculiarities

Mechanical deboning reduces waste. Reduces the cost of the finished product. Increases labor productivity. These nuances are important in business.

In some industries, the process is carried out manually by a special person - a deboner. Semi-automated deboning is also available. When part of the work in the workshop is done by people, and part by machines.

Mechanical deboning is also good because it improves the quality of meat products. Allows you to reduce the volume of additives in it.

The ratio of nutrients in MMO is balanced. It contains more vitamins C and B, since bone marrow gets into the meat during mechanical deboning.

Now you, like a real chef, can say: “I don’t just cut the bird right, I know everything about it.”

If you liked the article, please like and share the link on social networks. Please write in the comments what secrets you use for cutting and cooking chicken.

We take out the breast fillet

Very often, chicken fillet is used for salads or diet food - it has low calorie content, is rich in proteins, and saturates the body.

But when buying a whole chicken, housewives are sometimes faced with the problem of removing chicken breast from the carcass. But this is a simple process that does not require much time:

An incision is made along the chest ridge, pressing the knife against the bone.
Carefully trim the meat from the frame.
Separate the other half of the brisket from the back.

Cutting chicken for rolls and shish kebab

To prepare a delicious dish - a whole chicken roll, you will need to use a closed boneless cutting method. Even if the housewife wants to cook the roll in cling film, or bake it with vegetables, one way or another, removing bones from the carcass is a necessary procedure.

You can prepare chicken kebab from individual parts of the bird. To do this, they use the method of portioning the carcass into 8 or 9 parts - they are marinated and then grilled.

If you use skewers or want to enjoy boneless kebab, the open method for boneless cutting of poultry is suitable. Then simply cut the chicken breast into pieces of the required size.

Cutting up chicken for meatloaf is easy. Having done this, you will be able to prepare an excellent dish that will delight the whole family. Step-by-step instructions in the video:

Secrets of experienced chefs

All chefs have their own tricks when cutting poultry. Many world-famous masters suggest paying attention to the following details:

Freshness. All processing must be carried out on a fresh carcass. If you use frozen poultry, before cutting it, you need to completely defrost it, rinse it well and dry it.
The right tool. To cut the chicken into pieces, you will need to take a large knife, and to separate the flesh from the body, it is advisable to use a small tool. Kitchen scissors with serrated blades also come in handy.
Maintaining hygiene. Before cutting, it is important to inspect the carcass for the presence of parasites and check the sanitary documents from the suppliers. It is recommended to wear rubber gloves before handling poultry. After the procedure, the instrument blades are doused with hot soapy water and thoroughly cleaned. Hands are washed with soap.
Aesthetics. By removing the outer phalanx of the wings, it will be possible to significantly increase the visual appeal of dishes prepared in any way.
Removal of tendons. Poultry fillets have tendons - one in the large muscle and another in the small muscle. They need to be removed, which will help make the meat soft and attractive after cooking. Using the end of a sharp knife, cut both tendons in turn. The blade is moved along the fibers until it comes out.
Help with your hands. A sharp tool does not always help in such matters as removing skin, finding a joint and moving meat from a bone. In this case, you need to help yourself with your fingers so as not to damage the carcass.
Separate storage. Parts of the carcass should be placed in the freezer separately from vegetables and fish. In the refrigerator, portioned pieces are left where there are no foods nearby suitable for raw consumption. This will help prevent the taste of the food from spoiling.

It is equally important to cook this or that part of the chicken correctly. If you process chicken incorrectly, it can lead to dry flesh, destruction of all beneficial microelements, and deterioration in taste.

There are many ways to cut a chicken depending on the further use of the carcass or its parts. The first time this procedure may seem complicated, but subsequent cuttings will be easy and quick. Still, it is much more economical to get several different parts from one carcass than to buy them separately at exorbitant prices.

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How to choose a chicken

It's better to buy chilled chicken.
So you will pay only for the weight of the carcass itself: unscrupulous producers pump chickens with water before freezing to increase weight. In addition, the freshness of chilled meat is easier to determine. Express check of freshness of chilled chicken:

Examine the chicken. If there are scratches or bruises on the carcass, the skin is damaged or has yellow-gray spots, it is better to refuse the purchase.
Pay attention to skin color. In young birds it is soft pink, with distinct veins. The skin of an old chicken is thick with a yellowish tint.
Touch the carcass. Press your finger on the breast: fresh meat is elastic, it will quickly return to its previous shape. If a dent remains after pressing, this is a sign of damage to the product.
Smell the carcass. Fresh chicken just smells like raw meat. Avoid buying chicken that smells like medicine or other off-flavors.