Cutting Up a Whole Chicken

It is easy to cut up a whole chicken-and less expensive than buying all the parts individually. Reserve all bones and trimmings to make Homemade Chicken Stock. You can store the backs and wingtips in heavy, resealable plastic bags in the freezer until you have enough to make stock.

Equipment:

Kitchen shears

Plastic cutting board

Boning knife

Kitchen knife

1. Thoroughly rinse the chicken inside and out under cold running water; pat dry with paper towels. Make sure all of your knives are sharp.

2. Cut along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears; remove bone, and reserve for stock.

3. Turn the chicken over, and place it on your cutting board. With a boning knife, cut off and remove the wings at the joints, and reserve for stock. Then cut along the thighs to remove the legs-you can further separate the legs into thighs and drumsticks, if you wish.

4. With a kitchen knife, cut between the breasts to divide them. To bone the breasts, peel the flesh away from the bone using the boning knife.