Tag: chickenmeat
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Chicken Breast
Breaking down a whole chicken is a great way to save money and you know that you are making the best use of a precious resource.
Here we are removing the breasts from the body and practically getting the rest of the chicken for free 🙂 .
The breast meat doesn’t do a lot of work during the modern chicken’s life so is very tender. They are very versatile and seem to be most people’s favourite. I use them a lot in my cooking except in curries and stews where the longer cooking can dry the breast meat out.
Removing the breasts
- By now you will have taken the wings and legs off the whole bird (see links below showing you how to do that).
- Place the chicken in front of you, breast up and tail end facing away from you.
- Locate the breast bone that, just like in humans, is made of cartilage and runs down the middle of the chest.
- Slice along one side of the breast bone, keeping close to it and making careful cuts downwards, and the the breast will begin to fall off.
- Repeat on the other side.
Removing the tenderloin
- You can go one step further and remove the tenderloin (a long thin tender muscle that runs the length of the breast) from each breast.
- Take your knife and run it along the natural seam (I have started in the picture below to show you where it is).
- Use tenderloins in stir fries etc or turn them into home-made chicken nuggets.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- more home butchery posts
- go to the main ingredients page here
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Chicken Crown
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource.
After removing the wings and legs from a whole chicken we can make what is called a ‘crown of chicken’. It makes for a perfect roast and you can even leave the wings attached. I am
going to try(I did, see it here) stuffing the cavity with bacon next time I cook one :).If you need any help I recommend watching Scott Rea’s video which I have included at the end of this post.
Crown of chicken
There is a line that runs along the underside of the breast. Use your knife or shears to cut down and along that line, severing the backbone. Trim up the neck skin and there you have it.
You can go further and either a) cut the crown in half, see last picture below, and or b) cut the lower rib cage away and then halve the crown to get two breasts on the bone.
Cooking suggestion – PK’s Chicken Crown Roast With Bacon
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
Scott Rea video:
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Chicken Wings
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource. Here we are removing the wings from the body.
They go great in curries and on the barbecue. Everyone loves chicken wings 🙂
Removing the wings
- Place the whole chicken in front of you, breast up and wings towards you (in the pictures below I have already removed the legs).
- Hold one of the wings and move it around to get a feel for where to cut. Where it is pivoting is the shoulder joint. The first image below shows how the humerus attaches to the rib cage. We want to cut through that joint ie not through any bone. I help my aim by giving it a bit of a wrench to dislocate it.
- Keeping your hands safe, cut down and through the shoulder joint (there should be little to no resistance) to remove the wing.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
Please consider subscribing to get a weekly email summary of our posts.
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Chicken Frames And Bones
Everything but the cluck cooking ends with using chicken frames and bones!
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Chicken Leg, Thigh And Drumstick
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource. Here we are removing the legs from the body.
The leg meat has more flavour than breast meat and is juicer. That makes it perfect for soups and curries where the breast meat might dry out.
Removing the whole leg
- Place the whole bird legs towards you and breast up.
- Feel with your hands where the thigh bone attaches to the hip.
- Keeping your fingers safe, cut downwards at that point until the leg is mostly free but not fully cut off.
- From below the leg, use your hands to pop the thigh bone up and off the hip.
- Turn the bird over and cut around the thigh bone trying to pick up the meat that is on the body but still considered leg meat.
Separating the thigh and drumstick
Simply cut through the knee joint to further break down the leg into the thigh (above the knee) and drumstick (below the knee). In the pictures below you can see that there is nothing below the ankle. If there is you can also cut this off.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
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Chicken Whole
A whole roast or braised chicken is the most amazing of meals to share with friends and family. With its mix of light and dark meat everyone is a winner. Personally I like every single bit of meat but I have not had much experience with their offal and off cuts.
In Australia we don’t really categorise whole birds between fryer, boilers and roasters (as in America and Europe) in our supermarkets. We really go in there looking for a certain sized bird depending how many people we want to feed and the labels all say ‘whole chicken’.
Much of the bird’s size comes down to what they were fed and how long they were raised for. Chicken is always sold at a low price point and its lean meat makes for a really thrifty meal.
At the bottom of the post are links to some yummy recipes and you can use this table to find out about the different cuts you can get from a whole chicken.
This is what you get from one chicken:
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see dishes using whole chickens here
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main ingredients page here
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How Do I Butterfly Or Spatchcock A Chicken
A whole chicken, especially the larger birds, can take longer to get all of the meat to a safe temperature.
So, a great way to have a roast chicken on the bone, in less time, is to butterfly or split the whole bird. This is also called spatchcocking. It is almost as simple as cutting the chicken in half but the result is a flat profile that cooks evenly.
Chicken Halves
Halving a chicken is still a good skill to learn. Simply place the whole bird length ways in front of you, breast side up. Using a long sharp knife or cleaver simply cut straight down through the middle. The breast bone will guide you.
You could even flatten each half out a bit with the heel of your hand.
Butterflyed\Spatchcocked Chicken
Place the whole bird length ways, breast down. Using kitchen shears, cut along each side of the backbone, removing it entirely.
Then slice in into the cartilage at the top of the breastbone (see the next photo) and pop the breastbone out. Run your finger along the soft part of the breastbone and it should come out in one piece. I have embedded the excellent YouTube video that taught me how to do this at the bottom of the post.
Tidy the fat and skin up. Flip the chicken over and flatten it slightly with your hands.
Enjoy,
PK
How to remove the breastbone easily:
Here are more chicken primal cuts and uses of butterflied chicken:
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