Cutting a chicken up for cooking will allow you to cook the chicken more quickly than cooking whole. In the 'Classical Kitchen' there are many recipes that use chicken cut for 'sauté'. This is not the correct method here I will show that later. For now this method will allow you to get used to handling your knife and getting the most out of the bird. When chickens are on offer you can joint them and freeze as individual joints for use throughout the week.
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Remove any packaging, place the chicken on your cutting board so the breasts are towards you and the legs pointing away.Cut off and strings that maybe tied around the bird.
Stretch out the wings and cut off the tips.
Turn the chicken to the side pull out the leg and cut through the skin of the leg and down to the joint. Make sure you do not cut the flesh of the breast.
You can turn the chicken over as you cut around the joint but cut back into the carcass to remove the meat that is contained in a socket next to the joint. This is called the oyster cut. Cut around the bone of the joint and remove the leg. Repeat this action to the other side.
Feel down the centre of the breast bone and then make a cut very slightly to one side of it. Slice through the breast and cut until the blade touches the wishbone. You can tap the top of your blade sharply and crack the wishbone.
Continue to cut down onto the carcass and then follow the contours of the bones right to the bottom to remove the breast.
After completely removing the first breast cut off the second breast. there is no need to cut through the wishbone, simply cut under it to remove the breast. With both of the breasts pull out the wishbone before continuing.
Turn the leg of chicken over and trim the flesh back from the bone.
Cut under the bone and trim under and around the bone to remove all the flesh and leave the bone clean.
Scrape the flesh away from the bone down to the joint.
Cut carefully around the joint then turn the flesh inside out like taking off your socks. Pull right down so that the bone is totally exposed.
Cut through the sinews at the bottom of the leg and cut right through to remove the leg bone completely.
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