Depending where you live, the typical dressed chicken available may still have its head, feet, and feathers, but more and more these days the chicken comes “ready to cook” — assuming you remember to remove the little paper bag from the cavity. Whether you buy a factory-raised bird or a pampered free-range fowl, the method of dividing the whole chicken into parts is the same. The method presented here is one I learned in the Jura from Chef Frédéric Médigue of Le Chîteau d’Amondans. The method produces 13 pieces that are closer to being the same size than the standard eight-piece method. When serving four guests with 13 pieces, each guest can be served a selection of both light and dark meat. There’s also one extra piece for the hungriest guest (or for the cook to share with the dog in the kitchen). Before cutting the chicken, rinse and dry it thoroughly. Remove and discard (or save for rendering) any loose fat at the entrance of the cavity.
    In my experience, I have found that it is easier to cut a chicken apart with a large chef’s knife than with a boning knife. The straight tip of the chef’s knife makes it easier to cut into the joints.
    Note: click on any picture to see an enlarged version.
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Using the tip of the knife, cut the skin between the leg and the breast. By pulling the leg outward, the skin is stretched and it is possible to cut just through the skin [left]. The breast meat and leg meat are not attached to each other so it is possible to expose the joint between the thigh bone (femur) and the tail bone (synsacrum) without cutting into either [center]. Continue cutting until the whole front side of the leg is exposed [right]. At this point, only skin has been cut.
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Still using the tip of the knife, cut through the leg skin and muscle to the bone in the direction of the back [left]. Angle the knife towards the head slightly to go around the “oyster” of meat (m. gluteus) on the back [right]. Use the tip of the knife to scrap the meat away from the bone. Continue cutting along the back towards the tail so that all the leg skin and meat are separated from the carcass, but the leg bone is still attached [not shown].
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Use the tip of the knife to sever the ligaments that hold the thigh bone to the tail bone. Usually, once the ligament (the tough band of white tissue that holds the bones in contact to each other) closest to view is cut, the head of the thigh bone will release from the socket and the remaining ligament will be exposed. Cut through any remaining connecting tissue to totally free the leg and thigh from the body. Set aside.
    Repeat the preceding steps to remove the other leg and thigh from the chicken.
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The lower wing bones (ulna and radius) can be separated from the upper wing bone (humerus) at this point or later after the wing is cut away from the body. Shown here [left], the tip of the kife is used to find where these bones come together. The lower wing is stretched away from the upper to better expose the joint. As with the thigh previously, the ligaments are found and cut, releasing the tension between the bones [right]. Next, the remainder of the skin and other connecting tissue are cut — completely severing the wing. The freed lower wing is discarded or set aside for soup.
    The remaining lower wing from the other side is removed in a similar manner.
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Using a process similar to the preceding, the upper wing bone is rotated away from the body to place the joint in tension [left]. As with the thigh, the ligaments supporting the joint are cut — this frees the wing bone from the short bone (coracoid) that attaches the wing to the thorax [middle]. Lastly, using the tip of the knife and working towards the back of the chicken, the muscles of the wing are cut and scraped away from the body [right].
    As before, the corresponding part from the other side is removed in a similar manner.
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The next step is to separate the breast from the back. Starting on either side with the tail end of the chicken facing up — the right side is illustrated here — locate the cartilage where the ribs from the front attach to the ribs from the back [left]. Cut through this soft junction on each of the ribs [right].
    Repeat the same process on the opposite side of the chicken.
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Holding the chicken back in one hand, use the flat side of the knife to disjoint the back from the breast. Next, cut away any tissue that continues to connect the two pieces together. The back is discarded or set aside for soup.
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Next, the breast is placed skin-side down on the cutting board. With the side of the knife against the ribs, the tail end of the breast is cut off and set aside.
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The breast is then turned over so the skin side is up. Using the thumb and forefinger of one hand, press against the skin and muscle to place them in tension. Use the tip of the knife to cut through the skin and to cut the muscle (m. pectoralis major) on one side away from the keel bone (sternum) [left]. Continue cutting until the muscle is fully away from the keel on one side. Holding the knife as illustrated, cut entirely through the breast [middle]. Set the piece without the keel bone aside. Carefully cut the opposite muscle off the keel bone [right] and then cut the keel bone away from the remaining bone structure [not shown]. The keel bone is discarded or set aside for soup.
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Cut each of the half breast in half again to produce four pieces of approximately the same size. First cut lengthwise through the skin and muscle down to the bone [shown]. Second, cut through the bone; hold the knife similar to the way it was held earlier when cutting through the breast near the keel bone [not shown].
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The leg is stretched away from the thigh to better expose the joint [left]. The right leg is shown here. The skin is cut until the joint is visible. As with the thigh previously, the ligaments are found and cut, releasing the tension between the bones [right]. Next, the remainder of the skin and other connecting tissue are cut — completely severing the leg from the thigh.
    The remaining leg and thigh are separated in a similar manner.
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Each thigh is placed skin-side down on the cutting surface and the meat spread out as illustrated. Each thigh is then cut along the bone to produce two pieces of approximately the same size.
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Lastly, the foot end of the leg is chopped off each leg using the heel of a chef’s knife. The small piece of bone can be discarded or set aside for soup. If the chicken was purchased with the feet still attached, this bone would still be attached to the feet.
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The process has now produced 13 pieces of chicken — ready for cooking. Click on the picture to see each piece identified.
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© 2001. Peter Hertzmann, Inc. All rights reserved.