How To Cut A Whole Chicken

On September 9, 2012 by Robin Z

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When I purchase chicken for my family I almost always buy a whole chicken.  It’s cheaper, it goes further, and it is more useful.  I have a favorite chicken farmer from whom I almost always purchase my chicken.  When I can’t make it to the farmer’s market, I will only buy organic chicken from one of the brands that I have already researched.  After reading this incredible book a couple of years back, the way I buy animal products changed very much.  If you are interested in reading about the way animals are farmed in our country, I recommend you read it.

Here is the way I cut my chicken when I buy it whole:

1. Cut between the thigh and the leg 2. Separate the leg and the thigh 3. Separate the wing and the breast 4. Cut down the breast bone, and around the back of each breast. 5. As you cut, be sure to save the scraps and bones for making stock (bones, neck, liver, heart, gizzard, etc.)

Using the leftovers:

Follow our recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock and use it right away in recipes or on your cooking day, or store it in freezer-safe containers and freeze for a warming, yummy winter soup. Instead of using them for stock, you may choose to cook and serve your organ meats.  You could simply saute them in butter and eat them or get creative with them.  I would caution you, however, to consider whether or not you want to eat non-organic chicken organs.  The liver especially is the organ that detoxes and filters out all the toxins from the chicken’s body.  If your chicken is not organic, it is quite likely that the chicken liver is full of chemicals of all sorts (pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, who-knows-what).  Just something to consider.

If you choose not to purchase a whole chicken, consider which other cuts of the chicken you can purchase for a lesser price and still get the same nutritious, tasty results.  Chicken thighs are less expensive (and quite often on sale) than the coveted breast but still taste just as good.

**I do have to confess that although I buy a whole chicken, I have now started purchasing a whole chicken already cut up by my favorite farmer.  Honestly, I have a difficult time with animal carcasses.  I have told my husband that someday I may be a vegetarian.  😉

When you purchase chicken, do you prefer to buy a whole bird or just a particular part of the bird?  What are some ways you resourcefully use all of the parts?

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