The Butcher

How to complete The Butcher

Breaking down a whole chicken yourself is cheaper per pound than buying parts and leaves you with a carcass for stock. The real payoff is understanding how an animal fits together, which makes you faster and far less wasteful in the kitchen.

1. Start with a whole chicken and a sharp boning or chef knife; dull blades cause slips and ragged cuts.
2. Remove each leg by slicing the skin, bending the thigh back until the hip joint pops, then cutting through the joint, not the bone.
3. Separate drumstick from thigh by cutting along the fat line where the two bones meet.
4. Take off the wings by cutting through the shoulder joint, then run your knife down both sides of the breastbone to free the two breasts.
5. Save the back, wing tips, and bones in the freezer for stock.

Tips

• Cut through joints, never bone; if you hit hard resistance you are in the wrong spot, so reposition.
• Watch one slow video of the same cut first, it maps the joints better than text alone.
• A whole chicken is the cheapest way to practice before attempting a pork shoulder or rack of lamb.

What counts as done

You have a whole animal reduced to clean, separated, recognizable cuts ready to cook or freeze.