01/05/2026
How to Butcher a Whole Chicken 🐓🍗 - BASICS WITH BEN
BUTCHERY INSTRUCTIONS:
👉 Steps 1. and 2. are the same for both the traditional and preferred methods, but steps 3. onward will be different for both.
1. Pat your chicken dry with paper towel. Start by removing your wish bone. You will find it at the front of your breasts, coming together at a roughly 60 degree angle. You can feel for it using the tip of your fingers, then cut it out using just the tip of your knife.
2. Remove the wings, cutting directly through the joint that connects the flat to the drum.
TRADITIONAL METHOD:
3. Starting on one side of your chicken, gently pull the leg away from the breast. The skin will stretch out between the leg and the breast - cut right through the middle of that skin. Continue to cut through the skin until the leg falls away from the crown. You want to stay as far away from the breast and leg as possible while doing this, as to not cut either.
4. Once the leg has been released from the crown, you will see that it is attached by one remaining joint. Dislocate that joint by pushing the leg downwards away from the body. You will hear a pop, and see that the leg is now attached to the carcass by just the skin. Cut directly down the middle of the spine to release the leg. Be sure to cut around the chicken "oyster", a juicy piece of meat that rests where the leg meets the spine.
5. Locate the breast bone running between your two breasts. Make an incision on one side of the breast bone, then start cutting downwards along the bone. The closer to the bone you are with your knife, the better. The bone will go directly downwards at first, then start to curve away. Just continue cutting slowly, while pulling the meat away from the bone. As long as your knife is flush with the breast bone, then the rib cage, all of the meat should come off the bone quite easily.
6. Once you reach the bottom of the rib cage, you will see where the wing connects to the carcass. Cut right through the joint with your knife.
PREFERRED METHOD + PAN ROASTED CHICKEN RECIPE CONTINUES IN THE COMMENTS ⬇️
