How to Carve a Chicken Correctly

[Cucina]

I never learned how to carve a chicken correctly and it drives me crazy when I make fried chicken and the pieces don't look right - specifically - where the heck is the wishbone? Can anyone provide a detailed description and or a link to pictures on how to carve one up correctly? thx.

[eunny jang]

Ahh! One of my favorite subjects. Do you mean butcher a raw chicken, or carve a finished bird at the table?

Here is an excellent illustrated guide to butchering a chicken.

[little ms foodie]

Ahh!  One of my favorite subjects.  Do you mean butcher a raw chicken, or carve a finished bird at the table?

Here is an excellent illustrated guide to butchering a chicken.

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that is a great illustration!! Thanks for posting it eunny, I'm going to print it off and stick it in my kitchen.

I am bad at carving chickens too, both butchering them as well as cooked carving. With cooked birds I like to just cut out the backbone and the 1/4 them. Each guest gets a 1/4. Perfect and very non messy!!

[Cucina]

Ahh!  One of my favorite subjects.  Do you mean butcher a raw chicken, or carve a finished bird at the table?

Here is an excellent illustrated guide to butchering a chicken.

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Thanks!!! This is very helpful. Actually, I want to make fried chicken so the butchering lesson is what I was looking for (thank you for leaving off the part about wringing the neck and plucking feathers too!!! My only other lament is that it's really hard to find chickens of suitable size anymore. By that I mean, my grandmother's cook taught me to never buy chickens that were bigger than 2.5 pounds - she always said they weren't as tasty and I tend to agree. Ocassionally, you can get lucky at the Whole Foods and find free rangers that fall in that category but all these chickens are so overfed and most overhormoned to become miniature turkey size that it's almost impossible.

[eunny jang]

My only other lament is that it's really hard to find chickens of suitable size anymore.  By that I mean, my grandmother's cook taught me to never buy chickens that were bigger than 2.5 pounds - she always said they weren't as tasty and I tend to agree.  Ocassionally, you can get lucky at the Whole Foods and find free rangers that fall in that category but all these chickens are so overfed and most overhormoned to become miniature turkey size that it's almost impossible.

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I know what you mean - I hate roasting chickens bigger than three and a half pounds (and that's the the verrrrrry upper limit of what I deem acceptable), mostly because I really think that a smaller chicken has a greater skin/fat-to flesh ratio and is therefore tastier and more succulent and holds up to high-heat roasting better.

I think the little ones all get chopped up for the parts market though.