WHOLE ANIMAL, WHOLE FOOD....BUTCHER YOUR OWN CHICKEN

The idea of butchering my own chicken is appealing to me for a few reasons...one, I don't really trust the pinwheels you can find in the store.  I realize that it's minor details, but do you really want the legs from one chicken and the breasts from another and the wings from yet another?  It might not matter, but why not have it all from the same animal.  Another reason I like it is because when you butcher your own chicken, I feel like there is a connection created between you and the animal, the care you are taking to carve it up to suit your needs...try it, maybe you will agree, maybe you'll agree that I'm nuts...



Sit Mr. Chicken on his booty with the back bone facing you.  Get a nice sharp, sturdy knife and make sure your cutting board is secure.

Slide your knife along one side of the back bone, making sure to stay close to the bone so that you don't mess up the breast or thigh meat.

Then the other side, being careful again not to cut your fingers off

Finish off the back bone and separate it from the body

The bird won't lie flat until you remove the breast bone

Go in from one side then the other and break through the breast bone with your knife.  Once you get through the bone, make sure to keep the knife along the bone so that you don't remove any more meat than you have to...

 Slide your finger along the bone to separate the meat from the cartilage

Now you can be sure to have nothing but meat in your breast pieces

Flat bird...now start separating, first the breast

 Then the thigh skin from the breast...there will be some residual rib bones in there, just carve them out

Find the joint between the wing and the breast by moving it around and slide the knife right in there to separate the wing

Separate the legs the same way, feel the joint, then slice into it

Side bar:  when you are removing wings and legs,

if you really have to press very hard with the knife,

 your are not in the joint, it should separte pretty easily

, if it's not, your in the wrong spot,

 just move the joint and your knife until you find the sweet spot.