I always buy two whole chickens at a time – usually find them on sale for around 2 for $10.00 or .99 a pound which in my opinion they should be all the time. But I digress. We are all familiar with the standard 8 cut of 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 breasts – which are HUGE. I do it a bit different and you get so much more than 8 servings.
Keeping in mind that 4 ounces is an actual serving of most meats/proteins and that there is a LOT more than 8 servings on a chicken this is my way of using two chickens to the utmost. It takes a little practice, but you will get it in time, and you will have more chicken salad for sandwiches if not.
Start with two whole chickens – don’t rinse as that just splatters goo all over your kitchen, we will be freezing and/or cooking it all so any bacteria will be killed. These two didn’t have any necks/innards so we will not be addressing them at this time.
Trim any large fatty bits – have a small bowl ready for fat and skin – yes we will use it all.
Slice the skin between the body and the legs.
Grasp a leg in each hand and fold backwards firmly – you will hear a crack as the thigh portions separate from the body portions.
Turn the chicken breast side down – notice the little “butt”? Two nodules of meat called the “oysters” just above the thigh joint. We want to keep those intact so make your thigh cuts below them.
Feel for the thigh joint, there will be an indention there, you will cut through the thigh joint, separating the thigh, leaving the oyster.
Thigh removed, oyster intact.
Thigh portions.
Feel for the joint between the leg and thigh – just next to the line of fat. Cut through that joint separating the leg and thigh.
Leg and thigh separated.
Lift the wing section, split the skin and pop the joint.
Cut through the wing joint.
Wings! Separate into sections cutting through the joint
s.
Remove skin from the rest of the chicken. Most of it will pull right off by hand – may need a little knife assist in some places. The oysters under the skin along the back bone.
The oysters removed from the hollow in the back. See the hollow where they were excised. That is about 2 ounces of excellent meat – once added to the other two from the other chicken it will be a full serving (this is one reason I by chickens in twos).
Below the ribs is a flap of meat on each side.
I trim that flap meat out with kitchen shears.
Another forgotten portion of meat that gets wasted in a traditional cut.
Another seldom used portion of chicken – once added to the other two from the second chicken, we will have another meal.
Looking into the body cavity, you can see where the ribs don’t quite meet up. Use your shears to separate the back from the breast.
Feel for the keel bone between the two breast sections. Slide your knife down the bone until you hit the ribs.
Keep following the ribs staying as close to the breast bone and ribs. You should actually be scraping along the ribs with your knife.
You will hit one little bone towards the front of the breast, slide your fingers along it and pull it free.
Cut the breast free – note how clean the breast bone is. Repeat on other breast section.
Both breast sections free – set the bone aside with the other bones – we are not done with those either.
Turn the breast upside down. Note the line down the center.
The loin section will lift free from the breast.
Lift the loin and slice free.
Each loin section will weigh about 2 ounces, depending on the size of the chicken, or course so two will make a meal.
Next we look at each remaining breast section – as you can (kinda) see above, on the scale one remaining breast is still weighing in at nearly 12 ounces or three servings.
So cutting it into three sections, I first cut the point. Smaller chickens the points will be added together to make one 4 ounce serving – but these were larger than normal so even the points weigh 4 ounces.
One breast point. The are good for stir fries, tacos, soups/stews or any other application where chunks are needed rather than structured pieces.
The remaining breast portion is still about 8 ounces, or two servings but it is a rather awkward shape to cook. I cut it horizontally. Move the section to the edge of the board and press down firmly with you hand.
Slice through the equator – keep your fingertips up, and slice evenly through.
Note the fingers are lifted and the knife goes smoothly through the meat.
Now you have two thin, quick cooking breast fillets. They can even be used directly from frozen in several ways … but more on that later.
Boom! One fillet = 4 ounces baby.
So from two whole chickens we have 8 breast fillets, 4 breast points, 4 thighs, 2 leg servings (two legs each), 2 wing servings (two wings each), 1 oyster serving, and 1 rib flap serving. So a total of 22 servings so far – still need to address the bones and skin. We will get another 4 servings, plus stock for soups and some fat for cooking .. and chicken-rones.
I have always cooked, I was that person who could make a meal from an empty fridge. I have lived alone and with large and small families, I have cooked for camps on wood stoves, and in professional kitchens. I have lived and worked all over the west from Montana, to Seattle to Arizona to San Diego. I have traveled, maybe not 'all over the world', yet, and have collected tastes recipes and techniques everywhere, and every one I meet.
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