So, nonsqueamish carnivores, how DO I cut up a (raw) chicken?

[motherinferior]

Pupuce's post on the 'my style' conversation has spurred me on to reconsider something I've been mulling over for a while, namely buying a whole chicken and cutting it up, rather than buying expensive bits of it (and also there's something a bit, you know, Saint Agatha-ish about perpetually purchasing severed breasts, I do admit, and I do wonder what happens to the rest of the chicken as well).

But, er, where do I start? Given that I can't just request breathily that my 'butcher' divide it up, Nigella-style - I'll be getting the chicken from our organic delivery firm; and I'm still not overly familiar with cutting up meat; and I don't have a boning knife (whatever that is) or anything like that...do I just hack it apart? Are there tips? Can you tell me?

[Marina]

Warning Link contains photos of dismembered poultry
Voila ma chere Methode Delia

[elliott]

I've recently done this using the Delia method (but without the aid of the helpful photos, thanks Marina) and it was only the second whole chicken I've ever bought, so i was quite pleased with myself! - Be warned it does require brute force and is unlikely to look quite as pristine as in the photos (any instruction that starts 'simply....' should be treated with caution imo!)

[motherinferior]

Good grief.

But worth doing, I suspect, for many reasons.

Many thanks!

[elliott]

Definitely worth doing. You don't need a special knife either - just a robust and sharp one!

[bundle]

MI, won't the butcher do it? ours does it marvellously..

[Marina]

Perhaps MI is hoping one of those hunky Aussie delivery boys will rip it apart with his bare hands

[bundle]

i find kitchen scissors quite helpful too

[motherinferior]

You scoff - I got free ginger off the Ozboy today. He did explain I was his last customer.

Our best chicken option seems a delivery one, so Sweeney Todd not an option

[WellieMum]

Ha! Delia is a wimp!

Now, if she lived in Singapore (as I did) she would have discovered that whole REALLY means whole, ie when you buy a whole chicken in the supermarket it comes with its head and feet still on.

I'm not squeamish at all, honest, but I never did get used to this.

[motherinferior]

Although now in fact I've worked out that eight chicken thighs from the same organic producer work out cheaper than cutting the whole chicken into eight [insert perplexed emoticon]

[hoxtonchick]

thighs are very cheap MI. a bit yuck when they have bones in though. i used some to make enid's nuggets very succesfully the other day.

[Sonnet]

Thanks for this thread - I was wondering the same thing after readiong Pupuces post too...

[motherinferior]

Nigel Slater raves about thighs.

[Marina]

We use thighs for stir-fries, casseroles etc because although the meat is denser and slightly more "slippy" in texture when cooked, it has such a good flavour.
Dh always snaps up organic wings when he sees them for barbecuing and soups.

[WideWebWitch]

Ooh, yes, I think that was a great tip from Pupuce.

[motherinferior]

I shall get the Ozboy to deliver firmly flavoursome thighs

[crunchie]

Who do you use for delivery

[Sponge]

Thighs and legs much tastire and cheaper than breasts but bear in mind much more wastage. Chickens don't have very chunky thighs!

[Marina]

crunchie I think MI uses Abel & Cole (correct me do MI)

[nailpolish]

you are brave MI - i have a fear of whole chickens (or any animal dead)

would love to cook a whole chicken like my mum used to, but im terrified

i buy fillets, spear them with a fork and dangle them in the air whilst hacking away with the scissors, if the recipe needs the breast to be cut up

i just cannot bear to touch a raw chicken,

[Enid]

teach your dh/dp to do it, they love it, makes them feel all manly I suspect

[Enid]

nailpolish I am like that about potatoes - I can't look at them boiling in a pan of water

[bundle]

& if you can bear it try plopping them into buttermilk overnight a la nigella, yum yum

[WideWebWitch]

MI, inspired by this thread we bought a whole chick with the intention of cutting it up ourselves. I'll let you know how it goes, I'll be using those Delia instructions.