Do You Cut Up Whole Chickens Yourself?

TastyReuben

TastyReuben

Nosh 'n' Splosh
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I made a chicken dish yesterday, and because Kroger (not my usual meat source) doesn't sell a whole chicken already cut up, I had to either buy separate packages of thighs, wings legs, and breasts (which would have resulted in way too much chicken), or buy a whole chicken and do the dismembering myself.

We raised chickens for several years when I was a kid, so I'm a fair hand at cutting up a whole one, but MrsTasty looked at me like I was a serial killer every time she heard me dislocate or crack a bone.

For those who eat chicken (or duck, or turkey), do you cut them up yourself, or leave it to the butcher?
 
I've done it several times, but we mostly use thighs, so mainly we buy parts. I cook turkeys whole, either smoked or in the oven and spatchcocked (chickens as well). Chicken livers are used in dirty rice and Pate'.
 
I've certainly done it, but these days I'm only cooking for 2, so a whole chicken isn't something I tend to buy very often. Like CraigC I tend to use thighs and recently chicken breasts. Of course, its much more economical to buy a whole chicken than to buy it in parts.
 
Have done it, but a skill I really want to learn is how to properly de-bone one. Waiting for a course to come up locally.
 
epicuric said:
Have done it, but a skill I really want to learn is how to properly de-bone one. Waiting for a course to come up locally.
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We never deboned a chicken when I was a kid, so I never learned that skill from my mom. Here's how I learned, an oldie but a goodie:

View: https://youtu.be/nfY0lrdXar8


There are about 30 pieces of good advice in that video. For pure entertainment, there are plenty of videos of him doing this for show, at about 80 years old, and he can debone one in about 25 seconds. Years of restaurant work...
 
Most of the time I can buy the parts I prefer the most on sale for a cheaper price than buying a whole chicken. I do buy whole chickens for my crockpot and then just use the meat from the carcass as needed for salads, sandwiches, etc., then cook the carcass more for stock or soup. But when I can get a package of chicken thighs for .88 cents a pound on sale whereas a whole chicken costs $1.69 a pound, it's a no brainer. And often skinless boneless chicken breasts go on sale for $1.88 a pound and I buy quantities of them, separate into smaller packages, and freeze them for later use. I do know how to properly cut up a chicken but there is no need. I would prefer to use all thighs when preparing fried chicken. I don't like drumsticks or wings, there just is not much meat. And who eats the backs? There are two small "tenderloin" nuggets and after that the back is pretty much useless--though my grandma liked the part "that went over the fence last" to chew on for some weird reason. And my husband's grandma and aunts liked to chew on boiled chicken feet and necks.

So yeah, the answer is no.
 
Mainly thighs and breasts here as well, but I'm quite happy to despatch and cut up a chook, lamb, pig or even a steer. I would need a hoist for the steer though. I grew up with a friend who lived on a farm. Hell we used to shoot trout in creeks with a .22
Kids nowadays are sooks.

Russ
 
I can and did BC Mrs Blank. Part of her training as a Waitrose Meat and Fish specialist was at the Waitrose Cookery School. She makes Christiaan Neethling Barnard look like a brick layer.
JASOH1 said:
And who eats the backs?
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We do, slow cooked the stock and residual meat with reconstitute dried porcini makes a beautiful risotto or pie and without the mushrooms Jewish Penicillin.
44979
 
The only time I cook a whole chicken is over charcoal and wood with a rotisserie, Otherwise, I buy just the pieces of chicken I want. So, I've never had any need to cut up a whole chicken before cooking,

CD
 
caseydog said:
The only time I cook a whole chicken is over charcoal and wood with a rotisserie, Otherwise, I buy just the pieces of chicken I want. So, I've never had any need to cut up a whole chicken before cooking,

CD
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Exactly why I bought the rotisserie for the Weber in the first place. Have you seen or purchased the after market basket for the rotisserie? I love doing chicken wings in it, along with roasting Hatch chilis.
 
CraigC said:
Exactly why I bought the rotisserie for the Weber in the first place. Have you seen or purchased the after market basket for the rotisserie? I love doing chicken wings in it, along with roasting Hatch chilis.
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I have a Cajun Bandit rotisserie kit. It is stainless steel and cheeper than Webber's kit. I don't know if they offer a basket like you have. I probably wouldn't roast my own peppers, but the wings sound interesting to me. But, now is not a good time for me to buy any "toys."

CD
 
TastyReuben, you are too funny. I didn't grow up on a farm but I taught myself how to cut up chicken. I think Mrs. TR and my ex are cut from the same cloth. He absolutely looked horrified the first time I showed him how to cut one. Let's not even talk about the time I used a cleaver to cut smoked turkey. LOL
 
I have never cut a whole chicken myself. Here in Portugal every butcher and every butcher in a supermarket will do that for you. I always buy whole chickens since they're less expensive. One chicken makes me 3/4 meals.
 
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