How to: Quarter a Chicken

Chicken and other birds may be quartered before or after cooking. When the bones are left in tact during cooking, they provide protection against shrinking.

* With a sharp knife, cut from the tail to the neck opening down either side of the backbone. Pull upward slightly while cutting down, exerting enough pressure to cut through the rib bones. Reserve the backbone for a stock.
* Lay out the whole breast, bone side up. Use the tip of a boning knife to cut away the white cartilage from the tip of the keel bone. Open the breast like a book, exposing the keel bone. Grab the keel bone and pull it and the cartilage away from the breast meat (again reserving for stock).
* Cut the chicken into halves by making a cut down the center of the bird.
* Separate the leg and thigh from the breast and wing by cutting through the skin just above where the beast meets the thigh.

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Education

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