How to Carve a Roast Chicken
As far as we’re concerned, there’s little that beats a juicy, tender chicken. Home-roasted in the oven or store-bought, that works too, of course. But how do you actually carve a roast chicken?
Once you’ve perfectly roasted your expensive chicken and put your masterpiece on the table, you naturally need to carve it properly. FavorFlav’s founding editor Marcus Polman – he wrote the Handbook for the Perfect Chicken – knows exactly how to do it.
Carving a roast chicken: here’s how
Before we explain the steps, make sure you have the right tools. One golden rule: your knives must be sharp. An extremely expensive and extensive knife set does not make a good cook. We find a knife set very impractical; invest instead in a few really good knives.
Carving a roast chicken in 8 steps
1. Use a sharp carving knife and a meat fork. First, detach the leg. Start with the skin at the leg and cut through it.
2. Push the leg outward with the meat fork. Find the ball joint (deep in the meat) that connects the leg to the breast. Cut the leg off at the joint.
3. Turn the leg over with the skin side facing down; the bone will then be easier to see. Separate the thigh and drumstick from each other at the joint.
4. Cut through the skin at the wings. Push the wing sideways with the meat fork. Cut the wings off at the joint.
5. Separate the breast fillet from the carcass. Feel for the chicken’s backbone. Cut the meat loose, tightly along the backbone; use the tip of the knife to follow the bone and ribs.
6. Do the same on the other side of the backbone. You now have two chicken breasts.
7. Slice both chicken breasts diagonally across the grain.
8. You have now cut the chicken into 6 pieces. If you further divide the wings into the drumette and flat, you have 8 pieces.
Tip: for four people, serve each person half of the sliced chicken breast and, depending on preference, either the drumstick or the thigh. Those who love gnawing on bones get the wings as a bonus.
Read also:
- What on earth is in a cheese soufflé?
- Cheese according to your zodiac sign
- About the ‘schaamhapje’: the very last snack on the platter
Image: Sven Benjamins
