Carving Chicken

Before carving, the chicken should sit for 10 to 15 minutes after it is removed from the oven. This allows the juices to be redistributed throughout the meat, resulting in a firmer, juicier and easier to carve chicken. Choose a carving knife that is long enough to cut the entire length of the breast. It is important that the knife be extremely sharp so it allows thin slices to be carved and easily cuts through the joints when necessary. Shown below are the steps to carving a chicken.

1. If the chicken was trussed, cut and remove all strings. Place the chicken on the cutting board breast side up and begin carving by cutting through the skin and meat between the thigh and breast. Using a carving knife, pry the thigh away from the body and locate the joint connecting the leg to the body. Cut through the leg joint, detaching it from the body. On smaller birds, the thigh and leg can be served as one piece or it can be cut into separate pieces. Separate the two by cutting at the joint.
2. If the chicken is a larger bird with thighs and legs that are fairly meaty, you may want to slice the meat from the thighs and legs. Hold the meat in place using a carving fork and cut the slices parallel to the bones.
3. Remove the wing by cutting through the joint that attaches the wing to the body, keeping the cut as close to the body as possible. Remove the wing tip, if desired, before serving.
4. Before beginning to carve the breast meat, run the knife horizontally under the breast, cutting the entire length of the bird. Make sure to cut all the way in to the bone. Begin carving the breast by cutting parallel to the rib cage, cutting slices as thin as possible. If you are carving the chicken away from the serving table and will be serving the chicken already carved, remove the breast in a whole half and place it on the cutting board to slice. Using a carving fork to hold the breast in place, slice across the breast, cutting across the grain of the meat. Cutting across the grain shortens the fibers and provides a more tender piece of meat.
5. Repeat the carving process on the opposite side.