How I carve a chicken

Hi there, 

      Over the years I've gotten a lot of questions from folks when they're picking up their birds. Things like "Do you really process them right here?", "Were those the pasture pens I saw coming in?" and "Can I help process next time?", but the most common one is "How do you break down a whole chicken?" 

     So, I finally got my act together and after the last harvest I had my helper make a video of me breaking down a chicken to cook the way I do it. I'm not sure if this is the way it's supposed to be done, but it makes a lot of sense to me and, as one charcuterie book I read tells it, is the way they break down pigs in Spain as well; which is to say, following the anatomy instead of using bone saws to quickly make different kinds of cuts we're used to seeing in the store. 

     Your butcher might disagree, but this works plenty well for me and renders the boneless breasts my family likes, as well as the bone-in thighs and wings I like. 

    And don't forget to use the carcass to make stock! I usually pull 1/2 to 3/4 cup of meat off of a cooled carcass after it comes out of the stock pot, and to be frank the neck meat is my favorite part of the whole bird! 

Enjoy and !buen provecho! 

Jason