[0 - 0] - I'm Frank Prodo.
[0 - 2] I'm a professional chef and a culinary instructor.
[2 - 5] And this is the best way to carve a chicken.
[5 - 7] We're talking all the steps to separate the wings,
[7 - 10] the thighs, the drumsticks, and the breasts
[10 - 12] in the most neat and efficient way possible.
[12 - 14] This is chicken carving 101.
[16 - 19] Apparently Americans eat about 8 billion chickens a year.
[19 - 22] Way too much chicken, not to know how to carve it properly.
[22 - 24] You've got this beautiful chicken and you're gonna ruin it
[24 - 26] by tearing it apart with your hands like a Savage,
[26 - 29] using a dull knife or cutting it way too soon.
[29 - 31] Even if you don't eat chicken,
[31 - 35] you can use these techniques to carve pork, beef, lamb.
[35 - 38] Pretty much any other meat. Wiggle.
[38 - 42] Dance for us, birdie. [gentle music]
[42 - 44] Before we carve our bird, we have to cook it.
[44 - 46] And when we cook this bird, I like to truss it.
[46 - 49] Trussing is basically tying the bird with butcher's twine.
[49 - 51] So, first thing I did was tuck the wings under.
[51 - 52] I took some butcher twine around,
[53 - 55] wrapped it around the legs, tied the legs really tight,
[55 - 57] so they kind of, stuck into the breast.
[57 - 59] When we truss it, the bird gets nice and compact
[59 - 61] and it roasts a lot more evenly.
[61 - 62] And it also makes it look beautiful.
[62 - 64] Another thing we need to keep in mind
[64 - 66] is that after we cook the bird in the oven,
[66 - 67] we need to let it rest.
[67 - 70] When we let meat rest, the juices will redistribute.
[70 - 72] When you carve a chicken when it's hot,
[72 - 76] not only do you lose the juices, the meat tends to shred.
[76 - 78] It hasn't had time to keep that moisture,
[78 - 80] to keep it nice and soft when you cut it.
[80 - 82] This is about a three and a half to four pound chicken.
[82 - 83] For this sized bird,
[83 - 86] I usually let it rest about 12 to 15 minutes.
[86 - 87] For a bigger bird, like a Turkey,
[87 - 90] I'd probably go about 20 to 30 minutes.
[90 - 91] After the bird's rested, it's time to carve.
[91 - 97] And in order to do that properly, we need the right knives. [gentle music]
[97 - 99] When I carve, I use two knives.
[99 - 103] The first knife I like to use is a very thin carving knife.
[103 - 104] This knife is nice and flexible.
[104 - 106] Lets us get around corners and around bones.
[106 - 108] These little scallops on the side,
[108 - 109] stop the meat from tearing.
[109 - 111] It gives us a nice, smoother cut.
[111 - 113] Having a long, thin carving knife,
[113 - 117] lets us get a really nice, long slice.
[117 - 119] So we don't have to saw.
[119 - 121] If we have to saw, that's when our meat gets shredded.
[121 - 123] When I initially take the bird apart,
[123 - 124] I use a boning knife.
[124 - 126] Boning knife gets in through corners.
[126 - 128] It can get into tight spots.
[128 - 129] The boning knife let's us get into joints,
[129 - 131] so we can separate the larger pieces of chicken
[131 - 133] before we slice them.
[133 - 139] Now that we've talked about our knives, it's time to carve. [gentle music]
[139 - 139] When we start carving,
[139 - 140] the first thing we want to do
[140 - 142] is take off the butcher's twine.
[142 - 144] String is not edible, it's not good.
[144 - 146] And if you serve it with the string,
[146 - 147] you'll have a lot of angry guests.
[147 - 149] And this is where I use the boning knife.
[149 - 152] And we used the boning knife for most of this process.
[152 - 154] I'm actually gonna get in here with my knife
[154 - 156] between the thigh and the breast.
[156 - 160] And I'm gonna try and stretch it out a little and cut,
[160 - 163] to try and leave as much skin on the breast as possible.
[163 - 165] I'm gonna pull it away, slightly.
[165 - 168] Cut away some of that connective tissue.
[168 - 170] And then what I'm going to do, is ill pop that joint out.
[170 - 172] You see how that joint pops right out?
[172 - 173] I'm gonna cut straight down here
[175 - 177] and take off my leg and thigh combo.
[177 - 178] Put it on my tray.
[178 - 180] I'm gonna turn it around.
[180 - 182] Let's get this other thigh off.
[182 - 184] Pop my joint out again.
[184 - 188] Get in there with the knife next to the joint.
[189 - 192] And now we got our other leg and thigh off.
[192 - 194] Next thing I want to do is take my wing off.
[195 - 196] There's a joint right there.
[196 - 197] If you can't see it,
[197 - 199] what you could do is just wiggle it around.
[199 - 201] Usually where this bone
[201 - 203] and the kind of, shoulder blade come together,
[203 - 204] is where the joint is.
[204 - 207] You can get it there and give it a little, kind of snap
[207 - 209] and it'll come right out.
[209 - 212] Next thing I want to do is cut off the breasts.
[212 - 214] I'm gonna make a cut on either side of the breast bone.
[214 - 215] We call it the keel bone.
[215 - 217] Cause it looks like the keel of a ship.
[217 - 219] I'm gonna cut here, pull the meat away
[219 - 221] as I run my knife down.
[221 - 223] Right, I got the wishbone there.
[223 - 224] I don't want the wishbone.
[224 - 226] Pull the meat away.
[226 - 228] And then I have a beautiful breast.
[228 - 229] Same thing with the other side.
[229 - 230] Slice as you pull.
[231 - 233] Let me get that breast right off.
[233 - 236] The carcass has a little bit of meat on it.
[236 - 237] We can pick that meat off if we want,
[237 - 238] but right on the bottom here
[238 - 241] where the thighs attach to the bird,
[242 - 243] there's two little pieces of meat.
[243 - 244] They're called the oysters.
[244 - 245] They are delicious.
[245 - 247] They kind of just scoop right out.
[248 - 249] They're the chefs treat.
[249 - 250] Usually we don't serve them.
[250 - 252] Usually we eat them and that's what I'm gonna do.
[252 - 254] You pop them out.
[254 - 256] Super tender, super delicious.
[256 - 258] Put the rest of this in some water
[258 - 259] and make yourself a stock.
[259 - 261] Once we have our large pieces off the bird,
[261 - 263] then we can start carving them the rest of the way.
[263 - 266] What I like to do is get my legs and thighs
[266 - 269] and cut them apart.
[269 - 272] If you hit a bone, just move your knife over slightly,
[272 - 274] almost always towards the leg.
[274 - 275] The wings, I'm just going to leave the way they are.
[275 - 277] I like them just that way.
[277 - 278] And then with the breast,
[278 - 281] you can see that the muscle fibers go front to back.
[281 - 282] And what we want to do is cut across them,
[282 - 284] so we get nice tender pieces.
[284 - 287] So, try and keep your skin intact.
[287 - 289] Use your carving knife.
[289 - 290] Nice long slices,
[290 - 293] so we get nice, smooth cuts.
[293 - 294] Right on your tray.
[294 - 296] Same thing here.
[296 - 298] If you cut it with the muscle fibers,
[298 - 300] usually it tastes a little stringy.
[300 - 301] So you want to cut across.
[301 - 304] Now that we've carved the bird off of the carcass,
[304 - 305] we can plate it up and serve it.
[305 - 307] And I'm just kind of simple with this,
[307 - 308] I'm not getting too fancy.
[308 - 311] I'm going to put the thighs on the tray.
[311 - 313] I'm gonna have my legs kind of, stand up a little.
[313 - 315] My wings upfront.
[315 - 317] And then I'll take my two breast portions.
[317 - 319] So I like to fan the breast out a little,
[319 - 322] so you can see some of the sliced pieces of chicken.
[322 - 324] If you have a piece on the end that's not super pretty,
[324 - 326] I take that and I usually kind of, tuck it under there
[326 - 327] and hide it out of the way.
[327 - 329] And if you have any sort of gravy
[329 - 330] or anything you want to put on top,
[330 - 331] you can put it right on top here.
[331 - 332] And that's it.
[332 - 333] That's how I plate my carved chicken.
[333 - 335] Now it's time to eat.
[335 - 336] I hope you've learned how to properly carve
[336 - 337] and present your chicken,
[337 - 340] so your bird looks as good as it tastes.
[342 - 344] I got a nice salty piece, it's awesome
[345 - 346] get in there.