I roasted a beer can chicken last Wednesday for the first time - came out great! Then I suddenly realized I have no idea how to carve a chicken (or any other poultry product - that’s Dad’s job!) and we hacked off a few pieces to eat for dinner. How am I supposed to do this? I have knives, I have a carving fork somewhere even, I just don’t know how to apply it. Cook’s Illustrated, usually excellent for this sort of thing, is not turning up anything.
I usually start with the legs. Cut down between the thigh and body until you find the joint. With a little twisting of the knife point in the joint, you should be able to get the whole leg to come away. It can be divided into thigh and drumstick, or left whole. Then just slice the breast meat away from the breast bone/cartilege on either side. You can either take it as a large piece or as slices. Wings can also be severed whole at the joint, if anyone wants them. The rest should be put aside and picked by hand when cool.
How to carve a chicken?
Take a block of wood the size of a chicken and cut off everything that doesn’t look like a chicken! :smack:
If you want a really easy chicken carving experience, try spatchcocking the bird.
No, that’s not what he means. He means how do you carve a chicken. The answer is that you usually want to stun them first. Otherwise they become rather upset when you’re making those all important first cuts and your whole project could go up in a puff of feathers… 
As Duckster’s link instructs, it’s easier and more efficient to remove the breast from the carcass and slice it off the bird. The same applies to turkeys, though you should plan on cutting rather than tearing the breast off.
Heres a tip thats not commonly mentioned: Before cooking, remove the breastbone. Find the breastbone with your fingers and use a paring knife to scrape off the flesh from the two prongs. Take them in your fingers and yank it out. It makes carving the breast MUCH easier.
Everybody else already got in with the cool answers so I’ll just add, let it cool (“rest”) for 15 minutes before carving to let the juices redistribute and the meat firm up. Otherwise you’ll have shredded, drippy breast meat.
Anyone care to hijack this comment?
I never carve chickens I just rip them to bits with my fingers. I am careful to do so out of sight of any guests I may have. Once I pour over sauce or gravy to serve, my “handiwork” is disguised. That’s what comes of living alone I guess.
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
I have never heard that called spatchcocking. I have always heard it referred to as butterflying. And it makes the chicken cook faster, and a bit easier to carve, I actually found it to be a lot more prep than what I like with whole chicken. The thing I always liked about a while chicken is that I heat my oven, slap on some oil and whatever spice/herb mixture I’m in the mood for, and pop it in a roasting pan and into the oven. Takes all told maybe five minutes of my time. WHen it’s done, I just carve off pieces or rip them off with my hands. I live alone, so who the hell cares if I eat like a caveman? I don’t. 
[Homer Simpson]
“Mmmm…shredded, drippy breast meat…aughghghgh…”
[/HS]
You’re welcome.
A great way of doing chicken is “Chicken Under a Brick”. Basically, you marinate, then spatchcock a chicken and then fry it slowly skin side down in a little bit of oil until the bottom is crisp and golden brown. Then you toss out most of the fat, throw in some wedges of potatos and some herbs, put the chicken on top and put it in the oven until the chicken is cooked. While the bird is resting, you finish off roasting the potatos. It only takes ~20 minutes from start to finish to cook and your left with moist, easy to carve chicken with wonderful crisp skin. It’s the best Chicken & Chips you’ll ever eat.
Sorry, I forgot. The “under a brick” part comes from, when frying the bird, to weight it down with another pan with 2 bricks in it. That way, maximum surface area makes contact with the pan ensuring maximum crispness.
Videos here.