Carve a whole roast chicken

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It is a good idea to remove the wishbone from any poultry you are going to carve to serve before cooking, as it makes the process easier.

…Carve a whole roast chicken

Step by step

1 Carve slices from the length of the breast, about 3mm thick. Alternatively, carefully remove the whole breast, without the wing attached, and slice across the breast into slices 7–8mm thick. This is often useful for a large chicken or turkey as it gives more manageable pieces.

2 Cut through the thigh joint to remove the thigh and leg and then divide the thigh and leg through the joint (as for jointing a raw chicken, step 3, page 337). The legs/drumsticks can be served as they are or you can carefully carve slices from the thicker end.

3 Finally, carve the meat from both sides of the thigh bone.

Jointing a chicken after cooking
An alternative to carving chicken to serve it is to joint it after cooking. This can be done in almost the same manner as before cooking (see page 336), but it is easier to remove the complete back bone first, by carefully turning the bird onto its breast and cutting down each side of the back bone and removing it (as shown). Then turn the bird breast side up and proceed as for jointing a chicken before cooking. Extra care needs to be taken as the chicken will be hot.