How to Break Down a Chicken

Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun.

Today: Next up in Mario Batali's How To Tuesdays series? Don't be chicken -- we're breaking down a whole bird with just a knife and two hands.

Chicken is meant to be eaten every way imaginable. For dinner parties, it will be the pretty, trussed breast; on game day, your go-to wings. And at midnight, when everyone else is asleep, it will be the drumstick you tear into with your bare hands.

Equal opportunists that we are, we're bringing the whole bird home. Chef Andy Nusser of Tarry Lodge shows us how to break it down, starting with the legs and working our way to the breast. You'll use every piece for dinner this week -- and when all's said and done, you'll turn the bones into stock and the leftovers into the happiest of desk lunches. It's thrifty, satisfying, and a little old world at heart -- and that's just the way we like it.

Got anything you want to learn from the Batali chefs? Let us know in the comments!

This video was made in collaboration with Mario Batali.

This article originally appeared on Food52.com: How to Break Down a Chicken

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