How do you take the backbone out of a chicken?

[Barb L.]

How do you take the backbone out of a chicken ? I have tried, but all I get is a split bird ! Clueless !!

[thumpershere2]

There are alot of help sites if you google carving chicken. Are you looking for help before or after cooking the chicken.

[ChefJune]

Get yourself a pair of poultry shears. Then you can snip, snip, snip up one side of the back and down the other. I do that whenever I'm butterflying the bird.

[Seven S]

i cut straight down either side of the chicken backbone with a chefs knife while the chicken is sitting in the upright "sitting" position on the cutting board.... this is how i was taught in culinary school

[Barb L.]

Thanks all, will try both ways next time I need that backbone out !!

[BreezyCooking]

I use sharp "kitchen shears", as opposed to "poultry shears", to cut up raw poultry, including snipping out the backbone. I find them handier to work with on raw poultry & only use my poultry shears on cooked birds.

[FryBoy]

I use kitchen scissors. I just flip the chicken on it's breast and make two parallel cuts on either side of the backbone, close to it.

I have two pairs of kitchen scissors, an old Henckels pair and a newer Wusthof pair. It takes a little strength to cut through the bones. There are also poultry shears that look a bit more like garden shears and may make the job a little easier.

[Gretchen]

Cutting on both sides of the backbone as others have described is the method. What are you making?

[Barb L.]

Saw Bobby Flay and R.R. both do a whole chicken w/brick on top- one on the grill and one on stop top. Just wanted to try it ! Thanks !