How to Debone a Chicken

To debone a whole chicken begin by washing out the chicken then trim away some of the excess fat and skin.

Use a scalpel rather than a knife to debone, they’re sharper and easier to separate the flesh from the bone. You can buy disposable scalpels from pharmacies.

Start by running the scalpel right down the centre of the breast and cut through several times until you reach the bone. What you're going to do now is gradually work your way down each side of the breast cutting in as close to the bone as possible to sever the breast meat from the breast bone. This will take a little time but the scalpel will make the job far easier than a knife and allow you to retain as much of the breast meat as possible.

Move the bird to whatever angle is comfortable and slide the scalpel between the meat and the bone like you would if you were filleting fish. Once you’ve done one side repeat with the other side.

Continue with this action all the way down the breastbone working your way ‘round the small bones and cartilage until the meat falls away completely from the bone. You may need to bend and break some bone connections to get the scalpel in. Then gradually once both breasts are severed, move your scalpel underneath to release the entire breastbone from the carcass and then lift the breast bone out until you’re left with the skin, breast meat, drumsticks and wings.

Refrigerate the deboned bird until you're ready to stuff it to help firm up the flesh and skin ready to encase the stuffing.