Chicken Cuts and Guidelines for Cooking
Chicken's versatility lends itself to a wide range of cooking methods. But this depends on the cuts. So it's important to know the various cuts of chicken as well as some helpful cooking tips and tricks:
Chicken Cuts
Drumsticks: This is a dark piece of chicken meat, and usually come with the thigh attached to it, referred to as the leg. To separate these 2 sections, cut through the joint using a kitchen knife.
Leg Quarters & Thighs: These juicy, dark meat are sold boneless sometimes. They are flavourful, economical and not easy to overcook.
Wings: The wing is a white meat and it's the boniest chicken cut. It’s composed of 3 parts, of which the first cut is sometimes separately sold as “drumette.”
Split Breast: This is very popular amongst lovers of white meat. This is big and juicy, but very easy to overcook. It is sold in whole or divided into halves.
Boneless Breast: This chicken cut is often split into halves. Strips of tenderloin come from the upper muscle part of the breast.
When is Chicken Done?
To check if your unstuffed whole chicken is done, simply insert a meat thermometer into the thigh’s thickest part, but not near fat or bone. When you get a 180 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, the bird is done.
To check a stuffed whole chicken, insert a meat thermometer into the middle of the body cavity. Your chicken is done when the meter reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Note: the bird must be stuffed just before you roast it. DO NOT stuff it in advance.
Whole chicken breasts are done when you get a reading of 170 degrees Fahrenheit from your meat thermometer.
For bone-in chicken pieces, simply insert a fork in your chicken. It must easily go and juices must run clear. But the juices and meat nearest to the bones might still be a bit pinkish in colour even though the meat is thoroughly cooked.
For boneless chicken pieces, cut the meat using a kitchen knife. When the center is not pink anymore, the chicken is done.
If you are looking for fresh cuts of chicken or other meat products, visit McLoughlin Butchers by following the links provided: https://www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au/meat-cuts/.