How to: Joint a chicken

Place the chicken breast-side-up on a chopping board. Use the tip of your knife to slit the skin and meat where the leg is joined to the body, exposing the joint. 

Rotate and bend the leg away from the body so the joint pops out.

Use the knife to cut down hard through the remaining skin and cartilage. Completely separate the leg from the body. Repeat with the other leg, separating it from the body.

To separate the thigh from the drumstick, use the tip of your knife to cut through the skin and make a shallow slit in the meat. Rotate the joint so that it pops out, and then cut the thigh away from the drumstick by cutting straight down through the remaining cartilage and skin. Repeat with the other leg.

To separate a wing, again cut away a little of the skin and meat.

Rotate each joint until it pops out. Repeat with the other wing.

Remove and discard the small wing tip at the end.

To remove the breasts, cut a slit down either side of the breastbone.

Keep cutting down on one side until you hit the ribs.

Run the knife horizontally along the ribs to remove the breast in one piece. Repeat with the other breast.