| How to butterfly a chicken |
Remove Excess Fat
Remove the neck and giblets from the body cavity, then trim away any excess fat from around the cavity opening.
Remove The Backbone
Use a sharp paring knife or poultry shears to cut all the way down one side of the backbone--you're just cutting through small rib bones, not through the backbone itself. Then cut all the way down the other side of the backbone, removing it completely. Cut close to the backbone so you don't lose too much meat. Use the width of the tail as your guide.
Some people like to cut down only one side of the backbone, leaving it intact. I like to remove the backbone completely, since I think it makes for better presentation of the meat to your family and friends. But if you like gnawing on backbones, go for it.
Remove The Keel Bone
The keel bone, or breast bone, runs between the two breast sections of the chicken. Removing this bone allows the chicken to lay very flat on the grate and makes separating the two halves after cooking quite easy. Some people skip this step, leaving the keel bone intact and simply breaking it by pushing the carcass open and flattening out the chicken. Again, I think the few seconds it takes to remove the keel bone makes for a better presentation.
To remove the keel bone, start by using a paring knife to make a small cut in the cartilage that conceals the keel bone (Picture shows this area circled in yellow). Bend the carcass backward at the cut to expose the keel bone. It should pop right up through the cut. Work your fingers down each side of the keel bone to separate it from the meat, then pull the bone out.
At this point, if you want to cook the chicken in halves, simply slice between the two breasts sections.
The keel bone is brittle and sometimes breaks into two pieces when you pull it out, especially if you haven't separated it well enough from the breast meat. No big deal, just pull out the two pieces.
You can discard the keel bone. The backbone can be used for making chicken stock.
Finishing Steps
As a last step, remove any excess fat found inside the carcass. If you like, rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Rinsing is not necessary from a food safety standpoint, since proper cooking will kill any bacteria, but I like to it anyway.
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