Chicken on the cheap

So if you're cheap like I am but you want to eat right how can you shave a few pennies and still eat good? Time to put on your cut glove and saddle up cuz we're gonna do some butchering!! yea!!

I'm not going to get the soapbox out about chickens tonight, some Paleo'rs don't touch the bird, some only the white meat. I've got no fight with you now, go do some Kiping pull-ups. All my life chicken has come to my house from Kroger's meat area and life was good, buy it cook it, eat it. Then the damn internet made me open my eyes to the horrors of a few/lot? of un-caring chicken ranchers who raise their birds in unhealthy conditions and unhealthy food, which is then passed on to us. Oh to be blissfully ignorant again, but alas it aint gonna happen. You won't see me posting grainy hat cam videos of dread head recon on this site but I have joined the serious group of Paleo and animal conscious group known as MEETA (meat eaters for the ethical treatment of animals). I like the way are ancestors felt about the animals they killed for food, whether it was the man on beast battle, or the feeding and caring for the life giving beast he put to death with respect so that he and his family could live another winter. CAFO's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_Animal_Feeding_Operations are a part of our lives and we let em happen, and we can reverse the trend and still feed the "world", but it will take educating the populace and probably overthrowing the government to do it. So you get on that, I'm cutting up a chicken.
We have a great farm outside of town which provides pastured chickens, you can go visit your dinner anytime you want, the people are so nice and they do the dirty work so you don't have to, the chicken tastes better, has no plumping or chemicals added, and I feel better about myself even though I'm paying more at the pump..
Back to the cheap part,, pay more for fresh chicken, save by buying whole,, learn to cut up,, that's where I come in.

Okay first point of business bring in the bird and let him know who's boss, inform bird this could be him if he doesn't stop his afternoon squawkfest.

* A quick note here, I have never used a cut glove, if you used a cut glove (and you couldn't because they didn't sell them) in the kitchen when I started cooking you would be ceremoniously beaten and thrown to the street, but now I'm the friggin safety champion of my district and NO one picks up a knife without a glove, and if you don't know how to use a knife it might save you some stitches http://www.webstaurantstore.com/3073/cut-resistant-gloves.html

Okay invert the bird and place the knife to the right of the tail bone, a quick chop and stroke and the knife will run down the right side of the spine like nobody's business

Now hold the leg and repeat the cut down the other side of the spine,, remember this is a single slice, one motion down through,,

The backbone is now out, you can use this for an awesome stock or arrowroot gravy, but I'll show you what I do with it in a minute, You can now see the breast bone and reach it easily, spin the bird round and cut through the center and your bird is in halves.

You can now feel the open area between the breast and thigh, mainly skin holds it together, slice the two apart.

The cartilage between the leg and thigh is your next cut, you can feel it from the "knee" area, if you hit it dead center it will slice right through. If not,, well you missed it

Last but not least pull the wing away from the breast and cut while pulling lightly and you'll slice right through it

Alrighty you've done both halves and the hard part is over, do with it what you will but make me proud..

Oh yeah the backbone,, Bailey gets that to keep her teeth nice and shiny,,