10 Types of Chicken Cuts Every Poultry Seller Should Know
A guide to 10 types of chicken cuts, from whole chicken, halves and quarters to boneless, skinless, 8-piece, wings, drumsticks and whole legs.
Poultry farmers need to know the different types of chicken cuts. Customers usually want specific cuts of chicken carcass (dressed chicken), so farmers who also run a carcass business must understand which cuts customers are asking for. Getting a cut wrong makes you look unprofessional in the eyes of your customers. Beyond knowing the cuts themselves, farmers also need to know the terms used in chicken carcass cutting. When customers ask for a particular cut, they often use these chicken cut terms. To avoid mistakes when serving customers, here are the types of chicken carcass cuts and the terms worth knowing:
Contents
Whole Chicken
A whole chicken is the entire bird. Few customers ask for a whole chicken, but farmers still need to know that the term "whole chicken" refers to the entire bird. Whole chickens are often used for special occasions such as selamatan and syukuran (traditional Indonesian thanksgiving gatherings). The price varies with the weight of the bird: the heavier the chicken, the higher the price. On a whole chicken, the drumsticks and wings are still fully attached. Once the drumsticks and wings have been cut off, it is no longer a whole chicken.
Halves
This term refers to half a chicken. The bird is cut right down the middle of the back and split into a right side and a left side. Many people need chicken halves. This cut is often used for ater-ater, the Javanese custom of sending food to neighbors around a wedding celebration. Farmers cutting halves must keep them symmetrical, with no uneven parts.
Quarters
Besides halves, there is also the quarter cut. To get this cut, the farmer first splits the chicken into two halves and then cuts each half into quarters.
Breast Quarters
This term refers to a quarter cut that includes only the breast and wing.
Boneless
This term refers to chicken meat with the bones removed. This cut is also called chicken fillet, so only the meat remains.
Skinless
This term is used for chicken fillet with the skin removed. Customers who are dieting often prefer skinless chicken. That is because the skin carries a lot of fat, which people on a diet avoid.
8 Pieces
The next cut is 8 pieces. This cut divides a whole chicken into 8 parts: 2 breasts, wings, thighs and back. The pieces in an 8-piece cut are still large, and they are widely used in boxed rice meals (nasi box).
Whole Wings
Many customers love this cut. The wings are usually cut from a whole chicken, so only the wing portion of the bird is taken. This cut is popular with customers because it works well in boxed rice meals or for home cooking.
Drumsticks
The lower leg cut is also called the drumstick. Many restaurants serve a variety of drumstick dishes. Drumsticks work well in boxed rice meals or on a wedding buffet menu. A frequent problem with this cut is that customers often ask for a set number of drumsticks per weight, for example 12 drumsticks per kilogram. Yet drumsticks vary in size and weight, so it is hard to make the count come out even.
Whole Chicken Leg
This term refers to a cut that includes both the thigh and the drumstick. The two parts of the leg stay connected rather than being separated.
Those are some of the chicken carcass cut types and terms worth knowing. We hope you find this information useful.
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