What Is a Chicken Carcass? Meaning and Cutting Terms

When you shop at a traditional market or supermarket, you've probably seen chicken sold as a carcass. The term carcass doesn't apply only to chicken; it also applies to beef, goat and other animals. A carcass is the meat of a slaughtered animal with the head and feet removed. For beef and goat, you'll often find carcasses at stalls selling sate kambing (goat satay), tongseng (spiced goat stew) and many other dishes. Chicken carcasses, meanwhile, are common in supermarkets and traditional markets. To cover a week of meals, you can buy a chicken carcass already cut into pieces and keep it in the fridge. That's more practical than buying chicken every day.

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What Is a Chicken Carcass?

Before getting to know chicken carcasses in more detail, it helps to understand what a chicken carcass is. You may have seen one without knowing what it's called. A chicken carcass is a slaughtered chicken that has been plucked and had its feathers removed after death. Even after plucking, you'll still find fine feathers stuck in the skin, so check carefully when you wash the chicken to see whether any feathers remain. After plucking, the giblets are removed, such as the intestines, liver and gizzard. The head and feet are also removed or cut off. That's why chicken vendors often sell the heads and feet on their own. The same goes for the giblets, such as the intestines, liver and gizzard, which are also sold separately.

Chicken Carcass Cutting Terms

Now that you know what a chicken carcass is, you should learn how a chicken carcass is cut. At traditional markets, some chicken vendors offer to cut up carcasses, especially for customers who want to store them in the fridge. To get the vendor to cut it the way you want, you can ask for it to be cut into a certain number of pieces. Chicken carcasses are never cut into an odd number of pieces, so you need to ask for an even number. Here are the chicken carcass cutting terms commonly used by chicken vendors:

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Cut in Two

The broiler carcass is cut into two equal parts. Many people order this cut when hosting family celebrations such as weddings, memorial gatherings for the deceased and so on. The chicken is cooked and shared as ater-ater (food gifts delivered to neighbors and relatives). Cutting in two is also known as halves. The carcass is split into a right side and a left side.

Quarters

The quarter cut is also used for ater-ater food gifts, but in smaller portions. This cut is called quarters, and the chicken carcass is cut into four equal parts. Chicken vendors usually cut the chicken in two first, then divide it into smaller parts.

Other Cuts

After halves and quarters, there are also cuts into six, eight, ten and twelve pieces. For home cooking, chicken vendors usually divide the carcass into ten or twelve pieces, so there are more pieces to cook over the following days.

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Chicken carcasses are rarely eaten whole, except when served as a dish at certain feasts. Buying chicken as a cut-up carcass is also more practical than slaughtering it yourself. We hope this explanation of chicken carcasses is useful to you.