How-to Debone a Chicken

How to debone a chicken (or really any foul) Julia Child style!

Okay Julia explains things very clearly in Mastering the Art of French Cooking...BUT I think she could use a little picture guide to assist home cooks. So...Julia this is for you :-)

First get out your copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, your sharpened boning knife, and a whole foul. (Rinse and thoroughly pat dry. If the bird is wet it will be slippery and can cause an injury when cutting).
Create a long incision along the back bone of the bird from the neck to the tail. Then working with your knife always toward the bone (to ensure you don't mangle the meat or pierce the skin), work down the rib cage of the bird to allow the first half of the bird to flap open and away from the cage. Use your fingers to help guide the meat away as you work down the rib cage. Once you get to the front breast bone STOP! Do not continue to cut through as this skin is very thin and you risk piercing it.
Repeat on the other side. (one side may take you longer than the other, that's okay! Turn the bird if needed in order to ensure you maintain control of both the bird and the knife). When you get to the breast bone again stop.
With both sides off the ribs, separate the ribs from the breast bone and set to the side. Next working from the tail toward the neck use your fingers to separate the meat from the breast cartilage. Once you have a clear visual of the thin skin begin to remove the breast bone and cartilage making sure to keep the knife facing the bone so as not to pierce the thin skin.
Remove and set aside.
Next turn the chicken upside down so the wings are close to you and remove the first joint and bone of the wings (remove bones back to the elbow). Once the bone has been removed, cut the wings off at the elbow leaving a small boneless arm attached to the bird (as shown below)
Notice the small arms remaining. Next working on the first ball joint of the legs use your knife to remove the tendons which attach the meat to the bones and joints.
Once the ball joint is entirely exposed (as shown above) and you can see the beginning of the bone shaft pull the bone out. (Now simply pulling the bone out is far more difficult than it sounds and can mangle the meat if you don't do it properly. So...here is a trick to remove the meat from the bone cleanly).
Wrap a piece of cotton butchers twine around the bone using the first half of a surgeons knot.
Tie a knot at the far end of the sting in order to create a handle
Grab the sting and pull the sting up and away cleanly removing the meat from the bone. When you get to the ball joint the sting will catch. This is okay! Twist and wrap the string away to remove the first section of tendons from the joint and then use your boning knife as you did with the first joint to remove the remaining tendons and skin. This process will turn the leg inside out. To finish the chicken simply turn its little legs back right side out.
The fully deboned chicken
The deboned chicken with the carcass pieces and innards set out. Use the bones and innards to create a flavorful stock to cook with later.

If you find yourself daunted by the task just remember... you can do it, take your time, and always wear your pearls in order to channel Julia for luck... and you'll do great!