Begin by pulling the leg away from the body of the chicken with the breasts facing up and the legs toward you.

Slide your knife over the skin between the body of the chicken and the chicken thigh. With a small amount of effort, you will be able to see the cavity between the thigh and the body of the chicken.

Continue down, cutting the skin on the top and bottom of the cavity, until the thigh and body of the bird are mostly separated.

Using your fingers behind the thigh, push upward and away from the body cavity. This will expose the joint.

Next, use your knife to cut directly between the ball of the joint (in the thigh) from the socket of the joint (in the body. Continue cutting through until the leg and thigh are fully separated from the body of the bird.

Repeat this process on the second side

Flip the chicken so that the back is facing up, and the neck is facing toward you.

Gently lift the wing as in the photo above to find the small space between the shoulder of the wing and the body of the bird: this is where you will make your cut.

Place your knife between this line and cut until you expose the joint.

Insert your knife between the joint and press down to separate them. Keep in mind that at the angle above, the knife will begin to cut through the breast below the wing.

After you separate the joint, turn the knife outward, lift the wing over your knife, and cut outward and away from the bird. This will separate the wing from the body of the bird without taking breast meat with the wing.

Repeat this process on the other side.

Once again, flip over your chicken so it is breast-side up. At the center of the chicken breasts is the breast bone which will be your guide for removing this cut of meat.

Run your finger along the breast bone towards the fatter side. Where the breast bone curves around the top of the chicken breast is where the wishbone is. This will also guide your knife on both sides.

Slowly and carefully run your knife along the side of the breast bone as close as possible to remove as much meat as you can in one piece.

Continue making passes along the breast bone from top to bottom until you reach the body cavity and ribs of the bird, pulling the breast meat away as you do so.

Follow the breast bone up and around the wish bone to free the chicken breast in one piece.

Repeat on the other side.

Slide your knife between the joint of the "drumette" and "wingette" (flat). Separate the two sections.

Now find the joint between the wing tip and the "drumette" (flat). This joint can be a little more difficult to get the knife edge between, so as long as I'm using a sharp knife, I'm usually able to just press through the bone.

Repeat these steps for the other wing.

When you look at the back side of your chicken quarter (the leg and thigh section), you can see a yellow fat line, almost like a seam, between the two cuts of meat.

Following that line with your knife will lead you to the joint between the leg and the thigh, making it easy to separate.

Cut along the line of fat between the leg and thigh until the joint is exposed. You can bend the leg and thigh at the joint if the joint isn't separated enough to fit your knife between.

Don't be afraid to turn the piece of chicken around to get a better angle if needed! Make your knife and the angles work for you, while keeping your fingers safe from the knife.

Sometimes I need to try a few angles to find a good grip and angle.

Repeat these steps for the other chicken quarter.