Big poultry cut-up method

Abstract

A method for cutting extra-large poultry to fit within existing industrial fryers and remain as recognizable pieces to the consumer is provided. The method provides for the cuts necessary to create pieces of poultry from the extra-large poultry that are sized comparably to a normal sized bird. Furthermore, the method provides for keeping the cut pieces in a shape that the consumer recognizes as a particular piece of poultry.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of right-sizing an extra-large chicken for industrial fryers comprising:
 cutting a chicken into pieces using at least 14 cuts, wherein the resulting pieces include:
 at least two leg pieces; 
 at least two thigh pieces; 
 at least two wing drumette pieces; 
 at least two wing flats with flipper pieces; 
 at least six breast pieces; and 
   right-sizing the pieces to fit within an existing industrial fryer, wherein each breast piece and thigh piece is comparably sized with breast and thigh pieces from a chicken about one-half the size of the extra-large chicken.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the chicken weighs between about 5 pounds and about 9 pounds (about 2.3 kilograms to about 4.1 kilograms) without giblets. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of removing the leg and thigh meat from the bone. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising cutting each thigh piece into two substantially equal halves. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of separating the breast, wherein the step includes:
 butterflying the breast;   splitting the breast into two halves; and   splitting each breast half into at least three pieces.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising the step of removing the breast meat from the bone prior to splitting the breast into two halves.