Clear out counter space to work with raw chicken safely and use a large plastic cutting board.
You will need a large sharp knife but you can also use a kitchen cleaver or kitchen scissors to cut through the ribs and breast bone.
Remove the thighs and wings first. To do that, slowly pull the thigh away from the body and slice the skin between the thigh and the body. Don’t cut all the way through but just to the bone.
Feel around for the joint and once you find the joint, pull it up and down to pop the hip bone out of the joint. Cut through the remaining meat and skin to separate the leg.
Do the same thing with the other leg.
Follow the same process of making a small cut, finding the joint, and popping the bone out of the joint with the wings as well.
Remove wish bone at the neck next. Feel around to find the wish bone and separate it off the meat. Pull it out and discard.
Stand chicken up, neck side down. Cut through the middle between the front and the back. You may need to use a heavy chef knife of a cleaver to cut through the rib bones and all the way down.
Set the back part aside but do not discard. You can use it to make chicken stock and soup.
Place the beasts on the cutting board skin side down to easily see the bone. Cut through in the middle to separate the breasts in two. You will need to put a little muscle to cut through the bone.
Cut each breast in half to create smaller quarters. Since chicken breasts are larger than thighs, cutting them in half will help cook them evenly in the same amount of time.
To separate each leg into a drumstick and thigh, make a cut where the joint is between the drum and thigh. Find the joint and pop it out. Cut through the rest of the meat and skin.