Question on rules of half-chicken?

[zacalba]

Can I cook a whole chicken then cut it for plateing or does the chicken have to be cut prior to cooking?

[Lynn]

You can cook your chicken whole but I would suggest that once you cut it you put it back on the cooker to get some color where you sliced it

[Eddie]

I have had some cooks turn in chicken with the backbone cut out and even some breasts that were butchered in the process,
I would think that a tray like that would be considered a marked tray.
What would you recommend on a situation like that?

[Lynn]

it is okay to cut the back bone out because it will help the 1/2 chicken lay down in the tray better - the breast bone shouldn't be cut out.

If it is really butchered up I would warn them once and then the next time tell them it would be considered a marked tray -

[Texanx5]

is it better to cut it in half then cook it? That was how I'd practiced at home but not yet had time off to go see/enter a comp yet.  Need more practice I'm sure.

[Lynn]

It is your preference - my husband cook's his split