How to tie up a poultry bird by hand

The techniques demonstrated in this video are suitable for beginners.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

In this video you will learn how to tie-up a chicken, or any other poultry bird by hand - which is to say, without the aid of a needle.

The professionals use the term 'trussing'

It is a useful technique for cooking poultry whole

It allows them to cook evenly and to keep their shape after cooking.

There is no need to truss chickens that are ready-to-cook, as they are usually already tied.

To truss your poultry correctly, it is important to pull the string firmly around the chicken and to tighten your knots well

Follow these step-by-step instructions and you can easily use this technique at home.

For the purposes of this demonstration we are using a chicken, but you can use any type of fowl.

You will also need around one metre of kitchen twine or string.

Before beginning, we have prepared the chicken for cooking.

Remember: the head was here.

Tie-up the thighs

Step one: tie-up the thighs.

Position the string.

Take hold of the bird, the breast facing upwards and the head towards you.

Then place it in the middle of the string, halfway up the thighs.

Cross the two ends of the string above the breast.

And tighten like so.

Go around the breast

Step two: go around the breast

Pull the two ends of string towards you, and tighten around the breast, like this.

Then, lift the bird,

and place it the other way up.

Attach the wings

Step three: attach the wings

Use two or three tight knots to confine the wings.

Then cut the string.

Now you know how to tie-up a chicken without a needle!

All you need to do now is cook it!