I want to make carving chicken easier - should I remove wishbone before or after roasting?

I need me some poultry shears. thanks magic pickle...and it wasn't even my question! : )

Don't even bother with the wishbone. With a good pair of poultry shears you can cut right through the bone, unless you're saving the wishbone. In that case, I'd cut it out after it's roasted.

@ hardlikearmour: later today, I'll be off in search of some great Chinese food. (or I'll be forced to make it myself!)

@ pierino: crispy roast duck skin?

The wishbone is inconsequential. If you are carving an unspatchcocked chicken, first cut off the appendages; thighs, legs, wings. After that I run the knife from the top down to completely remove the breast. Then I cut across the grain to slice. This way every one gets some crispy skin on their portion. What's better than crispy roast chicken skin?

I'm going with before, unless as hardlikearmour says, you're butterflying it.

I'm a big fan of butterflying the chicken before cooking. Merrill has great instructions for this: http://www.food52.com/recipes/6245_spatchcocked_roast_chicken Once the chicken is finished it's very easy to separate it into 4 parts (2 breasts, and 2 thigh/drum combos.)

I'd say do it before - that way the chicken meat is more pliable and not going to burn your fingers.