preparing chickens

[skulker]

hi all whats the water temp for plucking chickens and how do i gut them and prepare them for freezing/eating thanks scott

[Pugo]

The water should be about 57c to 60c. Soak the bird for 30-45 seconds, until the wing or tail feather pull out fairly easily. then pluck the bird before you starting cutting it, hang it by its legs and make sure all the pin feathers are gone, then remove the feet. Then get a very sharp knife just below the rip cage make a long cut towards the tail. The start taking out the guts, don't forget to save your favorite internal organs. then place the bird in clean water. place in a zip lock bag and freeze..

[GaryD]

Hi,

The most complete treatment of the subject of killing and dressing chickens that I've ever seen, can be found...here (http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/2007/09/introduction.html). The site also features several good ideas for those who are planning to set up their own small scale poultry processing operation.

Gary

[Pugo]

That is a complete guide to doing in your chicken for sure.. Good post!

[Shane]

Agree with Pugo..thats a ripper read you've linked to Gary..I've bookmarked it, thanks!

[GaryD]

Hi,

It would be fair to say that poultry processing is not my favourite job......but, this morning, I approached the task with an air of anticipation.

As the photos illustrate, the object of my excitement was our new plucking machine. Actually, we bought it months ago but today was our first opportunity to use it.

The last time we had something similar to this was in about 1978. While the build quality on our old machine was better, the new one did the job just as well.

The photos also show how we set the area up for poultry processing.

It took us about two hours to kill, pluck and eviscerate ten broiler chickens. They weighed an average of 2kg (over four pounds) each.....for a total of 20kg.

Gary

[Shane]

I've never actually seen a poultry plucking machine in action before,
Can you elaborate on it a bit more Gary?....for those of us that haven't seen one in operation.
Thanks.

[Pugo]

My mother and grandmother were the poultry plucking machines at my house..LOL I have never seen one either in action.

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

There are two types of small plucking machine.

One consists of a rotary head with rubber plucking fingers. You hold the scalded bird against the rotating fingers and they drag the feathers out. They make a mess, take longer to pluck and are not in frequent use these days.

The device that we use is a called a drum plucker.

As the photo shows, the drum is fitted with rubber fingers. The circular base spins (the speed is pretty critical) and the scalded chickens, ducks or quail are dropped into the top of the drum.

They tumble around the drum and the rubber fingers draw the feathers out.

At a certain point in the whole process, we squirt water into the drum and it flushes all of the feathers down the side of the spinning base and they drain out through the chute on the front of the machine.

This unit removes the feathers from a chicken (or two) in seconds.

If you leave the chicken in the plucker for too long, the skin will be torn, the limbs dislocated and a hell of mess ensues......so it's critical to ensure that the birds only remain in the machine for the amount of time that it takes to remove the feathers.

Pugo, like your Ma and Grandma, we've processed many chickens by hand.

Removing the feathers is arguably the most time-consuming part of the process. We wouldn't bother with a plucking machine if we were just doing one or two birds.....but when you're looking at 10 - 20, the machine is nice to have around.

The other reason that we bought the machine was that we grow ducks and you won't pull too many feathers out of a duck before you start to think that there must be a better way.

Gary

[Shane]

OK, thanks for the explanation & photo of the internal of the drum.

Some more questions,

When plucking feathers from different types of birds....

What do you need to vary?
The speed of the spinning drum base?
The length of time the bird is in the plucker?
Both the drum's speed & length of time?

Also....in your experiences....when using a drum plucker,

Whats the most difficult type of bird to pluck?....and why has that been the case ?

Sorry for the bunch of questions (but if you don't ask....you don't learn !):D

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,


When plucking feathers from different types of birds....

What do you need to vary?
The speed of the spinning drum base?
The length of time the bird is in the plucker?
Both the drum's speed & length of time?

Nothing much changes.....from quail to duck.....except that, with smaller birds, you pluck more of them.

Incidentally, the drum remains fixed. At the bottom of the drum is a spinning plate. The movement of the base is what causes the bird(s) to tumble around the drum.....rubbing agains the rubber fingers as they go.


Also....in your experiences....when using a drum plucker,

Whats the most difficult type of bird to pluck?....and why has that been the case ?
If you're plucking by hand, ducks would be my least favourite bird to pluck. With a drum plucker, however, they're all pretty quick and easy.

Gary

[Pugo]

I have never plucked a duck, but eat a lot of them here in Taiwan..:) They are cheap compared to the price for a duck in the US..:)

[GaryD]

Hi,

We despatched our remaining seven meat chickens today, We wound up with 16.8kg of fresh chicken meat (with an average dressed weight of 2.4kg.

Pugo, we are starting to eat more duck for added variety in our diet.

They are hardy, rear their own ducklings easily and will obtain a lot of their own food from good grassy ground.

For sheer versatility, however, you can't beat chicken. Jan cooks many chicken dishes and I love everyone of them.


Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

On Sunday evening, we decided to cook up one of our recently harvest meat chickens. We "spatchcocked" it - by cutting out the backbone and flattening it out.

Jan inserted some butter and a couple of sage leaves under the breast skin and seasoned it on both sides.

We used bamboo skewers to secure the bird and put it onto the BBQ (grill for our US friends).

It cooked up beautifully......with just a hint of BBQ flavour.

Gary

[ande]

Hi Gary
How does this machine http://kottke.org/09/11/diy-chicken-plucking-machine do compared to your ?

cheers

[GaryD]

Hi Ande,

The result is the same but the amount of time that it takes to de-feather the chicken is much shorter with the machine that we have......about 15 seconds compared to around 90 seconds.

Plucking machine design needs to acknowledge the fact that there is a lot of water splashing around in close proximity to electricity......and many DIY machines that I've seen (while they worked well enough) failed to address this hazard adequately.

Gary

[Shane]

It cooked up beautifully......with just a hint of BBQ flavour.

Nice !:)

What did you cook it over Gary....gas, beads, charcoal?

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

We use a Weber Q gas BBQ (http://barbequesgalore-px.rtrk.com.au/products/product-view.aspx?id=896).

Gary

[ande]

Thanks
can you tell the price $ and weight kg on a new machine? can't get any local around here so a private import might be interesting.

cheers

[GaryD]

Hi Ande,

This is the machine that we bought (http://greatlander.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=5) and the company from whom we purchased it. It weighs 55kg.

We bought two units (one for a friend) so we got a reduced price.

Gary

[Kaduda]

A tip for those wanting to freeze chickens...Cut a small hole in the back flap & tuck the legs in...Makes it easier to bag and pile in a freezer... :)

[GaryD]

Hi Kaduda,

Good tip.

Here's another one.

Freshly killed chicken is difficult to get a grip on when you're boning them or cutting them up into piece. It's a good idea to put them in the freezer so that the meat becomes quite firm (not rock hard). It makes it much easier (and safer) to cut the meat.

Gary