Chicken Butchering Basics

7/29/2019 Chicken Butchering Basics

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Chicken Butchering Basics

ByTheoBill

Introduction

As much as we would like to avoid it, butchering is an inevitable step in the process of raising

poultry for meat. It is not easy, and not usually fun, but it enables us to enjoy the wonderful

flavour of home-grown pastured poultry in all of its natural splendor. To the best of myknowledge, this is the only photographically- enhanced butchering poultry page on the entire

internet..

Step 1: Catching and Killing

I usually catch the birds by sneaking up behind them in an enclosed area. Logical enough, eh?Grab them with both hands - the thumbs holding down the wings, and the other fingers

underneath. There are other methods and styles - one employing the use of a hook to catch thebirds by the foot. This part of the process has only one rule: be gentle. There is no need to findafter killing, scalding, and plucking that you have a badly bruised bird. It is much better to be

gentle before than regretful after.

Though there are a variety of ways to do kill the bird, I prefer the use of an axe to quickly

remove the birds head. I believe that this is the most humane, and for me, easiest. Some people

maintain that it is better to sever the jugular vein in the birds neck and let it bleed to death. They

say that it results in a better bleed which would occur when almost all of the blood leaves thebird. I have found, and so will you, that when using an axe, the birds do bleed quite well. So, if

you prefer, try both ways, and then stick with your favourite. It is important, though, when

attempting to sever the jugular, that one knows just how to find it without torturing the bird first.

Everyone agrees that it is necessary to hang the bird from its feet for a time to enable all of the

blood to flow out. When the blood flow slows to an occasional drip, the bird is ready for the nextstep in the process.

Step 2: Scalding and Plucking

Scalding is the process of dipping the bird in hot water to loosen its feathers and thereby ease the

process of plucking. The recommended temperature for this water is about 85 degrees Celsius, orabout 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The important point is that if the water is too hot (boiling, for

example) it may burn or cook the skin and make it more susceptible to tearing during plucking. Ifthe water is not hot enough, the feathers will not loosen to a sufficient level. Although there iscommercial scalding equipment available for purchase, I just use a propane torch to heat a large

canner pot. To achieve a proper scald, a detergent (any dish soap is fine) can be added to the

water. There are special defeathering chemicals, but soap does fine for chickens and turkeys.

This detergent breaks up the oils in the feathers, allowing the hot water to penetrate to the skinwhere it is needed to loosen the feather follicles.
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Another way to help the water do its job is to agitate the bird so that an even scald is achieved.

Even the use of a stick to rub the water into the feathers helps immensely. This photo shows me

removing the bird from the water. During the scald, the entire bird should be submerged forabout 5 seconds. I have found that, in a good scald, the bird can be removed from the water when

the feathers on the thighs are loose enough to rub or almost wipe off with a stick. (Dont use your

hands - that waters hot!) The bird should either be plucked or dipped in cold water immediatelyto prevent burning of the skin.

Step 3: Scorching and Cutting

After all the feathers have been removed, there may be some small hairs remaining. To rid the

carcass of these, they can be scorched off. We use the same propane torch for this as we do toheat the water. Being careful not to scorch the skin, you can easily singe these hairs using any

flame. When dry, even the slightest flame will cause them to shrivel down to a tiny black speck.

These specks can then be quickly wiped off with your hand. We often butcher outside on a

breezy sunny day, so to prevent the birds skin from drying and discolouring, we regularly spray

the birds with a little cold water. If left to dry, the skin can assume an unwanted yellow colour.

The birds feet are very useful in the earlier steps of this process, but they have now outlivedtheir usefulness. (Some people, though, use them for soup bones later!) Lets remove them. Its

quite a simple task, if you do it right. Place the knife exactly where it is shown in the picture - in

the little divot in the joint, and on the tendon that attaches the thigh to the foot. Then cut straightthrough, applying downward pressure to the end of the foot. You will feel the foot go limp after

you cut that first tendon. It will quickly snap off and you will be done. To produce the nicest

finished bird, remove the yellow-orange skin that advances past the joint, if necessary. If this is

not easy to remove with your fingers, just use a knife to scrape it off. In an ideal situation,another person would take the bird from you now. There should be someone who does the

outside work on the bird and a different person to do the inside work. If this is not possible,you must wash your hands very often to maintain a good standard of cleanliness.

Step 4: Surgery

You can now look forward to evisceration, evisceration being a euphemism for other less

scientific words like gutting. This stage includes the removal of all internal organs. Dontworry, I dont show any guts here. I just show how to remove them with the least possible

mess. As with the rest of the process, there are a few different ways of eviscerating. Some people

start by removing the crop (the holding tank for foods that have just been ingested - the crop is

outside of the body cavity, near the neck). Some people use a string to tie off the esophagus toprevent later leakage. Im neglecting to mention some other methods, but Ill show you what I

do. It seems to work. Remember: as soon as the bird has been opened, frequent washing of

everything involved is needed to keep a sanitary environment. Oftentimes, we wash all the

equipment with bleach midway through the day, just for safetys sake.

Firstly, well remove the internal organs via the abdomen. There are even a few variances onwhich cuts to make for this detail. Here are two different ways. Each has its own pros and cons.


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This method is my favourite. It is fast and easy, and can be done with little finesse or talent. This

method includes the removal of the tail, which some people disagree with - apparently they

actually eat it. Since I have not yet developed a taste for the popes nose I just cut it off. First,make cuts 1 and 2. These cuts must be done carefully to prevent any damage to the intestines

inside. After awhile, you will have a good idea just how deep you can cut without causing

problems. Next, insert your hand into the bird with your trimmed fingernails scraping along thetop inside (the side nearest the breast, and top when the bird is on its back) of the bird betweenthe intestines and carcass. When you feel the shape of the bird begin to curve down at the back of

the bird (near the throat), carefully pull out to remove the innards. Let them hang out over the

tail. The innards to which I am referring come out fairly neatly and easily. Again, withpractice, you will be able to confidently do this with more speed. When removing these

insides, you can either leave the hose that attaches to the crop in the front intact or you can

carefully sever it. I have found that if the birds have been eating good solid food up to the point

of butcher, there should be no spillage. If you begin to have problems with that, however, itwould be good practice to carefully remove the intestines without breaking the esophagus so that

you can tie it off with a string before cutting it. This will prevent future spillage when removing

the crop, which is connected to the other end of the hose in question. If you are unsure whichhose I am referring to, you can find it if you realize that it is the only one solidly attached to

anything inside the body (it is attached to the crop near the neck at the front of the bird, and will

not pull through from this end).

Anyway, you should now have the bundle of intestines hanging outside the body (the intestines

hang when the bird is held on the edge of a table so that the intestines are pulled down off theedge by gravity. Now this bundle is holding on by only one hose - the one that leads directly to

the cloaca (bird anus). Now, without cutting anymore of this plumbing, you can merely

remove the entire tail with cut number 3 completely severing it. The intestines, complete with

the tail, will drop into the container that you had earlier positioned below thebird. (Arent youglad you read this ahead of time??) Note that cut 3 is begun from inside the bird.

Now for the second, more complicated process. It makes the job more work and, possibly, alarger mess. The first difficult factor in this method is the fact that a strap is left for the legs. This

strap, though handy if you wish to stuff the bird later, is a hindrance to the easy removal of the

internal organs. The second factor is the cut around the anal opening. Since the large intestineleads right up to this orifice, it is very difficult to cut around it without puncturing that intestine.

It produces a somewhat nicer finished product, since the legs can be tucked into that strap, and

the tail is still present, but I prefer speed and ease to prettiness. For beginners, this method is notas easy. Please note that if you leave the tail, the oil gland must be removed from the top of it.

Step 5: Trimming and Scraping

Now, I should note, that many of you will want to preserve the gizzard for later consumption. In

order to do this, it is preferable to remove it before it ends up in the scrap pail. The gizzard is the

largest, firmest internal organ that you will find. It is one of the first items that you will discoverupon entry into the bird. I have included a photo of it for your reference. This photo shows it

after it has been detached from the intestines, and may not be actual size, depending on your

monitors resolution settings. You will remember that the gizzard is the birds teeth where


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mechanical digestion takes place. This is where the grit is used to grind up their food. To process

this organ, you must open it up from one end with a knife, cutting through the red meat until you

cut deep enough to see a white tissue. This is the very-tough lining that protects the gizzardmuscle from the grit inside. Beneath that is a yellowish sack. In this yellowish sack, you will find

a mixture of food, gravel, et cetera. Some people can cut through the first inner white layer while

preserving the yellowish sack which must be removed during processing. They remove theyellow sack of food and grit without opening or tearing it. This is the best way to clean thegizzard, but for many of us it takes too much time and practice to properly achieve. The gizzard-

cleaning method that the rest of us revert to is to ignorantly split the gizzard in half lengthwise,

to rinse it out very well, and then to peel away the yellowish layer I spoke of earlier. This methodis a little messier, but somewhat necessary unless you are very skilled.

Now that the bulk of the internal organs have been removed, it is time to dislodge the remaininginnards. In this before/after photo, I did some cutting and flipped the lid on this bird to give

you a better look. That surgery is not necessary when butchering, all of the heart, lung, and

kidney removal can be done from the same abdomenal opening that we made earlier. The heart is

located between the wings - it is the dark oblong shape. The lungs are beneath the heart in thisview - they are bright pink and spongy. The lungs and kidneys (the dark areas between the hips)

are both built-into the rib cage. They can be removed by running the fingers down the fissuresbetween the ribs. Each lung often comes out in one piece this way, but the kidneys usually endup crushed in many pieces. Anyway, do what you have to do to get them all out. When finished,

the inside of the bird should look like the picture below, except from a different perspective, of

course.

The bird will need to be flushed with clean, cold water to achieve the sparkling beauty that this

one emanates. It is nearly impossible to remove all of the white membranes that you see in thekidneys former location between the legs. These membranes hold some water, but are harmless.

Step 6: Poking and Pulling

We return to the front of the bird to remove the crop, which is the first storage tank for ingested

food and water. As seen in this picture, a full crop is easy to spot. There is only one cut thatneeds to be done. Careful removal of the crop will result in the bird looking something like the

picture to the right. You must also remove the trachea, which is the windpipe. Often, a quick pull

will remove this offending hose. (It may be slippery, though, so get a good grip first!)

Were nearing the end of the process. Aww. Its over so soon? One of the minor finishing

touches is to trim the heart. Often people prefer to see it without the aorta and other blood vesselsattached. A slice just above the crowning layer of fat on the heart will make the heart look a little

more elegant. Another finishing touch is to remove the neck from the body. After a while, you

may develop a skillful way of doing this, but until then, its a violent fight. I think the best way is

to firmly grasp the neck a couple of inches above where it meets the back. Then bend itbackwards to make it parallel with the spine. You should break it. If you can identify the broken

link in the vertebrate chain, that would be the best spot to sever the neck from the body. If that

method does not work, all I can say is Do what youve got to do. To completely finish theneck, you can trim the end of the neck that once connected to the head. It is not very pretty


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because it was bruised by the axe. Usually the removal about a half-inch segment is needed to

beautify the neck. You can make an art out of this cut, too, but brute force works fine, as well.

Step 7: Cutting and Cooling

At this point, you can toss the trimmed heart, cleaned gizzard, and nice neck into the bird, andthen that whole thing into a clean plastic freezer bag of appropriate size. If butchering in batches,

you need not bag each bird as soon as it has been finished. The birds cool at a faster rate if you

place them in cold water, anyway. It is recommended that you keep the water quite cool - ice canbe added to the bath, if the water will not remain cool on its own, depending on the weather. We

used a regular household vacuum sealer to remove excess air and seal the bags. It worked very

well, but a twist tie will do the job if you do not own a vacuum sealer. Remember when bagging,that the less air and water in the bag, the longer the bird will stay in the freezer and escape

freezer burn, which is merely a dehydration of the meat.

And the final step to butchering poultry - freeze the bird. The quicker, the better.

Before killing and plucking the bird, you may do well to don a good dust mask. I slaughteredbirds for years without doing so, but experienced more and more congestion in the sinuses during

the night following processing. This inability to breathe doubtless resulted from a growing

allergy to the skin and feather dander kicked into the air during killing and plucking the birds. Inow wear a Respro Sportsta Maskduring this phase of the work, and no longer have thecongestion. (Allergy Control Products 800-422-3878)
http://www.allergycontrol.com/http://www.allergycontrol.com/http://www.allergycontrol.com/http://www.allergycontrol.com/

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Chicken Butchering Basics