First time butchering...

EggSighted4Life said:

Thanks for the encouragement!

We had many different knives to try with sharpeners on hand. But realizing how tough it was to get through the skin and still trying to figure out how deep to go without over doing it.... I'm sure with practice the confidence will come as well. Live skin didn't seem to cut anything like what we have gotten at the market before. And she commented that the one that was about 32 weeks old was a lot harder to work with than the 16 week old one.

I may even take her shopping for a knife.... if it would make a difference. But I think it might just still be gaining technique..... and probably the confidence to make the cut deeply enough as well. Thankfully we didn't have any horror scenes play out.

Click to expand...

I think the bolded pat may be your issue.

there is no "overdoing" it. I had some of the same thing when I did my first cut. I finally had to tell myself I was killing this animal, not worried about hurting it.

Folks worry and fret about getting that cut exactly right. The secret is, you're cutting it's throat and killing it. There's no magical spot. Pretty much anywhere on the neck is good, although it does work best higher up right under the angle of the jaw. Getting the feathers out of the way can be difficult also, but that does just take a bit of patience and practice.

Good luck to you all next time.

donrae said:

I think the bolded pat may be your issue.

there is no "overdoing" it. I had some of the same thing when I did my first cut. I finally had to tell myself I was killing this animal, not worried about hurting it.

Folks worry and fret about getting that cut exactly right. The secret is, you're cutting it's throat and killing it. There's no magical spot. Pretty much anywhere on the neck is good, although it does work best higher up right under the angle of the jaw. Getting the feathers out of the way can be difficult also, but that does just take a bit of patience and practice.

Good luck to you all next time.

Click to expand...

You are right, the bolded part was the problem I even realized as I was typing it that day.

I also realized I was standing behind the bird and doing a movie style throat slit which completely didn't work. So I considered how I would cut a steak off a roast and realized you start the cut a push the blade deep and slightly away from you. So I made it face where I could better control my knife so I wasn't afraid of cutting myself (another worry the first time). This time, I psyched myself up and practiced the motion before taking the plunge. It worked great, the result was much better. The second one that day didn't go quite as well as the first but still really good compared to our first couple times. And it's odd that I'm quite an emotional person but haven't had to cry about it. Surprising how drama free it really is.

Thanks for your support, I think it really did help!