Meat bird processing procedure - any suggestions? Want to be sure meat is safe to eat.

[FunClucks]

I'm new to meat bird processing, and to processing of any animal. I've processed three Cornish Cross chickens, and have 20 to go. They are 6 weeks old, so now is the time. I have a number of questions and I was hoping you guys could take a look at my procedure and see if you have any thoughts for improvement.

A) Why do we use ice to cool down the bird after scalding? If I'm just doing one chicken in coolish weather, can I just use cold water? How long should the bird rest in the cold/ice water after scalding? If it stays there too long, will it become hard to pluck? My icewater container is a 5 gal bucket.

B) What is that round dark red globular organ that looks the color of a kidney but is enclosed in a membrane? It's the size of a nickel maybe.

C) What is that pale intestine colored sac that is globular that attaches directly to one end of the gizzard? Can I just cut it off the gizzard and cut the intestines off the other side of the gizzard? How do I ensure bacteria from the gizzard doesn't pose a problem for the gizzard meat I save? Is washing it off after peeling it sufficient?

D) Total processing time from slaughter to finished bird going into the fridge is probably an hour and a half or so. Is this a problem from a bacterial growth perspective? I've had trouble finding info on this.

E) Which steps should I be particularly careful with? I already know not to puncture the gut. If I do, avoid getting it on the carcass or immediately wash it out well is the only things I know to do.



Below is my procedure for processing. Do you guys have any recommendations? Mainly want to be sure the meat is safe to eat (I'm worried about bacteria) and I don't want to waste their lives and all my effort. I thought I'd have additional help, but I don't so I've been doing 1-2 birds a day, and also I have a few questions. Trying to move up to 4 birds a day. Had one today with leg issues, so will have to process again tonight.

1) Broomstick method/English method followed by draining the blood for 5-10 minutes. It's 50-60F outside.
2) Hang it by its feet and wet it with water and some dish soap and scrub it all over like I'm giving it a bath to get off the poop and some of the dirt. Not a great cleaning cause I"m doing it one-handed, but at least remove most of the visible poop. Spray it down with the high powered sprayer on the hose.
3) Scald at 145F until wing pinfeather comes out easily. Scald water has 2-4 drops of dish soap in it, a few bubbles.
4) Plunge bird into cold water or ice bath to cool down skin and body that was just scalded. Maybe 5-10 minutes until it feels mostly cool to the touch.
5) Hand pluck bird. This takes maybe 20 minutes.
5a) Rinse bird again with sprayer, then plunge into the same icewater as earlier because it started to feel a bit warm again. 5 minutes. Re-rinse bird with sprayer.
6) Remove head, neck, feet, wing tips, peel skin off feet. 5-10 minutes.
6a) separate out windpipe and esophagus from neck, carefully peel back skin from around crop (I haven't been starving my birds as I've had to process without planning ahead much). Remove crop, cut esophagus and windpipe between crop and body cavity of chicken.
7) Open abdomen without nicking guts (this is hard!). Carefully reach inside and pull everything out. Remove gizzard as I find it, heart, and kidneys. Cut gizzard off of entrails, open it, and peel it. Rinse it off and add to stock parts bowl. Remove kidneys from entrails without disturbing bile duct. Cut veins off of heart. Save kidneys, heart, gizzard, feet, and neck for soup or feeding back to my eggers.
8) Finish removing entrails, finish cutting around vent, remove vent and (if it's not already removed) tail from bird.
9) Cut off testicles and pop out lungs. Remove whatever those are in the backbone of the bird that looks like kidney when squished out. All told, entrail removal step 6a to now probably takes 20-30 minutes.
10) Rinse out inside and outside of bird with high pressure hose sprayer. Try to cool it down some.
11) Place bird in large ziplock bag and onto shelf in refrigerator.
12) Place stock parts into regular ziplock bag and onto shelf of refrigerator.
13) Age bird in refrigerator for about three days or until leg joints move easily again. Cut it up and vacuum pack or freeze it whole.

I haven't even gotten to parting a bird out yet.

What are you guys' thoughts?

 

[NatJ]

A) Why do we use ice to cool down the bird after scalding? If I'm just doing one chicken in coolish weather, can I just use cold water? How long should the bird rest in the cold/ice water after scalding? If it stays there too long, will it become hard to pluck? My icewater container is a 5 gal bucket.

Here's an old thread where someone else asks the same question, and gets some answers:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cold-water-dip-before-plucking.393578/

B) What is that round dark red globular organ that looks the color of a kidney but is enclosed in a membrane? It's the size of a nickel maybe.

I've seen the thing you're talking about, but I don't actually know what it is.

C) What is that pale intestine colored sac that is globular that attaches directly to one end of the gizzard? Can I just cut it off the gizzard and cut the intestines off the other side of the gizzard? How do I ensure bacteria from the gizzard doesn't pose a problem for the gizzard meat I save? Is washing it off after peeling it sufficient?

I don't know what it is, but cutting it off works fine.
Yes, rinsing the gizzard in clean water after peeling is sufficient.

D) Total processing time from slaughter to finished bird going into the fridge is probably an hour and a half or so. Is this a problem from a bacterial growth perspective? I've had trouble finding info on this.

I've never had a problem with times like that.
I wouldn't expect any problems.

E) Which steps should I be particularly careful with? I already know not to puncture the gut. If I do, avoid getting it on the carcass or immediately wash it out well is the only things I know to do.

Yes, a good rinse is the fix for many problems

Below is my procedure for processing. Do you guys have any recommendations? Mainly want to be sure the meat is safe to eat (I'm worried about bacteria) and I don't want to waste their lives and all my effort.

As a very basic guideline:
--butcher the chicken
--rinse until it looks clean (no poop or feathers, no excessive amounts of blood)
--cut up the chicken if desired, if you didn't already
--store the chicken in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to cook it
--whatever cooking method is safe for any other chicken should be safe for this chicken as well

1) Broomstick method/English method followed by draining the blood for 5-10 minutes. It's 50-60F outside.

If you want to save time, you can probably move on to the next step as soon as it stops flapping, rather than waiting that many minutes for the blood to drain.
Not a safety problem either way.

2) Hang it by its feet and wet it with water and some dish soap and scrub it all over like I'm giving it a bath to get off the poop and some of the dirt. Not a great cleaning cause I"m doing it one-handed, but at least remove most of the visible poop. Spray it down with the high powered sprayer on the hose.

Unless your birds are ridiculously filthy, I think this is a complete waste of time and energy.
Just skip it entirely and go on to the next step.

(If they are really filthy, maybe change their living conditions: more space, more bedding, and then even more bedding, will sometimes make a big difference.)

3) Scald at 145F until wing pinfeather comes out easily. Scald water has 2-4 drops of dish soap in it, a few bubbles.

That sounds fine.

4) Plunge bird into cold water or ice bath to cool down skin and body that was just scalded. Maybe 5-10 minutes until it feels mostly cool to the touch.

I haven't done that, but see the thread I linked for other people's views.
The time isn't an issue from a safety perspective.

5) Hand pluck bird. This takes maybe 20 minutes.

That's fine.

5a) Rinse bird again with sprayer, then plunge into the same icewater as earlier because it started to feel a bit warm again. 5 minutes. Re-rinse bird with sprayer.

Rinse bird, yes to remove any stray feathers.

Don't bother trying to chill it at this stage. Just finish butchering.

(If you like to sit it in the icewater while you work on another bird, that's fine. But if you are just trying to get safe meat, you're wasting your time trying to chill it at that stage.)

6) Remove head, neck, feet, wing tips, peel skin off feet. 5-10 minutes.

6a) separate out windpipe and esophagus from neck, carefully peel back skin from around crop (I haven't been starving my birds as I've had to process without planning ahead much). Remove crop, cut esophagus and windpipe between crop and body cavity of chicken.
7) Open abdomen without nicking guts (this is hard!). Carefully reach inside and pull everything out. Remove gizzard as I find it, heart, and kidneys. Cut gizzard off of entrails, open it, and peel it. Rinse it off and add to stock parts bowl. Remove kidneys from entrails without disturbing bile duct. Cut veins off of heart. Save kidneys, heart, gizzard, feet, and neck for soup or feeding back to my eggers.
8) Finish removing entrails, finish cutting around vent, remove vent and (if it's not already removed) tail from bird.
9) Cut off testicles and pop out lungs. Remove whatever those are in the backbone of the bird that looks like kidney when squished out. All told, entrail removal step 6a to now probably takes 20-30 minutes.

That's fine. The time is not a problem.

I don't see you mention the liver-- are you keeping it too? You certainly can, if you like the flavor.

10) Rinse out inside and outside of bird with high pressure hose sprayer. Try to cool it down some.

Rinsing is good. Cooling is fine, but if you're going to put it straight into the fridge it isn't worth too much effort trying to get it cool here.

11) Place bird in large ziplock bag and onto shelf in refrigerator.
12) Place stock parts into regular ziplock bag and onto shelf of refrigerator.
13) Age bird in refrigerator for about three days or until leg joints move easily again. Cut it up and vacuum pack or freeze it whole.

That's fine too.

I think you are worrying a lot more than you need to, about trying to get it cold quickly.
Just get the whole job done, then chill it in the fridge (or in an ice-water bath if you prefer.)

Trying to chill the outside, while the middle is still full of warm guts, isn't going to be very effective. It is almost certainly more effective to get those guts out sooner, then chill the whole thing.

 

[Geena]

How long should the bird rest in the cold/ice water after scalding?

I did that too when we first got started with meat birds because some tutorials tell you to. After awhile I started skipping that step because it didn't seem necessary. I found that it's much easier to pluck if you don't cool them off after scalding. So I pluck first then into a bin of cold water to chill.

draining the blood for 5-10 minutes.

2 minutes is plenty of time

scrub it all over like I'm giving it a bath to get off the poop and some of the dirt.

Like NatJ says this step seems like a waste of time. I just put a squirt of dish soap right in the scald water. But I pasture raise my meat birds and they aren't any dirtier than any other chicken. I have seen pics here of pen raised cornishX where they are dirty underneath. If that's the case I think I would scrub that off first as well.

 

[Geena]

Rinse out inside and outside of bird with high pressure hose sprayer. Try to cool it down some.

For the cooling we just fill up multiple large bins with cold water. After plucking they go into the first bin to sit and rinse while waiting to be gutted. After gutting they go into another bin(s) to start chilling. Then after we are done butchering I drain that water out and refill it with clean cold water and let them sit for about a half hour to chill completely through.

 

[FunClucks]

@NatJ and @Geena

Thank you both so much for your insight and advice!!! I greatly appreciate it!!! I feel much more confident with my processing technique now, and have some good ideas for a few changes.

As a side note, I didn't have time to set up the scalder this morning, and had to process one who couldn't stand up any more, so I skinned it. I think it went pretty well, and skinning alone took less time than setting up the scalder and plucking would have done. I'll probably part that one out later. I wasn't sure how long they can live once their legs don't hold them up, and it didn't seem fair to the chicken, so I wanted to process it as soon as possible. It was raining the whole time. Some type of pavilion is now on my wish list. Along with somewhere to stand that doesn't turn into mud. At the end there, slipping was a concern. And a table. An actual table would be nice. The stump I've been covering with plastic and putting my cutting board and giblets bowl on is a bit low, but works for now. Learn by doing I guess...

 

[Ridgerunner]

A) Why do we use ice to cool down the bird after scalding? If I'm just doing one chicken in coolish weather, can I just use cold water? How long should the bird rest in the cold/ice water after scalding? If it stays there too long, will it become hard to pluck? My icewater container is a 5 gal bucket.

I don't but others have discussed this. If you are going to part it why are you worried about tearing the skin?

B) What is that round dark red globular organ that looks the color of a kidney but is enclosed in a membrane? It's the size of a nickel maybe.

I don't know. Can you post a picture or where in the body cavity is it?

C) What is that pale intestine colored sac that is globular that attaches directly to one end of the gizzard? Can I just cut it off the gizzard and cut the intestines off the other side of the gizzard?

Part of the digestive tract. I don't cut either side off, they tear off when I remove the gizzard but nothing wrong with cutting them off.

How do I ensure bacteria from the gizzard doesn't pose a problem for the gizzard meat I save? Is washing it off after peeling it sufficient?

You are overthinking it. Just split the gizzard open (try not to dull your knife on the grit inside) and rinse it off. Since I use the gizzard in my broth I don't peel it. When I pick the meat after making broth I treat myself with the gizzard and heart, the gizzard peels really easily after cooking. I split the heart and rinse it too.

D) Total processing time from slaughter to finished bird going into the fridge is probably an hour and a half or so. Is this a problem from a bacterial growth perspective? I've had trouble finding info on this.

That is a long time but at 50 to 60 degrees F not a problem. I think you are wasting a lot of time trying to cool it during processing. Just process it and toss it in ice water once you are finished.

E) Which steps should I be particularly careful with? I already know not to puncture the gut. If I do, avoid getting it on the carcass or immediately wash it out well is the only things I know to do.

I don't worry that much about puncturing the guts, but I do try to avoid it and it's usually not a problem. If I do, just rinse well.

The area I try to be really careful with is removing the gall bladder from the liver. That's about it.

1) Broomstick method/English method followed by draining the blood for 5-10 minutes. It's 50-60F outside.

I start processing as soon as they stop moving. Not actually except for the first one. I part mine out as part of the butchering process and toss the parts in a bowl of water. Then I grab the next one and kill it and let it flop around while I put various parts in ziploc type bags to go in the ice chest with ice water. Putting the parts in bags by type makes it easier for me to package them later. Then I replace the water in the bowl from the hose and rinse the processing table down and go collect the next bird to process.

2) Hang it by its feet and wet it with water and some dish soap and scrub it all over like I'm giving it a bath to get off the poop and some of the dirt. Not a great cleaning cause I"m doing it one-handed, but at least remove most of the visible poop. Spray it down with the high powered sprayer on the hose.

I just spray mine down, they aren't that dirty. This one you have to use your judgment.

3) Scald at 145F until wing pinfeather comes out easily. Scald water has 2-4 drops of dish soap in it, a few bubbles.

I don't use soap but others do. Now I skin mine but I used to pluck.

4) Plunge bird into cold water or ice bath to cool down skin and body that was just scalded. Maybe 5-10 minutes until it feels mostly cool to the touch.

I skip this.

5) Hand pluck bird. This takes maybe 20 minutes.

20 minutes! Wow, just wow. Since you part your birds instead of keeping the carcass whole would you consider skinning them? CX that young should be really easy to skin and you could skip heating water and plucking.

5a) Rinse bird again with sprayer, then plunge into the same icewater as earlier because it started to feel a bit warm again. 5 minutes. Re-rinse bird with sprayer.

I'm constantly rinsing my hands, the bird, and the work area as I go but see no need to try to cool it.

6) Remove head, neck, feet, wing tips, peel skin off feet. 5-10 minutes.
6a) separate out windpipe and esophagus from neck, carefully peel back skin from around crop (I haven't been starving my birds as I've had to process without planning ahead much). Remove crop, cut esophagus and windpipe between crop and body cavity of chicken.
7) Open abdomen without nicking guts (this is hard!). Carefully reach inside and pull everything out. Remove gizzard as I find it, heart, and kidneys. Cut gizzard off of entrails, open it, and peel it. Rinse it off and add to stock parts bowl. Remove kidneys from entrails without disturbing bile duct. Cut veins off of heart. Save kidneys, heart, gizzard, feet, and neck for soup or feeding back to my eggers.

There is a learning curve in opening the carcass to remove the guts, you will get better with it. I wonder if what you are calling the kidneys is actually the liver? Since I part mine and don't worry about the carcass staying whole, once I pull the guts out I cut along the sides of the breast to open the abdomen up so the organs and such are easier to get to.

8) Finish removing entrails, finish cutting around vent, remove vent and (if it's not already removed) tail from bird.
9) Cut off testicles and pop out lungs. Remove whatever those are in the backbone of the bird that looks like kidney when squished out.

Those things in the backbone that look like kidneys are kidneys. I use the backbone for broth and leave the kidneys in place.

10) Rinse out inside and outside of bird with high pressure hose sprayer. Try to cool it down some.

Yeah, I'm constantly rinsing but I do not take time for a separate cooling. When one is butchered it goes in ice water while I do the next. The last one is in the ice water while I'm cleaning up and before I package it.

11) Place bird in large ziplock bag and onto shelf in refrigerator.
12) Place stock parts into regular ziplock bag and onto shelf of refrigerator.
13) Age bird in refrigerator for about three days or until leg joints move easily again. Cut it up and vacuum pack or freeze it whole.

Sounds good.

 

[Geena]

@NatJ and @Geena

Thank you both so much for your insight and advice!!! I greatly appreciate it!!! I feel much more confident with my processing technique now, and have some good ideas for a few changes.

As a side note, I didn't have time to set up the scalder this morning, and had to process one who couldn't stand up any more, so I skinned it. I think it went pretty well, and skinning alone took less time than setting up the scalder and plucking would have done. I'll probably part that one out later. I wasn't sure how long they can live once their legs don't hold them up, and it didn't seem fair to the chicken, so I wanted to process it as soon as possible. It was raining the whole time. Some type of pavilion is now on my wish list. Along with somewhere to stand that doesn't turn into mud. At the end there, slipping was a concern. And a table. An actual table would be nice. The stump I've been covering with plastic and putting my cutting board and giblets bowl on is a bit low, but works for now. Learn by doing I guess...

A good work surface will help you out a lot!

We use carts like these

but I see a lot of people use folding tables.

ETA The carts also double as storage shelves for the processing equipment when not in use.

 

[FunClucks]

A good work surface will help you out a lot!

We use carts like these

but I see a lot of people use folding tables.

ETA The carts also double as storage shelves for the processing equipment when not in use.

I was thinking folding table, but that cart has promise. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[FunClucks]

I don't but others have discussed this. If you are going to part it why are you worried about tearing the skin?

I haven't parted any yet - I've been plucking them so I could roast them in the oven as a whole bird. Today I skinned one, and I will try and part out that one. I'm having trouble either sharpening my knives or keeping them sharp - they're not working like expected, so I've put off parting them until I figure it out. I was wanting a number of whole birds with skin anyway.

I don't know. Can you post a picture or where in the body cavity is it?

Looked around a bit more, and I think it's the spleen. When I pull it out, everything comes out in a jumble, but from the pics of a chicken's inside, that's the only thing I hadn't previously identified that's the right shape, size, and color.

You are overthinking it. Just split the gizzard open (try not to dull your knife on the grit inside) and rinse it off. Since I use the gizzard in my broth I don't peel it. When I pick the meat after making broth I treat myself with the gizzard and heart, the gizzard peels really easily after cooking. I split the heart and rinse it too.

That is a long time but at 50 to 60 degrees F not a problem. I think you are wasting a lot of time trying to cool it during processing. Just process it and toss it in ice water once you are finished.


I don't worry that much about puncturing the guts, but I do try to avoid it and it's usually not a problem. If I do, just rinse well.

The area I try to be really careful with is removing the gall bladder from the liver. That's about it.


I start processing as soon as they stop moving. Not actually except for the first one. I part mine out as part of the butchering process and toss the parts in a bowl of water. Then I grab the next one and kill it and let it flop around while I put various parts in ziploc type bags to go in the ice chest with ice water. Putting the parts in bags by type makes it easier for me to package them later. Then I replace the water in the bowl from the hose and rinse the processing table down and go collect the next bird to process.


I just spray mine down, they aren't that dirty. This one you have to use your judgment.


I don't use soap but others do. Now I skin mine but I used to pluck.


I skip this.

20 minutes! Wow, just wow. Since you part your birds instead of keeping the carcass whole would you consider skinning them? CX that young should be really easy to skin and you could skip heating water and plucking.

I think I'll get faster plucking as I go along and have a better setup. I've been plucking them one-handed. I figured out a way to hang them from a tree this morning while skinning the first one I ever skinned (it went well and was pretty easy), so that should help speed things up next time I pluck. Also my kid was "helping" me...

There is a learning curve in opening the carcass to remove the guts, you will get better with it. I wonder if what you are calling the kidneys is actually the liver? Since I part mine and don't worry about the carcass staying whole, once I pull the guts out I cut along the sides of the breast to open the abdomen up so the organs and such are easier to get to.

Yea, you're totally right. I mis-spoke earlier, it's the liver.

Those things in the backbone that look like kidneys are kidneys. I use the backbone for broth and leave the kidneys in place.

Thank you!

Yeah, I'm constantly rinsing but I do not take time for a separate cooling. When one is butchered it goes in ice water while I do the next. The last one is in the ice water while I'm cleaning up and before I package it.

Super helpful!

Thank you so much for your insights and advice!!! I really appreciate your taking the time to respond. I have some good ideas for next time now and a better grasp on how to manage the cooling step(s).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Also my kid was "helping" me...