Processed 2 meaties- what did I do wrong?

[Squishypuff]

A couple questions that I did not see answers to in all the stickies. I did my first processing, and everything went well until the point of cutting around the vent and getting the innards out. I had a lot of trouble getting the intestines/etc out, they wanted to stick in there. From reading, it seems like most people manage to make that cut in such a way that everything just falls on out. Is it normal to need to do some pulling? Also, for the lungs and such... I did not have a tool for it, so I used a hoof knife, which worked ok. BUT, does it matter if there is a little bit of lung particles (for lack of a better word) stuck up there? Will it hurt the flavor? I scraped out as much as I could, then sprayed with the hose to dislodge the rest, but I'm nervous that when I cook the bird, that might hurt the flavor, and then my husband will tease me!

Any other tips that won't be on the general "how to butcher" threads would be greatly appreciated. I have more to do in a few weeks and want to make sure I do it right.

 

[Country Parson]

Nothing ever just 'falls' out. You always need to reach up and pull everything out. Some ways of cutting do make this easier, but at the end of the day your hand will need to be inside that chicken scrapping out the guts.

 

[Totalcolour]

Squishypuff, don't sweat it too much. My DH rarely gets all the lung stuff out, and it doesn't hurt at all. Besides,
if this is your first go, then you are doing great. You will get better, and quicker each time you do it.

One thing though, I've noticed that our Cornish/x dress out much more easily than most other types - so you may have a
breed with clingy innards!

 

[Squishypuff]

Thanks folks! I guess I was not expecting to be pulling as hard as I did with the one. He liked his intestines, I suppose. I'm not squeamish about any of it, but I do want to be sure I'm doing things properly. The biggest mistake I made was trying to clean the bird out before plucking it. I'm not sure why my brain reversed the order. I imagine it will be a heck of a lot easier with no feathers in the way. But hey, live and learn I guess! another mistake I made was forgetting to take the birds off their feed, so that made things messier than they needed to be. I guess I'll get better as I do more? I'm not too worried about it not being perfect yet, the birds are humanely killed so they don't much care how pretty my cuts are!

 

[Country Parson]

Some folks feed them right up until butcher on purpose, as it allows one to "grip" better. I usually forget to take them off their feed so end up using this method unintentionally.

 

[Squishypuff]

On the first one, I forgot about the crop and accidentally cut it open. Nothing like a big flood of goopy mostly digested chicken feed pouring over everything! By "grip" what do you mean? I get the entrails out?

 

[Oregon Blues]

There is a diaphragm between the lungs/heart and the intestines/liver. The guts don't just fall out, you have to pull them, and that diaphragm has to be torn so that the top part of the system will come out. You are doing fine.

 

[Squishypuff]

Another question. One bird I skinned, and I was unsure of a couple things. First, I noticed a very clear, slippery layer of slime over areas. What is this? Should it be scrubbed off? Also, when skinning, how do you do the wings? Do you just cut them off?

I'm really appreciating everyone's help!

OH. I have 2 Speckled Sussex roos I don't want, how old should they be before I send them to the big freezer in the sky? They're just starting to crow, I believe they are 9 weeks old.

 

[booker81]

You have to get your hand in there and tear the membranes up on the guts where they attach to the cavity. I just stick my hand in and run it around the walls of the cavity, and when all the guts are loosened from the walls, I grab at the front where the heart is and pull it all out.

I use my fingers for the lungs, just run them against the rib cage and pop the lungs off. I usually get the whole lungs out now

http://ramblingredneckmom.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-process-chickens-at-home.html

 

[Mamaperreca]

I never worry about the small bits like lung material. It cooks away and doesn't effect the taste. I get out all I can and call it good.

For the vent area I prefer super sharp kitchen shears and I cut a circle and take the whole vent area off. Yes, I still have to pull stuff loose but it makes it pretty easy.

My husband does the skinning but he just pulls it off over the wings. We leave the wings on.

Yours roos will probably need to be 16 to 20 weeks to be fat enough to butcher.