Anyone dry pluck? (just a curious question!)

[Sussex19]

The first time I heard of scalding before plucking was here!
I have always just killed and plucked, with no scalding, and I was wondering if anyone else does the same.
I get the feeling dry plucking is more of a UK thing, and scalding is more common in the USA.
Just curious!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

We dry pluck then a quick singe with a torch to get the fine fuzz feathers.

 

[Sussex19]

We dry pluck then a quick singe with a torch to get the fine fuzz feathers.

Cool!
How long does it take you to pluck one?
I haven't actually timed myself yet, but it can't be that far off 15 min per bird.
I don't bother with the singeing, as the family are not fussy about the odd hair left behind.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Cool!
How long does it take you to pluck one?
I haven't actually timed myself yet, but it can't be that far off 15 min per bird.
I don't bother with the singeing, as the family are not fussy about the odd hair left behind.

My wife is faster than me, maybe 15-20 min. I do the singing. I'm told "you're plucking a chicken, it's not a moon shot." Her way of telling me I'm slow, and too fussy.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

No but I am curious about it. I've heard you have to "pith"/pierce the chicken's brain so the feathers loosen if you want to dry pluck. Do you do this? Doing that just does nit appeal to me but some people say it's a more humane thing to do before you kill them because they are already unconscious, and it also somehow loosens the feathers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The first time I heard of scalding before plucking was here!
I have always just killed and plucked, with no scalding, and I was wondering if anyone else does the same.
I get the feeling dry plucking is more of a UK thing, and scalding is more common in the USA.

I grew up doing a mix in the States. Mom would tell me to get her a chicken so I'd catch one and chop off it's head. Mom would bring me a saucepan of boiling water. I'd pour it over the chicken and then pluck. The chicken was not soaked in water at a certain temperature for a specific length of time or until the wing feathers came out easily. It was not pure dry plucking but wasn't that far off.

After plucking I'd gut it and give it to Mom. She would part it out, she never cooked a chicken whole. Not with five kids.

How long did it take? Until it was done. I did not have a watch and was just doing one for dinner, not a processing line for the freezer. That was too many decades ago to remember time but I was a kid with a kid's fingers and I tended to get things done, especially when Mom was waiting on me.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Heated water makes plucking far faster. If you are patient and wait until the pores open up and feathers almost fall out on their own it takes one minute to pluck a bird. Maybe three minutes total with the dunking.

No idea why they call it scalding. The water is hot enough to scald but you don't want to scald the bird. 155 F (68 C) and swish the bird, pull out, dunk and swish, pull out, dunk and swish. Don't let the bird just soak or you'll scald the skin and it will tear. Once you can pull a primary or tail feather without effort it's ready to pluck clean.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

No but I am curious about it. I've heard you have to "pith"/pierce the chicken's brain so the feathers loosen if you want to dry pluck. Do you do this? Doing that just does nit appeal to me but some people say it's a more humane thing to do before you kill them because they are already unconscious, and it also somehow loosens the feathers.

No but I am curious about it. I've heard you have to "pith"/pierce the chicken's brain so the feathers loosen if you want to dry pluck. Do you do this? Doing that just does nit appeal to me but some people say it's a more humane thing to do before you kill them because they are already unconscious, and it also somehow loosens the feathers.

We do it with an ice pick, cleaner and better than whacking their heads off and having blood slat all over the place. I have never used a killing cone. Seems like a good option.

 

[Sussex19]

No but I am curious about it. I've heard you have to "pith"/pierce the chicken's brain so the feathers loosen if you want to dry pluck. Do you do this? Doing that just does nit appeal to me but some people say it's a more humane thing to do before you kill them because they are already unconscious, and it also somehow loosens the feathers.

I do not pith, and it is not something I would feel comfortable trying.
However, I use the broomstick method, and when I get it just right, (which is happening almost all the time now I'm getting more experienced) I think it has a similar effect.
One a good one, you can just grab a handful of feathers, and they pretty much fall out in your hand.
The tail and wing tip feathers are a bit hard, but there isn't any good meat there anyway on my dual purpose breeds, so I just cut those bits off.

 

[Sussex19]

I grew up doing a mix in the States. Mom would tell me to get her a chicken so I'd catch one and chop off it's head. Mom would bring me a saucepan of boiling water. I'd pour it over the chicken and then pluck. The chicken was not soaked in water at a certain temperature for a specific length of time or until the wing feathers came out easily. It was not pure dry plucking but wasn't that far off.

After plucking I'd gut it and give it to Mom. She would part it out, she never cooked a chicken whole. Not with five kids.

How long did it take? Until it was done. I did not have a watch and was just doing one for dinner, not a processing line for the freezer. That was too many decades ago to remember time but I was a kid with a kid's fingers and I tended to get things done, especially when Mom was waiting on me.

Does just pouring hot water over it help much?
That would be something I could try, the main reason I do it dry is I don't have any good container for dunking, or a way to keep the water hot.
(and yes, I know if I wanted to I could sort something out but for me it would be more bother then its worth and I prefer not to have to wait around for water to heat up anyway)