Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[thechickonthehill]

Yard full o' rocks :

Al....this might be a little off topic, but since you deal with meat birds thought maybe you could help with this question.

I have Columbian Rocks (thanks to Mr Bob Blosl!!) and have already got a bunch in the incubator. Will be hatching a lot this spring to improve, as best I can, on what I have.

Question is this:

On culls, I've NEVER dressed or eaten one of my own chickens. Too many with names and it just didn't seem right. Anyways, with a bunch of extras potentially running around, I thought I might try it. I don't have all the pluckers, scalders, etc like some might have who do this regularly. I was wondering if its possible to simply skin and "breast" a chicken, much like we do when we shoot a wild turkey? Any other suggestions for me given limited equipment for processing purposes?

We are big outdoors people here (hunt and fish a lot!!) so dressing an animal isn't too big a deal, just need to know how best to do it.

If its inappropriate to post, perhaps you can PM me.....(?)

Thanks

Scott

Scott, I know you did not direct this question to me but I thought I would share what I have learned. Just this past summer I began butchering my own chickens myself (as opposed to my husband doing it for me). Many of my chickens do have names, although as I am starting to hatch more to build my breeding flock, I am beginning to call those that I can see immediately aren't going to make the cut, "freezer camp boy". My cull hens I can always sell as layers but Faverolles cockerels make very good eating so they go in the freezer. The only equipment I have is a very sharp knife. My family has never cared for "skin on" chicken so I couldn't see the point of plucking feathers from skin that I was just going to remove before cooking anyway. I simply skin them, clean them and freeze them. I age mine for 3 days before I cook them as opposed to before I freeze them. Hope this helps you some.​

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I don't think a thread on heritage large fowl could possibly be complete without a good bit dedicated to heritage large fowl butchery and cookery. This is the cornerstone of their heritage, and it was their replacement by crossbreeds that has been their demise--this above all other things.

Learning how to slaughter and prepare heritage fowl at different ages for different culinary techniques is an outstanding way to diversify your food routine and help put all the pieces together as to why these birds have been with us for so many thousands of years.

Unfortuantely my shoulder's a bit too sore for typing this evening but if any are interested, I'd gladly write a ditty on it later.

This is a vital part of the thought process when considering your breed of choice. Just this weekend, laid up with the flu, I was blessed to enjoy a big pot of chicken noodle made from a culled Dorking stewing hen--so intensely, salubriously delicious--exquisite, velvety broth. It's one of those things that one cannot possibly imagine if one has never had the treat of a diet based in heritage fowl.

I'm certain that Saladin will concur. Al?

 

[al6517]

Scott : regarding processing.

I have a Turkey fryer big burner assy ( Propane ) and a large 30 gal pot I use for boiling my crabs and Crawfish in, I use the same method for Turkeys also. I fill the pot 3/4 full and start the fire going full bore. while it's heating I just get the chicken tie it's leg's with bailing wire, take it to the chopping block stump one swift well aimed swing of a sharp hatchet and then hang it on the fence to bleed out. Then if the bird is a little unclean or whatever I hose it off real good, by now the pot is at 180 degrees, hold the bird by it's feet and dunk, swirl it around to get the water in all the nooks and cranny's and then hold the wire to fully immerse. After about 2 min you should notice the scales peel easily from the feet or just lift the bird and test for feather removal. then pluck it by hand over a trash container, take it to a clean table with a hose handy and evicerate or start to clean it out. Drop the finished bird into a cooler with some ice water and grab the next one. I age the recleaned and rerinsed birds in that cooler of salty ice water for 3 full days or more, pkg and freeze.

Easy Peezy. Hope that helped and I hope it was Ok to help with this on this thread Bob.

AL

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quote:
So, yes, Al is on board !

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Learned a new vocabulary word. I had to look it up. salubrious -- conducive or favourable to health; wholesome.

I really enjoy your writing. You are very descriptive. This post made me hungry for some of that chicken noodle dinner you had.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

180, Al? Hmmm.....I wonder if different breeds' skin qualities are different. Our Dorkings would scald and rip at that temp. I shoot for 140.

We immerse and slosh the bird about like a toilet plunger. To test for pluckability, I lift the bird by the legs with one arm and then very gingerly fiddle with one of the larger, primary flight feathers, if it pops right out without any effort, I know the whole bird is good to go, for those are the hardest feathers. Remove wing and tail feathers instantly, for when the bird cools, the pores will close again around these feathers making them difficult to remove.

It's not really a plucking motion rather a thumb and palm circular massage that wipes all the feathers away. I try not to run all over the bird in 100 directions. Start with the wings, then tail, then breast, then one leg/thigh, then the other , then the back, into the leg-pit, etc... do each section well so that you're not looking at some sort of hopeless rag of a carcass.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Cheers, Kathy! I love language; it's pretty heritage, too.

Spatchcock is another great word, and one that is truly valuable to breeders with young (pre-roaster) culls. It cuts butchering time down--considerably.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Yeah good point, depending on the age I do younger more tender birds at 145 degrees the old leathery roosters at 180 so they don't have to sit in that hot water so long. And you do make a good point I as well just rub more than actually pluck and they just fall away.

AL

 

[buffalogal]

Back when we used to slaughter birds, I preferred to hang and stick them rather than chop off their heads. When it's done right, (really, it's hard to do it wrong) the feathers loosen on their own, so you can dry pick without ripping the skin.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Thank you EVERYONE for all the advise....guess I'll be giving this a test run this Spring. Al, I have one of those big turkey fryers myself!! Hadn't thought about using that....thanks

With as little as I typically get for my "cull" roosters, they may be worth more in the crockpot!!