Butchered first chicken- did I do it right?

[jvls1942]

there is one more thing I remove.
Someone told me it was kidneys.
it is located on both sides of the spine just inside the opening you cut to remove the innards.
they are held in with some sort of strong stringy things.

I noticed in most store bought chickens, this is not removed. it grosses me out.

If you push the lungs toward the spine, they come out in one piece.
the colder the chicken, the tougher the lungs become. so don't hesitate to leave them in until the final check up..

the gizzards also clean easier after they are cooled. we put them in real cold water until we are all done with the rest of the job..

I don't save the liver or the heart. some people do. I can't stand the taste of heart.

If you are going to fry the chicken, or just cut it into separate pieces,
separate the back from the breast before you remove the innards. I do this with a nice heavy scissors or with a good sharp knife.
just don't cut into the innards. easy to avoid.

doing it this way, you can remove wings, legs, thieghs neck. then cut the bird like I mentioned above.

You know, the chicken does not have to be in one piece in order to roast it..

........jiminwisc......

 

[jvls1942]

$60 I am still justifying the plucker for 50 or so birds a year LOL

I build Whiz Bang type pluckers.
I just finished my fifth one.
I build one and use it until I can sell it, then I build another one for myself.
I can pluck two chickens at a time in about 30 seconds.
a 20 pound turkey takes about a full minute.
I can also do ducks.
.......jiminwisc.....

 

[Molpet]

I cheat and use a lung rake.

this place has 6' and 12" and is cheaper.. but doesn't have the adaptor for a garden hose
http://lonn.net/water/farm-water/lung-rake-stainless-1-4-npt.html#

 

[Parront]

$60 I am still justifying the plucker for 50 or so birds a year LOL

It's cool stuff, but not cheap stuff, LOL! Outside, a garden nozzle would be good enough for me. But, I cleaned mine in the kitchen. So, the finger method will have to be good enough. The most I ever did in one day was 15 birds. That was enough!

 

[rjohns39]

I work to a bit larger scale. Most I've done in a day (actually half a day) was 150, but need to be able to do 300 per day. Day after processing, I do 80% cut-ups at about 3 minutes per bird. My friend is consistent at 1 minute 11 seconds per bird... I'll never get there. And I can clean 3 gizzards per minute with a 10% loss rate.

 

[Parront]

I work to a bit larger scale. Most I've done in a day (actually half a day) was 150, but need to be able to do 300 per day. Day after processing, I do 80% cut-ups at about 3 minutes per bird. My friend is consistent at 1 minute 11 seconds per bird... I'll never get there. And I can clean 3 gizzards per minute with a 10% loss rate.

Yeah, my Brother-in-Law the pro was fast, too. My knife is the old one he said it was too short from much automatic sharpening. It has worked for my simple needs for over 20 years! I am just not that fast, I can relate the the poster's question about plucking. Four of my cornish-x got to live another couple of weeks because I just crapped out after 15! (And they were so big, they filled the garage frig).

 

[Molpet]

I work to a bit larger scale. Most I've done in a day (actually half a day) was 150, but need to be able to do 300 per day. Day after processing, I do 80% cut-ups at about 3 minutes per bird. My friend is consistent at 1 minute 11 seconds per bird... I'll never get there. And I can clean 3 gizzards per minute with a 10% loss rate.

I can only dream of being half as fast as you... but I am only trying to feed one retired old woman(myself) LOL so it doesn't matter

 

[Parront]

I can only dream of being half as fast as you... but I am only trying to feed one retired old woman(myself) LOL so it doesn't matter

That is all I care about, 2 old folks here now. But, I will probably do some Cornish-X again when we get moved. I do not have to do them all at once. rjohns is my hero! But, I don't have to work at that level!

 

[rjohns39]

My goals are simple... I'd like to make enough money off my birds to pay the feed bill and cost of chicks. Aka, so I can eat for free. I want to add pork next year and maybe beef. I'm still looking for a source of goat milk--but all the local herd shares are maxed out and I'm really not ready to do goats.

 

[Parront]

I about broke even for feed bills when I was selling eggs. But, 1/2 the flock was brown leghorns and very good layers. Now everyone seems to be interested in dark or colored eggs, I hardly see white ones at the farmer's market. I am fine with white! But, leghorns are small guys for eating. Tasty, though!