Did my 1st time processing of excess roos today!

[averytds]

I got mine from Amazon. They were on sale for $19.95 a few weeks ago. http://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Edge-SK-100-Shears-Skinning/dp/B000KKB71G/ref=pd_cp_hi_2 Walmart also has them online, but currently they show out.

I'll post more info after we're back from church.

 

[halo]

Super; I just ordered them.

 

[averytds]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgo6Qlaff_4&list=QL&playnext=1

This is pretty much what I did, only with the shears for everything except the kill cut and slitting the skin. I didn't have to cut the skin in half though like he did. Guess I'm just stronger than I look.

IDK goldnchocolate, the skin came right off for me. The membrane tears pretty easy with your fingers. I've been separating the skin off store bought birds to rub butter and seasoning under for years. Maybe try again with a different breed or a store bought whole bird.

I never used anything inside either, just my fingers.


Other than the killing/bleeding, I could easily see doing the rest just in my sink if I only have a couple to do. Removing their food for 12 hrs is the only delay keeping it from being totally spontaneous.

They weren't very big roos. The 2 that were 4mnths old are only 2.5 lbs dressed and the 5 month old is only 3.5lbs. Heating up a pot and bothering with hand plucking and mess would have probably put the activity solidly into the chore category with insufficient reward for me.

I think I've created a monster though because DH is talking about going turkey hunting since he wouldn't have to clean it.

 

[Ivyblaze]

Good Job Avery!!

 

[bturbo87]

Quote:
im assuming that your speaking of gutting the chicken in this part, can you explain it a bit more, that was my downfall with my first attempt at butchering(that and i let them eat all the way up until slaughter) not only could i not get anything out of the body cavity, what i could get ended up covered in poo.

 

[averytds]

TY Ivy!

If you want, you can cut them as you go and skip the evisceration part. Kill, skin, cut off the wings, the legs, thighs and breast and toss the rest. http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/grim79.html

I found it easier for me to work with the bird flat vs hanging.

At 3:25 in the video, she cuts in just below the point. It's sort of thin/translucent there. She keeps cutting, but I was worried about slicing into things, so I just made a slit at the point and used my fingers to tear the opening bigger along the edge of the breast until I could fit my hand in.

With the bird on it's back, I ran my hand in along the top using my fingers to loosen everything and then worked around the whole ribcage the same way. So fingers and top of hand skimming along the bones all the way around and fingers also pushing everything into my palm. Like when you're searching for the baggie of organs to pull out of the store bought turkey before you cook it. Once everything is loosened up, gently pull it all down as you retract your hand. The hole should be big enough that it'll all come out.

Here's another vid where he goes from the back and takes off the tail too.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Fantastic job!

I love, love, love my outdoor edge shears - never will use a knife again for cleaning the bird. I use a cleaver for chopping off the head, but the rest is shears.

 

[goldnchocolate]

Quote:
Thanks for sharing that You Tube video. I think that my problem is that my chicken was hanging by his feet and he was swinging and twirling while I was trying to skin him. I'm going to do it the way the video shows how with my next cockerel--only about 28 more to go

....this is what I get for going crazy with the incubator this past spring.

 

[averytds]

TY HorsefeathersNV! I think it was a post by you awhile back that caused me to bookmark them in the first place. I used them yesterday to separate and bag the 2 I hadn't cooked yet. I used to hate having to cut up a chicken from the store. Always took me forever. I wish I'd bought them long ago. I put everything cut for frying into one bag, the breasts and tenders into another and the backs I'll be using for stock. 10 minutes and I was done, including clean-up!



YW goldnchocolate. I watched a ton of vids first. The people who did it while they were hanging all seemed to me to be having a harder time and in many cases making more of a mess, both of the bird and their yards. The people who seemed to zip right through all took them down. Plus the knife was so sharp, I worried about having less control and cutting myself.


I wish we'd gone crazy with the bator. After the first one, it really did go about as fast for me as it did in those vids. I only have a few more candidates and all the feed stores are done with chicks until Spring.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Skinning certainly does go easier when the bird is flat on a table, but I prefer to hand-pluck when the birds are hanging. That way I have both hands to use, and when the bird is properly scalded it's more like wiping out the dryer's lint trap than actual pulling & plucking. I zip-tie the birds' feet together & hang them from something stationary. The bird isn't twirling & dangling, but hanging at about shoulder-height and handy for work.