first time butchering question.

[ChaoSS]

Ok, so I ended up having to butcher bird a bit unexpectedly here. I got home late for work, went to give the birds their food back, and one bird was outside the run with a broken wing. Snapped clean in half. I'm guessing it tried to flap out of the run and got tangled on his way down. Since I wasn't planning on butchering for another two weeks I had nothing ready, no pot for scalding, no plan for killing them, nothing. To top it off I had an accident on my bike on my way home and I think my arm is broken. I found a dull axe and managed to do the deed, zip tied the feet to the fence and started skinning it.

So here are my questions.

I had trouble cutting around the vent. Because of the feathers I did it from the inside, basically, but it was a trick to do it without trying to saw through the bone right there. Is that easier when you get to having them plucked first?

Second, I managed to nick the gall bladder. Bile everywhere but it seemed to just mostly be on the organs. I got everything out and rinsed it really well, is my bird dog food now?

Third, I'm not a big fan of skinless chicken. Any good recipes for keeping the meat tender during cooking without the skin?

 

[wsmoak]

If you rinsed it well, don't worry about the bile. It happens occasionally, and I sure don't throw away a whole chicken because of it!

Next time you need to do one quickly, don't bother to eviscerate it.

Just split the skin up the breast (I use kitchen shears) and slice off the boneless, skinless breast meat. (This is harder than it sounds. One side is easier depending on which is your dominant hand and what kind of knife you use.)

Then remove the feet, and slice the skin down inside of the leg. Use your fingers to separate the skin until the drumstick/thigh is exposed. Break the whole leg outward and use a sharp knife to separate the leg/thigh from the body.

You can always toss the meat into the crock pot with some salsa and let it cook. When it's done, add some cumin and lime. Cool, debone and shred the meat -- use it in tacos, enchiladas, etc.

-Wendy

 

[Elke Beck]

Recipes for skinless chicken? You bet! Here's two:

Chicken n' Noodles

1 chicken
1 medium yellow onion, cut into quarters (leave the skin on if you want the broth to have a rich color)
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 - 2 ribs celery, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 - 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, or herb mix of you choice - Mrs. Dash is good!
1 - 2 teaspoons seasoned salt - I use Lawry's
1 pound egg noodles
Flour for thickening, Wondra is the best!
water

Put the chicken, veggies, poultry seasoning and seasoned salt in a stock pot or Dutch oven (I use my spaghetti pot and put everything in the strainer insert - it makes it super easy to pull out the solids when it is done). Cover with water. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 45 to 90 minutes, depending on how large the chicken is and how tender it was to start with. Take all of the solids out of the broth, and set both aside to cool.

You can also do this in a crockpot on low for 5 to 8 hours. I would go shorter rather than longer for young chickens.

Right now you have poached chicken that can be used for all kinds of good things, like chicken salad sandwiches, casseroles, salads, and anything else where you would use cooked chicken. But we are making Chicken n' Noodles!

Defat the broth by whatever method you like best. Return to heat and bring to a simmer while prepping chicken.

Remove meat from chicken. Shred into bite-size pieces. Chop carrots into 1/2 inch pieces.

Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with 1/2 cup water until all lumps are gone. Add to simmering broth, stirring to prevent lumps. Check thickness, make and add more flour water as needed for your preferred thickness. I like it just thick enough that it is a light gravy that clings to the noodles. I do not want chicken soup with noodles.

Return chicken and carrots to broth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Serve chicken over the noodles.

I do not mix the noodles in because they become soggy if it sits.


Chicken, Mushrooms and Broccoli

1 chicken, boned and cut into 1 inch pieces
8 ounces button or crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced
2 pounds fresh broccoli that has been blanched and cooled, or frozen and thawed; well drained
I small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon seasoned salt, or to taste

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 12 inch skillet; add chicken and seasoned salt and cook until lightly browned on edges. Remove from pan.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet; add onions and sauté until light golden. Add garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Remove from pan.

Melt remaining butter in skillet; add mushrooms and sauté until softened. Add broccoli and onions to skillet. Saute until broccoli is heated through. Add chicken. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with rice.

 

[ChaoSS]

Thanks for the responses. I feel like I remember reading somewhere that bile had some sort of bacterial component that could contaminate the meat. Maybe whoever wrote that was a little mixed up. More likely I'm mixing up something I read....

wsmoak, I almost did cut some of the meat off and call it good. But I'm a dark meat kind of guy, the absolute best part of the bird is the wings and the back meat. It killed me not being able to skin the wings properly and having to give them to the dogs, I wasn't about to lose my back meat. Anyway I was hoping that meat cooked on the bone might retain it's juiciness better than boneless, even without the skin.


Is it normal for Cornish x to be able to fly a few feet off the ground? That one obviously managed it ok, and today when I went to give them their food two of the birds were flapping pretty excitedly and one of them got enough air that she probably could have cleared my fence, although she was still in the middle of the cage when she did it. I thought these birds were supposed to be too heavy to really fly at all. Might have to rethink the strategy for keeping them contained, right now their enclosure is 28 inch tall wire, the bottom is an inch or two off the ground so maybe 30 inches high. I like it because I can step over it easily enough to get in there, but I don't want any others getting out, especially if my dogs get too curious and end up killing one.

 

[chickensAK]

I've had a coyote pacing next to the electric fence and 10-12 of my Cornish X flew right over a 4' fence to the main chicken run area away from the coyote. So yes they can fly if they really want to.