- Mar 21, 2014
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So I cleaned my first backyard chicken today. No roosters allowed here... Most of it went pretty easy but I am concerned I may have had the water too hot when I scalded for plucking. I boiled the water and let it cool for a few min then poured it all into a 5 gallon bucket. I did not have a thermometer but it seemed like it had cooled a good bit from boiling. I swished it around for about 10-15 sec and hung the bird back up. It plucked pretty easy but there were little pieces of feather follicle that looked like was still down under the skin. While gutting the bird it seemed like the meat was pretty stiff and the inside connective tissue seemed tough. This worries me that I may have semi-cooked the bird. If that is the case did I ruin it? Will I be able to eat it? Thanks for any help!