First time processing!

[topdycke]

There is a sorry on BBC about a Canadian woman who cleared a train carriage by plucking a goose on her way home

 

[vehve]

There is a sorry on BBC about a Canadian woman who cleared a train carriage by plucking a goose on her way home

I wonder if that would be a good way to get some space on a plane.

 

[Sabz]

Thanks for the comments on the duck! It was good hehe.

Rc4u, ok, I get it. I am starting to be "less afraid" of my own meat since I've eaten it 3 times without being sick And I wasn't really fast at plucking, so in time I will do it even faster, so I doubt it will be contaminated (of course, if there is no accident with the intestines..).

I ate some chicken yesterday. I think I'll open another post for that.. it wasn't tender at all, even though (I think) rigor mortis had past.. not sure what I am doing wrong.

 

[Sabz]

That looks awesome! I had my first ever processing attempt for dinner last night with small herbed potatoes. He was yummy! I cleaned and then brined (salt will also kill any bacteria) and put him in the refrigerator for a day before freezing two Sundays ago. We are able to get organic grass fed chicken at the local market and it compares to that.

When you brine, do you let the skin on the chicken or not? I will try this

 

[vehve]

Thanks for the comments on the duck! It was good hehe.

Rc4u, ok, I get it. I am starting to be "less afraid" of my own meat since I've eaten it 3 times without being sick And I wasn't really fast at plucking, so in time I will do it even faster, so I doubt it will be contaminated (of course, if there is no accident with the intestines..).

I ate some chicken yesterday. I think I'll open another post for that.. it wasn't tender at all, even though (I think) rigor mortis had past.. not sure what I am doing wrong.

Normal supermarket chicken is butchered between 4-12 weeks, so it hasn't really had time to develop muscle. Older birds usually turn out better when cooked slowly in low heat.

 

[offgridhermit]

Yesterday was my first time processing. Everything went smoothly.

There is a great thread on BYC on eviscerating with graphic pictures that helped me out a lot.



My work station. Table, sinks, turkey fryer for hot scald water, bucket for bleeding out, tub for ice water.

I processed 4 Cornish, 1 hen and 3 roosters. Live weight on the roosters were between 12-14 pounds, dressed out at about 10 pounds. Hen dressed out at 7 pounds.



I did the plucking in a wheelbarrow.




after removing heads I bled them out by hanging over a bucket.


A friend that will be moving out here to live off the grid, asked me how long it took and what I had to do. I wrote this list out for her.
Let me know if I forgot anything.

All four from start to finish with a smoke and coffee break probably took 3 hours or less. That was including clean up.

The steps involved:
1) catch a bird.
2) remove head
3) hang upside to bleed out
4) wash off bird in a tub of warm water. Some people add a squirt of Dawn dish soap and a touch of bleach.
5) dip and swish around in 160 degree water till a wing feather pulls out easily. A turkey fryer works great for this.
6) pluck feathers
7) rinse loose feathers off and then take to cutting table.
8) Remove feet.
9) eviscerate and save liver, heart, and gizzard, (you have to slit the gizzard open and peel a membrane off).
10) wash inside and out of bird.
11) put cleaned dressed bird in a cooler or container with cold ice water until ready to put in the fridge.

Pre butchering steps:
Set up stations for head removal or throat slitting, bleed out area, warm water for rinsing, Hot water for swishing and dunking, plucking area, sinks or dish pans for rinsing, eviscerating table, tub for ice water.

I was prepared for an awful smell but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Cleaning fish is worse.

I am resting them in the fridge for a few days for rigor to pass before putting in the freezer. Make sure you have room in your frig and freezer before starting the job!

 

[DLCShark]

Yesterday was my first time processing. Everything went smoothly. There is a great thread on BYC on eviscerating with graphic pictures that helped me out a lot. My work station. Table, sinks, turkey fryer for hot scald water, bucket for bleeding out, tub for ice water. I processed 4 Cornish, 1 hen and 3 roosters. Live weight on the roosters were between 12-14 pounds, dressed out at about 10 pounds. Hen dressed out at 7 pounds. I did the plucking in a wheelbarrow. after removing heads I bled them out by hanging over a bucket. A friend that will be moving out here to live off the grid, asked me how long it took and what I had to do. I wrote this list out for her. Let me know if I forgot anything. All four from start to finish with a smoke and coffee break probably took 3 hours or less. That was including clean up. The steps involved: 1) catch a bird. 2) remove head 3) hang upside to bleed out 4) wash off bird in a tub of warm water. Some people add a squirt of Dawn dish soap and a touch of bleach. 5) dip and swish around in 160 degree water till a wing feather pulls out easily. A turkey fryer works great for this. 6) pluck feathers 7) rinse loose feathers off and then take to cutting table. 8) Remove feet. 9) eviscerate and save liver, heart, and gizzard, (you have to slit the gizzard open and peel a membrane off). 10) wash inside and out of bird. 11) put cleaned dressed bird in a cooler or container with cold ice water until ready to put in the fridge. Pre butchering steps: Set up stations for head removal or throat slitting, bleed out area, warm water for rinsing, Hot water for swishing and dunking, plucking area, sinks or dish pans for rinsing, eviscerating table, tub for ice water. I was prepared for an awful smell but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Cleaning fish is worse. I am resting them in the fridge for a few days for rigor to pass before putting in the freezer. Make sure you have room in your frig and freezer before starting the job!

you got it!

 

[kada6305]

Yesterday was my first time processing. Everything went smoothly.

There is a great thread on BYC on eviscerating with graphic pictures that helped me out a lot.



My work station. Table, sinks, turkey fryer for hot scald water, bucket for bleeding out, tub for ice water.

I processed 4 Cornish, 1 hen and 3 roosters. Live weight on the roosters were between 12-14 pounds, dressed out at about 10 pounds. Hen dressed out at 7 pounds.



I did the plucking in a wheelbarrow.




after removing heads I bled them out by hanging over a bucket.


A friend that will be moving out here to live off the grid, asked me how long it took and what I had to do. I wrote this list out for her.
Let me know if I forgot anything.

All four from start to finish with a smoke and coffee break probably took 3 hours or less. That was including clean up.

The steps involved:
1) catch a bird.
2) remove head
3) hang upside to bleed out
4) wash off bird in a tub of warm water. Some people add a squirt of Dawn dish soap and a touch of bleach.
5) dip and swish around in 160 degree water till a wing feather pulls out easily. A turkey fryer works great for this.
6) pluck feathers
7) rinse loose feathers off and then take to cutting table.
8) Remove feet.
9) eviscerate and save liver, heart, and gizzard, (you have to slit the gizzard open and peel a membrane off).
10) wash inside and out of bird.
11) put cleaned dressed bird in a cooler or container with cold ice water until ready to put in the fridge.

Pre butchering steps:
Set up stations for head removal or throat slitting, bleed out area, warm water for rinsing, Hot water for swishing and dunking, plucking area, sinks or dish pans for rinsing, eviscerating table, tub for ice water.

I was prepared for an awful smell but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Cleaning fish is worse.

I am resting them in the fridge for a few days for rigor to pass before putting in the freezer. Make sure you have room in your frig and freezer before starting the job!

I was under the impression they wouldn't bleed out if you removed the heads...I think I will try that method when we butcher ours! I don't like the idea of slitting throats..I'd much rather chop their heads off- you know 100% sure they are dead.

 

[offgridhermit]

I don't know why they wouldn't bleed out as long as they are hung upside down.

If someone chopped my head off, I would bleed out I'm sure.

When you kill a deer and he is dead, you slit the throat for it to bleed out as it would be to hard to just remove the head after killing it, the same for any other large animal.

I want them to have a quick clean death, and anyway they always spasm after you kill them, and that should help the bleeding out if they are hung upside down.

After plucking, eviscerating, and rinsing, I put them in a tub of ice water. Then let them rest in the fridge for 3 days before freezing.

After removing one from the freezer to thaw before cooking, I noticed it didn't have the blood in the bag like store bought chickens and turkeys. So removing the heads must work fine.


Oh, and after roasting (upside down) in a turkey roasting bag, he was delicious, and provided meals for 4 days or more.

 

[Sabz]

How do you do that (completely chop the head off)? With an axe?

I just slit the throat. Once it is dead, I remove the head but it takes me some time to find the proper spot between the bones to completely remove the head. I wouldn't be able to do that in one quick slice at the moment of killing the bird!

Maybe I am not doing this right. I even find it "hard" to slice the jugular. I mean not "that" hard, but I have to put more pressure on the knife than I initially thought I should. Sometimes I have to cut more than once . Maybe it is the way I hold the head, I have a hand behind the head when I slice, maybe (unconsciously) I am afraid of cutting my hand BEHIND the neck so I don't apply enough pressure? Or maybe the fact that the bird isn't sitting on something hard - like a cutting board - but just sitting in the air..Or maybe I should pluck a few feathers before.. I don't know, but I still haven't got the jugular technique nailed down, so I am not trying to cut the full head just yet hahaha. But great way to do it, if I could find how to do it, I would use that method instead.