First time

[Tony101775]

Ok I have done it.

I dont know if I feel sick or proud.
I do know it has taken me 2 days to post this.
Perhaps I started too big?

I have/had a tall goose/embden around 30 weeks old. It was big and aggresive, attcked my kitten on occasions.
On Sunday it was just so aggresive I decided it had to go. I am not even sure if it was male or female, further research showed that even if female I can expect 10/30 eggs per annum. Well that is no good to me. i feed all my birds on the best as i think they deserve the best is they are to give me the ultimate sacrifice.

I thought , dont think about it too much, bish bash, bosh, job done. I grabbed it and tied its legs and hung it to a weight lifting bar in the garden and used a Chineese cleaver I have for cooking as i know it is razor sharp to slice off its head. OMG!!!!!!!!!! Luckily it came off very easily. God knows how I would have coped if i would have had to hack or saw. (puke) it flapped its wings, head on floor and i felt physically sick.
I was surprised at how little blood there was actually. I let it hang there for an hour. I then dunked it in hot water and began plucking. Again i was not ready for the warm feeling and the soft down. Plucking is hard. The bird is warm and feels soft. It also takes a lot longer than I thought.

After what seemed an age I had something that looked a little like something you might find in a butchers shop. It had stubble feathers and was a lot smaller than the original goose though. I bought a blow torch and burnt off the extra feathers, this seemed to shrink the skin? I then hung it overnight. I now think it should have been longer?

Next day I got my razor sharp cleaver and set to processing.
The neck is hard. I dont know where it started or ended, i made a bit of a mess i think?
I made a cut on the other end and placed my hand in. Can you imagine?!!!!!!!!!!!
It felt like squiddging jelly mixed with uncooked spaghetti. Vile, Gross!
i had a massive goose up to my forearm. I should have started with a quail or something?

I pulled and the resulting wobbling quivering expulsion resulting in a technicolour mass of giblets and guts make me heave.
I ran the water closed my eyes and blindly threw the disembowlement in a waste bag.
I washed out the carcass and even then had to pick out the odd tube and bits and bobs.

The result was an obvious amatuer attempt at processing.

We ate it today. probably a bit early, but I NEEDED to know there was a reason for my actions.
I cant honestly say i enjoyed it as i still feel a bit bad. But I DO know it was good.

My advice to anyone contemplating their first kill and proceessing:
It is not easy.
Each stage brings its own problems, from the morals to the mechanics.
I know my goose had a great life and I despatched it quickly and as humanely as I could.
Make sure you knife is as sharp as you can as hacking would be unbearable.
Once it is dead you cant leave it.
I considered this!
It died for your food and you have an obligation to carry that trough.
I was physically sick at beheading my goose but once I had I had to finish the job or I had killed it for nothing.
Each stage i had to convince myself that the stage before was wrong unless I continued, and that is how i got through.

Once I had it feathered and processed i kind of accepted it was ok?
I cant honestly say i enjoyed eating it as the memory was all a bit too fresh.

I have two cocks i have to do this weekend as they are getting older.
I started big so hopefully these two will be ok?

Best of luck to anyone about to do their first. I am sure many of the old hands are wondering what the fuss is and maybe one day I and others will feel the same?
I hope the writings of my first experience will help others.

Best Regards

Tony

 

[galanie]

Next time try to get it in the fridge faster. But yes, you are right about most of what you said, especially the SHARP knife part. Sharp as a surgeon's scalpel or a razor blade if you can. Some even use disposable scalpels.

What helped me was reading somewhere here that once the head is off, it's just meat. So I had a non-see-through plastic bag and got the head in there as quick as I could. And then, it was pretty much just meat. But I did feel weird about it. And I did cry as it was flopping around even though I turned so I couldn't see it do that.

But it gets easier. I promise.

 

[Glenmar]

Thanks. I have 11 roos to do at the end of next month. It will be my first time too. I am

 

[Tony101775]

Good Luck Glenmar,

Are you going to do all 11 at once?
Do you have a plucker? As it seemed to take me ages to pluck my goose.
11 would take all day at my pace, and yes I did put it in hot water first.
Maybe I am just naturally slow.

I have decided I am going to process my two Cocks tonight, That was i can age them till Sunday and have one for Sunday dinner and perhaps freeze the other.
I have them both seperated at the moment and have not fed them since last night as i heard it is a cleaner job if they go 24 hours without food.

I will post again when the deed is done

Best Regards

Tony

 

[Tony101775]

Ok I came home from work this afternoon and i did it.
Was it any easier than first time , no.
I did the first bird and it went ok.
I cannot beleive how small they look once they are plucked.
As the Mirans were black the feathers seemed to show up more and even tiny ones look huge.
The second one was a disaster.
I dont know if I soaked it in the hot water for too long but as soon as i plucked the skin came away too?
I decided just to cut off the legs and the breast meat as it was kind of falling apart?
The leg and thigh look fine. The breast is pathetic. barely a slither of meat. i have a lot to learn.
The good bird is soaking in water at the moment and i will gut it later. The legs and thighs have been thoroughly washed and are resting in the fridge.
I am planning on eating the whole bird and the portions for sunday dinner. It is thursday afternoon/early evening in the Uk so that will be approx 3 full days resting in the fridge, would that be about right? Or should I eat the portions sooner?

One more thing that i have not seen mentioned on this site, although it probably is somewhere and I just havent found it is what MIGHT happen when one plucks the chicken.

Glenmar my friend, be prepared for a shock when you pluck.

I cut of the Chickens head, let it bleed out for a while and prepared the hot water.
I dunked the bird and began plucking. I am not good at this and was feeling very guity. I pulled at a tail feather and I swear the bloody thing clucked.
I poop myself and jumped back. I pulled again in the same place and sure enough it clucked again.
It had been decapitated, hung and drowned and it was still crowing.
I tried this a few times and it happened again and again. I looked to see if its head was actually off. Proper put me off I can tell you.
After 3 or 4 times it stopped clucking. I guess there was still air in the lungs and it was passing over the vocal chords as i pulled at it.?
So just warning any first timers be prepared, I wasnt and i can tell you it really made me jump.

Good luck to all and please share info as i am learning but I am really bad at it.

Best Regards

Tony

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
It is best to remove the guts promptly as leaving them in the carcus can result in contamination of the meat quite quickly.

 

[Tony101775]

Thank you

I have done it

When I said later i was only refering to after I had downed a whisky to get over the post mortem clucking. It is done and soaking at the moment I will put in the fridge after a couple more whiskies.

Actually I found the gutting easier this time. I think I was a bit more confident and knew what to expect re the feel.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
I am going to have to try that. We have 50 to do this weekend, so I'm going to need a few bottles to get me thru it. I hope I don't cut a finger off towards the end.

Actually I found the gutting easier this time. I think I was a bit more confident and knew what to expect re the feel.

Perhaps it was the whiskey kicking in.

What's your brand/type of whiskey?​

 

[Tony101775]

Why the sarcasm?

I thought this was a friendly forum?

 

[galanie]

I don't think he meant to be anything but light-hearted there. I have to admit, I'd have needed a whiskey too if I pulled a decapitated birds tail and it clucked. The next day I'd probably laugh myself silly but that day, I'd need a drink.