First timer - skin and de-breast a chicken

[Yard full o' rocks]

Well.....I have a bunch of young birds growing out and figured that this year would be a good time to try "home grown" chicken. My first hatch this season was 11 cockerels and 1 pullet, so I have soem to "practice on"

Was thinking of trying it first by skinning and de-breasting a few just to see how it tastes before I go crazy butchering a bunch. Is there anyone that can give me a little guidance as to how to go about this? I figure skinned and de-breasted would be a lot easier than plucking and all that.

Any advise would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Scott

 

[Oregon Blues]

You'd be throwing away a lot of meat. If you skin the whole bird, you get a lot of meat in the thighs. Backs make excellent broth, if you don't like to eat them.

If all you want to do is breast then you don't even have to gut or completely skin. Just peel back the skin over the breast and use a boning knife to remove the meat from the bone. Wrap it air tight and refrigerate for a couple of days before either cooking or freezing.

The meat will be very close to fat free without the skin, so take care you don't dry it out as you cook it.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

⬆ Good answer.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Quote:
Thanks!!

If I skin the whole bird is "gettin' the guts and stuff" out very difficult? I'm a deer/rabbit hunter so dressing something is not a big deal....just need to know how to do it and I really dont want to go the route of plucking (at least not yet)

Thanks again

 

[Blaineiac]

I skin about half of mine. Once skinned, I first remove the leg quarters. Then flipover and cut the breast out. Once the breast is loose the bottom of the wing joint is visible and easily seperated. The guts remain undisturbed and the feathers and carcass goes to the hogs. I still grill them skinless. Just marinade in It dressing and baste with olive oil while cooking. Looks and tastes wonderful right off the smoker. Plucking isn't bad either, but I need to do atleast 5 to make it worth heating the water. Good Luck

 

[Young Heritage]

If you can dress a deer you should have no problems with a chicken. There is a few video tutorials on you tube that I referenced to learn how. Below is the first part of 2. They are skinning and not plucking.

 

[SpringChickens]

Its really easy to eviscerate the birds, regardless of whether you pluck them or skin them. Personally, I start at the neck and cut out the crop and loosen up the esophogus and trachea so it pulls out from below easier, then cut a circle around the anus and work my hand in and pull everything out. You'll need to make sure you get all of the lungs (air sacs) out. They make a special lung scraper tool, but I can do it with my hand fairly easily, and I usually cut the tail off to get rid of the scent gland, but you can just cut the gland if you want to eat the tail.

With anything but meat birds, I usually like to do some sort of slow cooking technique involving water or other moisture so the bird drying out isn't a huge problem. Rooster enchiladas are my favorite!

 

[BrokenRoadFarm]

Quote:
Ok....I have to say, I had a hard time reading this post, while looking at the avatar of the sweet little smiling girl to the left of it!!!

Very good info though

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Ok, you guys are GREAT, thanks!

I can definitely do the "skin 'em and cut 'em up method" using that video as a guide. THANKS

Glad you talked me out of just breasting them.....I see homemade chix and dumplins' in my future.

One more quick question (sorry!!). I see a lot of these folks putting the dressed chicken in ice water in a cooler. How long do you need to do that before you package them up and put them in the freezer??

Thanks again...y'all helped me tremendously

 

[1AcreRooster]

I skinned my first 4 yesterday, easy as pie! Much better than dealing with all those feathers! I think 24 hours in the fridge, then freeze or fire up the grill!