How to skin a chicken?

[Miss Lydia]

We have always processed our chickens by the boiling water hand plucking method, but i have heard that skinning is much easier and faster. Can anyone give me their method or point me to any online videos? I have been looking online and haven't found anything on how to do it. Thanks

 

[yinepu]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36358

here ya go

 

[Denninmi]

Not much to it. You slit the skin along the breast bone, and start peeling it off. Be sure to do each bird as you kill it -- the skin is much easier to remove immediately, if it sets for as little as 10-15 minutes after death it becomes a lot harder.

Basically, it peels off like a glove, with just a little help in certain spots, such as along the backbone above the tail, where its more firmly attached. And, the skin on the two outer segments of the wings are very hard to remove, due to the large feather shafts. I find it easiest to trim that off with a sharp knife or poultry shears.

Yes, I basically don't ever foresee plucking most of my birds, since we discard the skin anyway. Total time for me to skin a chicken is probably 2 to 3 minutes, counting the time it takes to trim away the wing skin as mentioned above.

 

[Wheeler Farms Chickens]

I found this yesterday.

 

[triplepurpose]

I've done it both ways, but I much prefer keeping the skin on. Skinning might be a little quicker, but the skin is essential for frying or roasting, and even if you are stewing, IMO the skin is important for a great broth. I think there's so much flavor and goodness in the skin it seems a terrible shame to waste it in the name of expedience. And besides, plucking doesn't take that long once you get the hang of it.

Just one man's opinion...

 

[Saltysteele]

Quote:
i second this one man's opinion. so, i guess that's 2 men's opinions

 

[geepy]

I second the man's opinion (woman here)

. The skin makes an awesome broth.

 

[Jocasta]

I had three to dispatch yesterday. I previously said that I hated plucking but in the past, I've not used hot water. I figured I'd just skin them as that'd be quicker. When I actually skinned the first one, I think it probably took me just as long as it would normally take to pluck the feathers lol! So with the second I got out my thermometer, added boiling water to a tub full of hot tap water to bring it up to 150f and sat the bird in there with a squirt of dish soap for abotu 30 seconds to a minute and then finally understood what I'd been reading about - had the whole thing plucked and dressed in about 15 minutes - and I've only done three previously spread over about a year so 15 minutes is pretty darn good going for a novice imo!

So, personally, I've actually found plucking no more hassle than skinning with the added bonus of extra fat and flavour for the meat.

 

[Saltysteele]

be careful with your water temps. you want 140 with a bit of detergent. dunk and swirl, take it out, dunk and swirl, take it out, dunk and swirl; aiming for 30 seconds or so, then check if feathers come off easily. if you get too much higher than 140, the skin will tear easier.

i don't know why the taking in and out helps, but it seems to. maybe it has to do with washing the oils off.

anyway, i can have 4 birds plucked in the time it takes you to skin yours

seriously, though, if you've got your water right, you can take pretty much all the feathers off with the swipe of the hand (well, in an area as wide as your hand can cover)

plucking is really pretty quick

 

[Wheeler Farms Chickens]

Quote:
i second this one man's opinion. so, i guess that's 2 men's opinions

I have to disagree with the skin being "essential" for frying and roasting. Unless it is different for home raised versus store bought. My wife and I are both good cooks and have not bought chicken with skin on in years. We fry, roast, grill, and put in the crock pot all the time and have tasty chicken. I plan on skinning because that is how I clean pheasants and the fact that I want skinless. However, since I am new to this, I might have to scald a couple just to try it out.