Immersion heater? and what size pot? to scald chickens and larger birds like small geese or turkeys?

[mominoz]

I got a yardbird plucker , now I realize I need a scalding pot and a way to heat water. (no more hand plucking ! mostly). I will be processing chickens, ducks, and small geese up to 10-12 lbs. as much as I can in the plucker. What size pot? and recommendations? I looked at turkey frying kits... could use propane, but have a plug on my barn backside that I could use for electric. Saw something about using an immersion heater? Anyone use one if so which one? or is propane the only way to heat the water? I'd rather use something less bulky than propane... Electric suits me fine if I can get heaters that work. Best quality or best buys on equipment? If I do geese I will need a taller pot I guess...(I never can figure out the search here, seems if I want to search BYC I have to go outside of it and type it in a search engine then it shows BYC searches... trying to search here is so frustrating for me...hate having to ask again...but...)

 

[feedman77]

I use the turkey fryers with a 30 qt pot I think. Works for chickens that are big. Would probably be fine for geese as well. Have seen pots upto 120 qt. On ebay restraunt supplies.

Electric scalders are nice but pricey. Check out rite farms scalders. I have never used the electric tank heaters (imersion type)

Have a yardbird as well.

 

[aart]

Saw something about using an immersion heater?

Never heard of that.
I suppose it would get water hot enough, but could is keep it there?
Look close at pot sizes before buying turkey pots I found to narrow for easy scalding/swirling.
I got a 13" diameter, not sure a goose would fit well.

 

[CindyinSD]

I got this pot: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085ZPZ20/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and this propane burner:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071ZM8YVC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've used this pot for 40lb (dressed weight) BBW turkeys. Too bad I didn't have a block & tackle to pull them out, but fitting them in wasn't a problem. The turkeys are too big for my plucker, but they're easy enough to pluck once scalded, so long as you have a secure place to hang them. Needlenose pliers for the long wing feathers on the heritage breeds.

You could use a water heater element installed permanently into a steel barrel, but that was more fiddling around than I wanted to do. You need your heat at 145-160° and you need good recovery. That means you're gonna want a large enough tank so that a) it stays hot enough during the scalding process, b) you can easily submerge your bird, & c) it can recover temperature before you need to scald the next bird. My ideal temp is 150-155°, but one can't be too picky about these things. Nothing's perfect. I squeeze a good squirt of Dawn in the pot to help the water penetrate through all the feathers.

If you do waterfowl, you'll also probably be floating some paraffin wax on the surface of your hot water which, to me, is yet another reason to use propane--but lots of people do use electric and they like it just fine. I don't know whether they use it for geese, though.

The propane heater works reasonably well. I would say very well, but it's windy here and I have to set up all sorts of make-shift windbreaks to keep it from blowing out. I really should build something but I haven't gotten around to it.

If you use a water heater element you'll need to start your water heating the night (or day) before and you'll likely need to insulate your tank (which can get messy unless you make some sort of permanent outdoor kitchen/processing area. And of course it suffers with regard to recovery time. The propane is easier for me. I use the size tank common for outdoor grilling.

I process alone and I generally do 2-3 chickens or 1 turkey all the way through to the drying racks before I start on another round. My problem is more how to keep the water from getting too hot without turning the burner down until I can't protect it well enough from the wind.

 

[R2elk]

Needlenose pliers for the long wing feathers on the heritage breeds.

If you need pliers to pull the wing feathers, you are not leaving the bird in the water long enough. I test for readiness by pulling a couple of wing feathers. When they are ready, the feathers come out easily.

 

[CindyinSD]

The skin was tearing a little as it was... could it be I left them on the hoof too long?

 

[R2elk]

The skin was tearing a little as it was... could it be I left them on the hoof too long?

Skin tearing means that the water was too hot. I do not have any problem scalding with 160°F water. Boiling water will cause skin tearing.

Blood draining stops as soon as the heart stops beating which is normally within 2 minutes of head removal if that is the method used. I scald within minutes of movement cessation. I only do one at a time.

 

[CindyinSD]

Unless my thermometer is off, the water was 155-60. I never got it up to boiling. I did some dry plucking first on one of the Narris--DD wanted feathers. The others went right into the pot. It wont easily hold more than one turkey and I sure couldn't manage more than one at a time... not turkeys anyway.

 

[R2elk]

Unless my thermometer is off, the water was 155-60. I never got it up to boiling. I did some dry plucking first on one of the Narris--DD wanted feathers. The others went right into the pot. It wont easily hold more than one turkey and I sure couldn't manage more than one at a time... not turkeys anyway.

I have had slight tearing at 170°F. It isn't necessary to dry pluck to save feathers. They dry out fine. Just separate them after plucking and dry them separately.

I move the turkey around, especially up and down during the scalding process in order to work the water through the feathers.

 

[aart]

I got this pot: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085ZPZ20/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nice 20"dia pot!