Mr Salt (thinking mister since most females don't call themselves old. Sorry if you are female.) and any others that have butchered their own chickens,
Once the killing, defeathering, and gutting part is done. What comes next if I plan to put the bird in my crockpot. He is at least 3 yrs old so not going to bake him.
I have this question posted in another thread too. In that thread I think I recall them posting not to cook the bird right after butchering. something about the bird needing to sit.
Tomorrow or Friday night will be the big night. How long should I plan for it to take?
I'm thinking the first step is to catch that roo, boil the water to mix with room temp water in a large bucket, once the water is around 190 then kill and drain bird while the water cools to 160 / 170. Dip, spin test feathers repeat till feathers come out easily. gut and remove neck. This is where I'm stuck at right now.
THANK YOU again for answering all of my questions.
Sally, "Old Salt" is a play on sailors. I adopted the moniker when I got interested in Salt Water Aquariums. You can call me John.
Watch the video
several times until you are familiar with the process. The last time I actually did this was when I was a 13 year old boy. That was 55 years ago.
You won't have the defeathering machine, so you have to hand pick all the feathers, just like I did back then.
Catch the chicken. I use a straightened coat hanger. Bend a hook on one end. At the open end i leave a 1 1/2" gap. At the bend it should taper down to about 3/8". This is for hooking the chicken's leg. I bend a loop on the other end for a handle and so I know which way the hook end is pointing. In one sweeping motion you swing the wire against his leg and pull toward you, snagging his leg above the ankle. Easiest way I have ever known to catch an unwilling chicken.
Remove the chicken's head and drop him in the grass. He will flop around "like a chicken with his head cut off". Now you know the origin of the term.
In a pot of hot water - not boiling, but nearly so - while holding the bird by the feet, dunk it in the water several times until the feathers easily pull off. You don't want to cook the skin, but under scalding will make the feather picking difficult.
Sit down and start picking feathers. Some will easily rub right off. Some of the flight feathers may take some effort to pull out. Mom always made me get all the little feathers off the neck because Dad liked the neck and wanted the skin on it. Avenge me. Skin the blasted neck and throw the skin away.
When picked clean, there will be some fine hairs on the skin (maybe 6 or 8 per square inch). Use a propane torch or gas stove or camp stove or some such to singe them off. Or you could use tweezers.
Gut the bird per the video. His instructions were excellent. If you have poultry shears or kitchen scissors, they will be better than a big old butcher knife. They could also take care of the beheading task.
Cut off the feet per the video. Remember, you are cutting the TENDONS at the joint, not the bone itself.
If you are doing the crockpot thing, save yourself the trouble of feather picking and just skin it.
For a 3-year old bird, you might want to pressure cook him first and then put him in the crock pot on low with sufficient liquid for an overnight low cook.
Have a supply of frozen pizzas ready in case the process goes to h*ll and you need a backup plan.
John
. I love the chicks, just need better customer service..
