Set up your processing station in advance, and walk through the steps before you start. Preparation shall set you free! You do not want to wind up searching for the knife when the bird is in the cone, or struggling to reach a towel to mop up a spill. Have a place for everything, and make an effort to keep everything in its place.
I set up my processing station as follows:
Killing station is a ladder with the cone zip tied to the fold out shelf. I clothes pin a trash bag to the ladder so that the bottom of the cone is inside the bag. This way the blood goes directly into the bag and the splatters when the bird flails around at the end are trapped. It also mean the bird is in a dark space, so I think there is less struggling.
My scalding station is about 3 feet from the killing station, and beside a sink. I move the bird from the cone to the sink and give it a good rinse to get off any poop and other dirt before it goes into the scalding pot. My pot is the base of my big pressure canner. I scald until the wing feathers come out instead of lifting the chicken out of the water. I pull the chicken out and hold it over the sink until the dripping slows down, then move to my plucking station.
The plucking station Is about 6 feet away from the scalding station. I have my new Power Plucker drill plucker clamped to a table and a frame with plastic drop cloth covering it to stop the feathers from shooting everywhere.
Once the bird is plucked, I move to the cleaning table, which is next to the scalding station. That is where I finish plucking, gut the bird and cut it up if I want parts.
I don't have anyone to help me, so I won't do more than 3 birds at a time. By the time I am done with 3, I have enough poop left that I can do a thorough clean up, take a shower, get a lovely beverage and settle down to watch Dooms Day Preppers Bugged Out.
I set up my processing station as follows:
Killing station is a ladder with the cone zip tied to the fold out shelf. I clothes pin a trash bag to the ladder so that the bottom of the cone is inside the bag. This way the blood goes directly into the bag and the splatters when the bird flails around at the end are trapped. It also mean the bird is in a dark space, so I think there is less struggling.
My scalding station is about 3 feet from the killing station, and beside a sink. I move the bird from the cone to the sink and give it a good rinse to get off any poop and other dirt before it goes into the scalding pot. My pot is the base of my big pressure canner. I scald until the wing feathers come out instead of lifting the chicken out of the water. I pull the chicken out and hold it over the sink until the dripping slows down, then move to my plucking station.
The plucking station Is about 6 feet away from the scalding station. I have my new Power Plucker drill plucker clamped to a table and a frame with plastic drop cloth covering it to stop the feathers from shooting everywhere.
Once the bird is plucked, I move to the cleaning table, which is next to the scalding station. That is where I finish plucking, gut the bird and cut it up if I want parts.
I don't have anyone to help me, so I won't do more than 3 birds at a time. By the time I am done with 3, I have enough poop left that I can do a thorough clean up, take a shower, get a lovely beverage and settle down to watch Dooms Day Preppers Bugged Out.
