My 1st butcher batch - will you review my plan?

[rjohns39]

I appreciate all of the advice! We got everything done on Saturday. We were surprised at how much bigger the breasts and thighs were than store-bought! They were 8.5 weeks when they were processed. I think we'll take a couple of months off, and then do a slightly bigger batch in February

I had a couple of 8 pounders in my last batch.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I actually scald and gut indoors all the time. Absolutely do it if you think you need to do some inside! You will drip, but if you have linoleum/plastic/smooth floors you can just wipe it up. Use a little bleach, vinegar or lysol type wipes to clean it up. The cleanup will be a pain but it's not unreasonable.

 

[jennifer0224]

I'm excited about the meat of course, but also the stock. Since we quartered them all, I have 15 backbones / ribs and 30 feet. I just made some stock out of 1 carcass and 2 feet and it made 12 cups!

It went well! We were pretty efficient after the first couple. We plucked together, and then I would gut them and take off the feet and wings while he gathered another bird and calmed it and wrapped it in a towel (we had a couple break their wings against the block during the flapping phase). He'd kill the bird while I stopped to hold it's feet, and then he'd take it in to scald it while I finished up with the previous bird. I'd put it in the ice water (5 at a time, then we'd refrigerate), and I'd be ready to pluck the next bird by the time he came back out. After we had them all done we took them inside and I finished cleaning them up in the sink and got the lungs that I somehow missed the first time around, while he quartered. Then we wrapped them up and bagged them. It took about 6 hours and we slept well that night!

They have been resting in the outside fridge since Saturday, and I figured I'd stick them in the freezer this afternoon.

My son was happy to help, but my girls whined the whole time that it was cold outside lol. Next time we'll arrange for Grandma to visit on butchering day.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

If you want to skip scalding you can always opt for skinning which is pretty fast. I do both methods but work outside.

When I scald I have someone in the house keeping pots full of water boiling and have a hot 5gal bucket outside for the water. It does take a while but its worth it. We are about to do the deed for someone who hates culling her own birds.

 

[jennifer0224]

The plucking actually went relatively quick! But, I noticed that 2 of the birds had breasts that were a little whitish on top, and wondered if we had scalded them too long and they started to cook? :-/

 

[rjohns39]

The plucking actually went relatively quick! But, I noticed that 2 of the birds had breasts that were a little whitish on top, and wondered if we had scalded them too long and they started to cook? :-/

that or a yellow tinge generally indicates over scald but doesn't affect meat quality in the long run.

 

[jennifer0224]

Oh good, because I went ahead and packaged it up anyway

 

[Morrigan]

Excellent job!

 

[jennifer0224]

 

[Birdinhand]

glad to hear it went well!