Need recommendations on how-to videos for processing cockerel

[WingItRanch]

At age 12 weeks plus for non-meat chickens, I remove the head with an axe on a stump stretching the neck letting the body hang the other side. If you put the neck over the stump correctly it will struggle pushing feet against the side of the stump. When it stops struggling, and goes lightly limp is the best/safest time to chop. (When the heart stops beating the chicken although it is feathered is not bloody. just like a store chicken.) After the dance, I remove the feet and wings. Then poke into the skin and make a slice so you can grab the skin with your hand, the skin will come off like a coat, I don't pluck. Fold the legs back at the joint cut them off. Flip over, remove shoulder blades from ribs, then carefully cut away breast from body. If you have cats and dogs, save the heart and liver. don't bother with the guts. The rest of the body can be tossed.

So you part the meat out as you go?

 

[gimmie birdies]

I do the skinning, and meat parts before refrigeration.

 

[Molpet]

So you part the meat out as you go?

I have parted out as I go also.
If I'm not going to use the back, no freezer room, I don't gut.

I have cut the bone in breast off.
This is a turkey, but it shows how I cut along the ribs for bone in breast without gutting.

 

[WingItRanch]

I have parted out as I go also.
If I'm not going to use the back, no freezer room, I don't gut.

I have cut the bone in breast off.
This is a turkey, but it shows how I cut along the ribs for bone in breast without gutting.


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What kind of knife do you use?

 

[Molpet]

What kind of knife do you use?

For the ribs I use oxo chicken shears , I have other kitchen shears/scissors that haven't worked.
https://www.oxo.com/shop/kitchenwar...lMFpHSAG4D1-DQiXQVugnF7jWZfTg6BQaAkK1EALw_wcB

I have a set of butcher knives that I rarely use most of them. A fillet knife for boneless breasts I do use.
My knife set is this brand but wasn't this much.
https://www.swissknifeshop.com/products/fibrox-pro-field-butcher-dressing-kit-by-victorinox

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use a knife with replaceable blade, can't remember which brand. To keep the blade sharp I use kitchen shears to cut off the feet, cut off the neck, and along the ribs to separate the breast. Anywhere I need to work with bones.

I use a hatchet and stump to kill the chicken and part as I go. I use the wings, neck, back, feet, gizzard, and heart (plus bones from the cooked chicken) for broth. But we all do this in many different ways, there is no one right way for any of this. Just many different ways that work. There can be a lot of trial and error in finding the way that works best for you.

 

[WingItRanch]

I honestly didn't even think of kitchen shears. That probably would have been a lot easier!

Thank you all for the great advice!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

After I get my chilled processed chickens back from my butcher, I put them in the refrigerator and let them rest for 3 to 5 days before moving them to the freezer. This helps tenderize the meat, as it allows rigor mortis to pass. If I parted out the meat instead of harvesting the whole bird, @Ridgerunner, would it still be advisable to do this? To save freezer space I'm thinking of parting out my next batch of birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If I parted out the meat instead of harvesting the whole bird, @Ridgerunner, would it still be advisable to do this?

You need to age them to let rigor mortis pass, whether you part them or not. Do not stack them so thick in the fridge or freezer that the packages in the middle can't cool or freeze fast enough to be safe.

To save freezer space I'm thinking of parting out my next batch of birds.

That is certainly a benefit for me. Freezer space is critical, especially when harvesting things from the garden. I'll often make a batch of chicken broth from the bits saved from the carcass to clear up enough room to freeze tomatoes until I have enough of them to make tomato sauce.

 

[FunClucks]

My favorite skinning knife for chickens. Something about the thickness of the metal, bendability/lack thereof, curve of the blade tip, etc. makes this perfect for separating out skin from meat and connective tissues, removing leg skin, and back skin from the bird without cutting too deeply, puncturing anything I'd rather not, etc. I'll use a paring knife (type) to cut around the legs to get started and cut off those best-attached pin feathers on the middle wing section (the part that won't skin), but everything else, this knife works the best for me, and I've tried a few. Thought I'd share.

https://dexter1818.com/sani-safe-4-...-SVsDJsv5KDyMX45lqg2ptkYiwC04NsTxOXL2Ptl12H9l