So I have a small batch of birds ready to go and I did 12 of them today. For anyone that wants parted skinless birds this is by far the easy way that I have found. I have 2 Maremma dogs now protecting the flock and I have been doing the RAW dog food diet which includes of course chicken with bones but many of the vets say all the guts too. Sooooo in order to do that and not be too icky here is the way I was told. And it works great, very easy!
Kill and hang as usual, then hose off all the mud or poop they may have on them. I have hot water at an outside tap so for me this was easy. A bath with some soap in the water would also work, then a rinse. Put them in ice water. As it is October now I just filled the water containers the night before and Mom nature helped me with the ice part, there was a skiff on the top in the morning. Leave them to cool for an hour. So now you have a firm bird. Rinse again if there is anything you see that loosened up with the soak, or like I did just rinse again in case.
Put on a cutting board (on the tailgate of my truck, or whathaveyou) and with a sharp knife cut the flight feathers off the second part of the wing in one slice towards the wing tip and when you get to that joint cut through it so the wing tip comes off with the flight feathers. Discard. Do the other wing. Your taking the flight feathers and the skin they are anchored in right off the leading edge of the wing.
Put the bird on it's back on cutting board. Cut the feet and shanks off through the knee and discard. Cut the skin up the midline and then tear open to the base of the neck and the vent pulling it aside as much as you can. Cut through most of the way down a leg and get your fingers under pulling the skin over the end of the drumstick. If you keep it in one piece this is really easy, the trick is to not cut it very far towards the leg, just pull it so it comes off like a sock. Pull the skin around to near the back on both sides and do the same for the wings as the legs. YES! skinless wings without the huge hassle! Then pull to separate the crop from the top of the breasts and for now your done skinning.
Here I rinsed my gloves and the bird with fresh water. So your looking at a bird on it's back with all the skin off and pulled back to the cutting board. Take the breasts off boneless and put in your clean container. Take the wings and the legs off and do the same. Do the breasts first as the wings and legs help support the bird upright on the cutting board.
Now if you have a dog (or want to sell to the RAW followers) continue the skinning by cutting the skin at the vent right through the tail, and pulling the skin off the back right up to the top of the neck. If you did not take the head off trim it now off the top of the neck and discard with the skin.
Put the dog bit in a bag for freezing. Hose off the cutting board and knife.
Done. About 10 minutes a bird alone. Only waste is the head skin/feathers and feet (but if you want them you can save them too) If find my dogs leave them about the yard and I don't like looking at them so I waste them.
After the cleaning and the soak don't do anything more to disturb the intestinal system until you are done with taking off the human consumption meat to keep your work area clean.
I wish I had a extra person to take pictures of the steps, I have 20 more to do tomorrow. On the learning curve I did 12 in 2.5 hours today, but I know the last one I did in just less than 10 minutes.
Kill and hang as usual, then hose off all the mud or poop they may have on them. I have hot water at an outside tap so for me this was easy. A bath with some soap in the water would also work, then a rinse. Put them in ice water. As it is October now I just filled the water containers the night before and Mom nature helped me with the ice part, there was a skiff on the top in the morning. Leave them to cool for an hour. So now you have a firm bird. Rinse again if there is anything you see that loosened up with the soak, or like I did just rinse again in case.
Put on a cutting board (on the tailgate of my truck, or whathaveyou) and with a sharp knife cut the flight feathers off the second part of the wing in one slice towards the wing tip and when you get to that joint cut through it so the wing tip comes off with the flight feathers. Discard. Do the other wing. Your taking the flight feathers and the skin they are anchored in right off the leading edge of the wing.
Put the bird on it's back on cutting board. Cut the feet and shanks off through the knee and discard. Cut the skin up the midline and then tear open to the base of the neck and the vent pulling it aside as much as you can. Cut through most of the way down a leg and get your fingers under pulling the skin over the end of the drumstick. If you keep it in one piece this is really easy, the trick is to not cut it very far towards the leg, just pull it so it comes off like a sock. Pull the skin around to near the back on both sides and do the same for the wings as the legs. YES! skinless wings without the huge hassle! Then pull to separate the crop from the top of the breasts and for now your done skinning.
Here I rinsed my gloves and the bird with fresh water. So your looking at a bird on it's back with all the skin off and pulled back to the cutting board. Take the breasts off boneless and put in your clean container. Take the wings and the legs off and do the same. Do the breasts first as the wings and legs help support the bird upright on the cutting board.
Now if you have a dog (or want to sell to the RAW followers) continue the skinning by cutting the skin at the vent right through the tail, and pulling the skin off the back right up to the top of the neck. If you did not take the head off trim it now off the top of the neck and discard with the skin.
Put the dog bit in a bag for freezing. Hose off the cutting board and knife.
Done. About 10 minutes a bird alone. Only waste is the head skin/feathers and feet (but if you want them you can save them too) If find my dogs leave them about the yard and I don't like looking at them so I waste them.
After the cleaning and the soak don't do anything more to disturb the intestinal system until you are done with taking off the human consumption meat to keep your work area clean.
I wish I had a extra person to take pictures of the steps, I have 20 more to do tomorrow. On the learning curve I did 12 in 2.5 hours today, but I know the last one I did in just less than 10 minutes.
