Processing birds in winter

[infinitepizza]

Hey.

I've got 3 dual-purpose-breed cockerels I'm thinking of putting in my freezer before they get too aggressive. I've processed birds before using my neighbor's plucker. Problem now is that it's freezing outside all the time now, and the plucker requires liquid water being sprayed into it. Has anyone used one in the cold before? Is it a bad idea?

Speaking from experience, I know that trying to pluck one bird in my warm kitchen, by hand, is a bad idea. I can imagine that trying to do 3 birds in my warm kitchen, by hand, would be an ever worse idea.

What do y'all do about processing birds in the winter?

 

[CNJ]

Speaking from experience, I know that trying to pluck one bird in my warm kitchen, by hand, is a bad idea. I can imagine that trying to do 3 birds in my warm kitchen, by hand, would be an ever worse idea.

There are 2 temperature control knobs on my water heater. I turn both of them to 150F and wait a couple hours. The water that comes out of my faucet is 150F which is perfect for plucking feathers. I fill a pot up with hot water, drop my chicken in and set the timer for 2 minutes. I use 2 wooden spatulas and rock the chicken's head and tail up and down with the feet down. After 2 minutes, the feathers come right off, its not hard to do. It takes about 5 minutes to pluck the feather off one bird. I kill, pluck, gut and bag 1 bird at a time. I can do 4 birds a day, I get tired after that. I freeze the guts, feather and blood in my freezer and take it out on rubbish day.

I like to slow cook 5 months or older birds for 6 hours in my Breville smart oven. I flip them over after 3 hours and seal the pan with aluminum foil. I use a cup of water for each bird. After the chicken is done, I take the chicken out and put the dripping in the ice box after it cools to touch. Then I scoop out the fat and put the strip meat back into the drippings and warm it up before serving. I think it taste better than cooking it in my pressure cooker.

I also save the fat and use it as cooking oil.

 

[Molpet]

I wait for a day above freezing. I prefer 45 and sunny

 

[Mosey2003]

I will sometimes use my utility sink in the basement if I have one to do in the winter.

I would not try to use the plucker outside with a hose when it's below freezing.

I say skin em. It's still a bit messy but you can do that in your kitchen sink.

 

[smizell1949]

We just processed 30 meat birds this past Saturday (Dec 3), and while all went well, I was very surprised to see that several birds looked like their skin was sunburned. We've been processing birds for several years now, and I've never seen this before. Of course, we've never processed in late fall - usually in late Spring or early Fall. So, my question is - Are they safe to eat? And what could have caused the red skin? We had several newbies participate and I'm wondering if they did something wrong during bleed out or scalding? Any info would be much appreciated. The chickens were Cornish Xs.

 

[Molpet]

We just processed 30 meat birds this past Saturday (Dec 3), and while all went well, I was very surprised to see that several birds looked like their skin was sunburned. We've been processing birds for several years now, and I've never seen this before. Of course, we've never processed in late fall - usually in late Spring or early Fall. So, my question is - Are they safe to eat? And what could have caused the red skin? We had several newbies participate and I'm wondering if they did something wrong during bleed out or scalding? Any info would be much appreciated. The chickens were Cornish Xs.

I have had a couple like this. I have heard stress or not bleeding out properly. I put salt in the water and that seems to pull out the discoloration.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't get winter. But I also don't generally process my dual purpose males at an age where baking is an optimal cooking method, so I simply disrobe them and skip all the plucking.