Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Elke Beck]

does it still count as healthy if I slather it in batter and fry it up till it is crispy and golden.

Nothing better than some good ol' southern fried chicken... I never buy chicken with the skin on but when we process we are going to leave the skin on and I can't wait for some fried chicken.

Hey, you are not just feeding your body, but also your soul. There is nothing better for the soul than really good fried chicken!

 

[Elke Beck]

I google and all I get is correction to "brining" chicken

Sally, the "official" term for it is pithing.

 

[Wax Myrtle]

How many do you process at a time?

do you choose a weekend to work through them?
also wondering what bag/s are used to freeze hole chickens? ziplocks are too small

I usually only do two at a time, but... I don't have a plucker. Someday (soon!) I hope to have one to speed it up. . I'm a stay at home mom (and we homeschool) and my DH wants nothing to do with processing. So, it's a week day, and before we start school. Again, I soon hope to have both a plucker and a helper. Specially since I've got 2 dozen plus CX growing out right now...

Before I ordered poultry freezer bags (I got mine from Meyer) I would first wrap whole birds in plastic wrap, then wrap in freezer paper. Of course, parts pack up nicely in standard freezer bags.

Edited to fix typo.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Dare I post My video of My process ?? (it is posted on my site )
It is Work I admit But you have to be prepared
I am all set up on my days
I have My gloves
My camera of course , My killing cones , my scalder and my home made Plucker
I have a process of how I do things , you have to come up with your own and at your own pace , Once you do a few roosters you will want to do meat birds
it is so rewarding , I ended up this year with 176 lbs of chicken and is it yummy also Knowing it is fresh and untouched by what ever go's in the birds you buy at the store.
take your time you can do it and i agree don't name your food Unless you name it dinner But good luck in what ever you do .

YES post it! this is the meat section of BYC anyone squeamish shouldn't be here, except those trying to get through it like me and I want to learn, and I think the more I see it and talk about it the more "norm" it seems! in one day I feel so much better already, I just wish they would be doing it this Wednesday instead of next! thank you for sharing!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Sally I tried to find a video online of someone skinning a chicken versus plucking and no luck. I don't recommend looking if your squeemish...I think some of the videos I watched were a bit more rough than I would be.

My DH is from Clearfield PA, west of central PA



On a side note I fry chicken all the time without the skin. Just batter it in a egg and flour mixture and it makes its own skin. Lots of flavor, moist etc. Yummy
What funny is DH who abhors skin even peels off the coating this creates. I keep telling him its not skin. I wonder if we could get some goat skin for him lol

Edited to say without skin.

does he skin his hotdogs too?
If he doesn't ask him why not?

your kidding me! he picks the good stuff off? Silly man! Goat skin would be a great joke!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: searching Thanks! pithing? that's a weird name for something

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: you do it all! Awesome!

yea cut up it would, DH said maybe since the brahma are so huge they would be better as a whole, but again I think for the first time and freezer space, cutting them up is best.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

How to Hypnotize a Chicken Source: zyra.tv

THIS is a bit weird but I found it while searching pithing, and if DH walks in on me doing this I will be divorced for sure!

This article was written by someone who used the hypnotized chickens for "parlor tricks". With a few changes, it can be used to butcher the chickens painlessly.

1. First catch your chicken. This should be done neatly without fuss. Avoid unseemly behavior such as chasing wild chickens around. Having a tame chicken is best.

2. Holding the chicken the right side up with the head uppermost, gently but firmly grasp the legs of the chicken underneath. It's important to have a good grip on both of the legs but to avoid squeezing too much. The claws should be arranged to avoid damage to you or to the chicken.

3. With deft sleight-of-hand, the chicken is swung speedily and carefully roll into the upside-down position, leaving you holding the chicken by the legs! This will surprise the chicken, but it will not be upset. Note that although it is no longer regarded as acceptable by magicians to lift a rabbit by the ears, rabbit ears are not designed by nature to hold the weight of the rabbit. In contrast, the legs of a chicken are easily strong enough to hold the weight of a chicken.

4. Hold on to your chicken. If it flaps its wings, the wing tips should not come into contact with anything. You have to be careful, for the safe well-being of the chicken and also to save your eyes from feather-damage.

5. Within a few seconds the chicken calms down and becomes accustomed to being upside-down. This usually happens quite quickly.

6. Being upside-down is interpreted by the brain of the chicken as being a condition in which it is appropriate to go into a state of sleep. Within half a minute or so, you have a sleeping chicken in your hands. Or at least, you have hold of the legs of a chicken which is mysteriously hanging there upside-down, asleep.

7. You can now stroke the chicken on the head, and under the chin, and straighten any feathers which might have been ruffled up.

8. It's now possible to carefully lower the chicken and lay it down on a flat surface. With practice it's possible to skillfully drape a sleeping chicken across the top of a television or a conveniently placed garden object. RT: At this point, tie the birds feet with a single piece of rope. The bird will later hang from this rope for butchering.

9. You can in effect leave the chicken on its back with its feet up in the air. This is an extraordinary sight and it beggars belief that a live chicken will remain in such a condition. However, I recommend you don't just walk away and leave it. Two minutes is plenty, and will adequately prove the point that you can definitely hypnotize a chicken.

RT: It is during this time the chicken is easily butchered...or given a post-hypnotic suggestion that it stop smoking. If you kill the chicken, you succeed in both goals. If you kill the bird, there is no step 10, either.

10. At some point, the chicken is roused and will resume its usual right-way-up state, with the feet on the ground, and will walk around almost as if nothing has happened. If anyone says "it still looks a bit dazed" then you're probably showing off your chicken hypnosis technique too much. Go easy on those chickens!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: you do it all! Awesome!

yea cut up it would, DH said maybe since the brahma are so huge they would be better as a whole, but again I think for the first time and freezer space, cutting them up is best.
It is really hard to split the breast on an old Rooster.....

 

[Sally Sunshine]

RIGOR MORTIS.... This I didn't know, or maybe didn't want to know!

"If you cook a bird that's been freshly killed it will very likely be extremely tough, as the muscles have not had time to relax after hardening in rigor mortis. That usually begins about 20 minutes after death, so if you're extremely fast you can cool and freeze a chicken before rigor mortis sets in. However more than likely your bird will have already started to toughen up by the time you get to chill it. ​

Meat needs to be stored for around 48 hours to give time for the muscles to relax again. Naturally in Australia this means refrigeration. You can either put the bird in the freezer right after that time or, having frozen it at once, let it stand in the fridge for one to two days until it's softened. "


Now when I buy chicken its already well beyond this stage and no brining is necessary or have I been making chicken wrong all along?