Processing tools and equipment

[Maeschak]

I skin all mine since we rarely eat whole or bone-in chicken. I have a stump with three screws drilled into it to set the neck in and stretch the neck out. A hatchet from TSC that cost less than $10. I use my regular kitchen knives, mainly just a butcher knife and a smaller paring knife, and a cutting board. A trash can to throw stuff in until I dump it in the field for the vultures and whatever else. I do two batches of clean water and when I finish one it goes into one tub of water, when i finish the next I move the previous to a clean batch of water, dump the dirty water and refill and toss the more recent one in. In that way each is soaked twice in clean cool water. When I'm done they are stuffed into a stock pot and slow cooked until all the meat falls off. The meat is collected and cooled, then used that night or vacuum sealed and frozen. The bones stay in the pot and some vegetables like onion and carrot and seasonings are added and I make broth, which is also frozen.

@SunHwaKwon - Do you have any problems with water-logging of the flesh when you soak/cool your skinned chickens in water? I have some old layers that I am going to skin before fall and was worried about soaking the skinless carcasses in water when cooling.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

Unless preparing a special bird for a special occasion, our young birds were spatchcocked, rinsed in clean water, then laid in ice. They cool much faster that way, pack more efficiently, thaw faster, and cook faster. Easier to portion for my family too. Either skinned or plucked, just keeping them in ice didn't seem to waterlog them. They didn't float around in water, and probably didn't spend more than about 30 minutes in the ice, even on a day when we did large numbers of birds. We did drain them and pat them off before sealing and freezing.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Ah yes, good old autocorrect lol

I only get about a half pound of meat per bird since they are so small. I actually think it's easier to just cook them right away. Stuff them in a stock pot, cover with water and a lid, and walk away. Bone removal can be a bit tedious sometimes, especially trying to get all the ribs and vertebrae. Still, it doesn't take all that long. The butchering is the slow part, mainly because I have to be really careful around the back end. I've knicked the intestines too many times trying to circle the cloaca.

Putting cooked shredded meat in the freezer takes up a lot less room than whole birds or even bone-in sections and its ready to go next time you get a hankering for chicken and dumplings or enchiladas or chicken tortilla soup, etc.

As far as rigor setting in, I am very fast with the actual killing part because it is the part I hate most. I do not do cones and slits, I just put the neck between two screws on my stump, chop the head off and toss the body down to do its thing. If they are kicking a lot, or still "breathing" a lot, then I hold them by the feet to help the blood drain and reflexes subside faster. Go get the next one and repeat and try not to think about what I am doing other than being quick, efficient and safe and not get the bird worked up. Then when I start processing I go in order of how I killed them.

One thing you could try doing is put a lot of ice in an ice chest and as you kill them put them in a trash bag on the ice to start cooling them down faster. That may or may not help. You definitely have a bigger window to work in if you butcher in March v July, so I think the ice might help.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

As far as legs being stiff, if they are in the way just yank them back and break them. It's not going to hurt the bird, obviously. Easiest way is to just lay the bird on its back and then firmly and quickly move both legs outward toward the work surface at the same time.

 

[aart]

As far as legs being stiff, if they are in the way just yank them back and break them. It's not going to hurt the bird, obviously. Easiest way is to just lay the bird on its back and then firmly and quickly move both legs outward toward the work surface at the same time.

Dislocating legs might work on an 8wk old CX, or maybe even a 13wk cockerel...but not sure it would on a old hen...will keep that in mind tho.
It only takes me about 10-15 minutes to kill/scald/pluck.
By then legs are locked up from rigor, I assume.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I think it would. I used that same technique on a year old rooster, but that is the oldest bird I have butchered. He was a royal PITA to skin.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

We used a long handled bypass pruner to take legs off our older birds and things like turkeys. If you keep it sharp you don't get splintered bones. Don't use an anvil pruner on birds as it WILL splinter bones, in my experience anyway. I prefer cutting into the joint from the front, snapping forward, then cutting from the back if needed. Once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly. And having sharp blades that can be honed/sharpened along with the appropriate sharpening equipment is paramount.