Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Molpet]

I have a folding table that I could have set up. But I did not want to have to clean it all up afterwards to get the chicken guts off. So, I just used that partial solid top pallet I picked up a few weeks ago. When I was done with it, I just hosed it down with the garden hose.

I used a cutting board with grooves in it to catch any blood. However, I discovered that by hanging the chickens upside down by their feet over a bucket, then slitting their throats, that all the blood was drained out of the birds into the bucket before I brought them to the butchering table.

Looks like you have a pretty nice setup for butchering chickens. Do you have meat chickens that you process? I see you invested in a chicken plucker, so you must be much more serious than me. The only investment I have made is I bought a turkey fryer last year to heat up a large pot of soaking water. That worked well for me this year. Of course, I can use the turkey fryer for other things as well, so it was not a dedicated purchase just for processing the few chickens I have to butcher each year.

I have meat mutts chickens, part CX, and heritage turkeys.
I eat either a 5lb chicken or half a turkey a week. Almost all are homegrown.
Before I got covid I was harvesting 6 chickens and 2 turkeys at a time.
Nowadays I do 2 chickens or a turkey at a time.

The old injured birds I have harvested get tender after a couple hours of pressure cooking

 

[gtaus]

The old injured birds I have harvested get tender after a couple hours of pressure cooking

I bought Dear Wife a really nice pressure cooker years ago, but she has never used it. It's just sitting in a closet up on a shelf. If the chicken soup does not work out for us, I'll mention the pressure cooker option.

BTW, I looked up that Yardbird Chicken Plucker on my laptop, and now every second or third advertisement on my TV's YouTube device is Yardbird Chicken Plucker ads! I'm not joking. Amazing how looking up on thing on one device is automatically noticed by all the other devices on my home internet. I have to say, it's a really nice looking plucker. I just can't justify the cost for only 4 chickens per year.

 

[Sally PB]

I bought Dear Wife a really nice pressure cooker years ago

I love my Instant Pot. I made butternut squash for dinner tonight in it.

 

[gtaus]

I love my Instant Pot. I made butternut squash for dinner tonight in it.

I don't have an instant pot. I have some old timer crock pots and that unused pressure cooker in the closet. I know people who have those Instant Pots really like them.

When I was attending the Senior Citizens Cooking Class, we had one demonstration of cooking with Instant Pots. Most of us felt they were nice, if you needed something faster than a crock pot, but not something we needed to rush and buy if we already had working crock pots. Even our instructors were kind of warm on the idea of buying an Instant Pot telling us that if/when your crock pot or pressure cooker dies, then upgrade to the Instant Pot. I know the Instant Pot has a number of other features, like a Rice Cooker, but we have that one too (Dear Wife is from the Philippines).

I have considered buying a nice Instant Pot and getting rid of all the other crock pots, pressure cooker, and rice cooker. One device to rule them all!

 

[chickengr]

First thing that came to my mind as well.



Yeah, I figured. I only butcher, or plan to butcher, maybe 4 chickens per year. I just can't see investing hundreds of dollars in a plucker for 4 birds per year. It sure would be nice, though. If I had meat chickens to process every year, then it would certainly make sense.

Dear Wife is planning on cooking up the two old hens we processed last weekend. She is going to make chicken soup to start with. Maybe making shredded chicken meat for sandwiches after that. In any case, if she does not like the taste/texture of the old hens, I think in the future I will just cull the birds and bury them in a compost pile.

I watched a YouTube video by Joel Salatin on what he does with his old laying hens. He simply culls the old birds and feeds them to his hogs. He does not bother to process old laying hens. I think if I had hogs, I would probably do the same. But we are going to try to stew up the old layers first and see if it any good. I'll update the thread later when we get them cooked up and let you all know what we think.

some layer hybrids don't taste good even if not so old. I feed my dogs if I don't like the taste. leghorns and blue haze are "dog" meat in my book.

 

[gtaus]

some layer hybrids don't taste good even if not so old. I feed my dogs if I don't like the taste. leghorns and blue haze are "dog" meat in my book.

Thanks. I'll find out probably this weekend if Dear Wife can make something good to eat out of those old laying hens. I have my expectations set low, so as not to be too disappointed if the meat is as tough as I expect.

Many years ago, I started off with raising 50 meat chickens which we butchered at about 8 weeks old. Those were good tasting chickens. However, I don't think we saved any money on price per pound over chicken meat at the big box grocery store. I like to think our chickens tasted better.

 

[Sally PB]

I have considered buying a nice Instant Pot and getting rid of all the other crock pots, pressure cooker, and rice cooker. One device to rule them all!

I don't think I've used my crock pot more than once or twice since I got my Instant Pot. It's been... 8? 10? years. I cook my brown rice in it too, but don't use the "rice" function. I've never had a rice cooker, so I can't say how it compares to that.

 

[gtaus]

I don't think I've used my crock pot more than once or twice since I got my Instant Pot. It's been... 8? 10? years. I cook my brown rice in it too, but don't use the "rice" function. I've never had a rice cooker, so I can't say how it compares to that.

Well, our cooking class instructors said that if/when your crock pot(s) die, then upgrade to an Instant Pot because it can slow cook and so much more.

Dear Wife is from the Philippines so one of the first cooking appliances we bought was a rice cooker. They are also good for steaming vegetables, like an Instant Pot, just not as fast. We still have two working rice cookers, so probably going to outlast us. Depending on the type of rice you are cooking, you are looking at maybe 15 minutes in an Instant Pot whereas the rice cooker takes about 20 minutes. So, for rice, it's not such a big deal.

We only use our crock pots once or twice a year. Dear Wife has never used the brand-new pressure cooker I bought her ~8 years ago. But we use the rice cooker daily. If the rice cooker dies, then for sure I'll get that Instant Pot to replace them all. Everyone I know who has an Instant Pot loves it.

 

[Sally PB]

Depending on the type of rice you are cooking, you are looking at maybe 15 minutes in an Instant Pot whereas the rice cooker takes about 20 minutes. So, for rice, it's not such a big deal

I cook mostly sprouted brown rice. That takes 19 minutes in the IP, once it gets to pressure. Unsprouted is 23, I believe. I haven't made white rice... since I made rice pudding. I don't make that often because hubby doesn't like it, and I can't leave it alone!

 

[Theurbanhomestead]

I'm a little late to the game but I love pallets. I have used them to build everything from pens and sheds to furniture. There is a industrial business right by my house so I have a pretty endless supply and they always let me know when they are getting large equipment delivered so I can have the pallets if I want them. All the woodsheds in this picture were built with pallets. And so was the rabbit hutch.