Skinning vs Scalding

[ChickenJohn1]

I am tending toward skinning my chicken instead of scalding and plucking feathers. Seems a bit more efficient to me. This is my first attempt and I would be interested in the pros and cons.

 

[TOP KNOT]

I skinned mine, we don't eat the skin anyway.

 

[Life is Good!]

Skinning - good for cooking methods that involve moisture (baking in a sauce, soup, boiling, pressure cooking, crock-pot)
Plucking - good for cooking methods that involve direct heat (grilling, roasting, pan-frying)

If you try to roast a skinned bird, the meat will dry out. You'll need to cover it with foil or a lid to keep the moisture in.
Also sort of depends on the age of the bird in question - an older cockerel or hen will do better with a 'low and slow' cooking method rather than 'high and hot' - so an old bird needs a slow roast, a young cockerel can take a hot grill.

In terms of processing, yes, skinning is much like trying to take a jacket off an infant. We personally skin all our chickens. Why? Because of time. We can process more in x given amount of time than trying to pluck 'em.

CX don't really have that many feathers overall, so plucking them by hand is easier than say a dual-purpose bird or a Ranger type broiler bird. Trust me, we've grown both! So, ultimately, the choice is yours. Try each way and see what works for you. And your style of cooking. If you want luscious fried chicken, you'll need the skin on. If you want chicken n' dumplings, you won't need the skin. Depends on what you'd like to do with the meat overall.

 

[Elke Beck]

I pluck unless it is too difficult, then I skin. I prefer to pluck because I can always take the skin off later, but I can't put it back. I love BBQ'd chicken, and it really needs the skin on for that.

I have had a few birds that were just a pain to pluck, usually because I did a bad job of scalding. I had a couple of Red Rangers that had horrible coarse black hair feathers that I did not think would burn off, and those I skinned because ick.

 

[redsoxs]

When I make canned chicken and broth from spent hens and or surplus roosters I usually skin. But on the birds I raise for meat I scald and pick. I generally raise roasters instead of fryers and need the yummy skin to stay on!!

 

[sandspoultry]

We skin probably 90% of the birds we process, it's so much faster and less of a pain than scalding and plucking. Also, we cut most of the birds up to save freezer space. In hot weather we eat lighter so it's more grilled and stir fry type meals with lots of veggies and the cut up birds work great for that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with all the others. They make some real good points.

Age and sex has a lot to do with whether I skin or pluck. Males are worse than females and the older they are the worse it is, but I find older cockerels or roosters especially have a lot of connective tissue that sometimes has to be cut, not just pulled off. The more my arthritis acts up the harder that gets.

Something else to consider. If a chicken is molting, it will have a lot of pinfeathers and pockets if liquid in the skin where the feathers are growing. In dark feathered birds, that can make it a real pain to pluck them. Skinning takes care of that. Chicks will go through two juvenile molts before they reach adult size, they just outgrow their feathers and have to replace them. Adults usually only molt once a year.

 

[srm220]

Age and sex has a lot to do with whether I skin or pluck. Males are worse than females and the older they are the worse it is,

I'm in my 50s and am a male...so should I skin or pluck?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can do either as long as you respect your elders.

 

[Elke Beck]

I'm in my 50s and am a male...so should I skin or pluck?

Depends on your local statutes.