Skinning whole birds?

[ladycat]

I have raised and plucked a lot of chickens but have never left them in fridge after they were cleaned. Why do they need to sit in fridge before freezing?

It makes them more tender, especially when they're past the frying stage.

 

[donrae]

Another skinning family here. Honey actually does it, so not sure I can help you much. I do know he cuts the end off the wings because it's too hard to skin. Otherwise, it's like slipping a glove. Probably some good you-tube videos for it.

I do want to make a plucker this year. You've never seen someone so happy to have a washing machine break down! Now I have a drum to use. I'm okay with the skinned birds, but do like a nice roasted bird sometimes and the skin is needed for that.

 

[Life is Good!]

Add us to the skinning line!

We don't pluck - our heritage chickens (Black Java's) are simply too fluffy to deal with! We've raised Rangers - they're super fluffy too!

CX truly aren't that fluffy. I've plucked a few - just dry - as their feather quantity is so low comparatively.

As for dealing with freezer burn on skinned chickens - if you use the 'freezer' zip-lock to hold the bird and a regular zip-lock as a second layer - there is a lot less freezer burn even after 6mo in the fridge. The best bags were the ones that shrink to the shape of the bird. Those didn't let any freezer burn form at all!

How to skin? Ever try to get a sweater or jacket off an infant? Same principal! We gut the chicken, then cut down around the legs and remove the skin off the legs - then cut up the keel bone to the neck - pull the neck out like a turtleneck shirt - get the skin off the breast - flip chicken onto keel bone and slice connective tissue from around lower back - then simply peel out wings like you'd take a jacket off.

WARNING - make sure the crop is NOT ripped in this process! We've been known to remove the flap of skin that holds the crop before flipping chicken onto keel to work off the back skin. If the crop is ripped, it's nearly impossible to wash off all the grit from the meat. Really.