So... how do you get the smell out?

[rhoda_bruce]

I am also offended by the smell of dirty, scalded chicken. That is why I dry pluck. As an added bonus, I don't have wet feathers sticking to my fingers. I used to do the scalding. I was raised with it really. I find that scalding makes me one more mess......a wet mess.

 

[PriceFamilyFarms]

2 words...LAVA SOAP!

 

[Damummis]

I couldn't take the smell either. But seeing why I am the family chicken processor I had to figure a way around it. For starters I skin my chickens, the wet feathers are bad. Second I rub Vicks around my nose. Granted my eyes water for a few but I get used to it. And last but not least nitrile gloves. The kind Doctors use. Of course a good shower never hurts.

 

[bnentrup]

Quote:
Ok,
I actually have a perfect remedy for this, and you won't believe me at all! Go to your kitchen sink, and if it is stainless, rub your hands ALL over it... yes, all areas of your hands. NO MORE SMELL PERIOD! There is nothing that compares to this remedy.

 

[PatS]

Quote:
I have NO IDEA where she got it, just that it was a Asian store in the SF Bay Area, but my friend sent me a stainless steel "bar." It is shaped like an oval bar of soap, but it is solid stainless steel (it doesn't dispense soap or anything like that). I use it with soap when I need to clean my hands and it does seem to take the smell away. I have hear that people who work in restaurants will run the side of a knife blade (not the sharp side) across their hands to get off the fish smell. The stainless steel seems to neutralize it.

 

[bnentrup]

Quote:
I have NO IDEA where she got it, just that it was a Asian store in the SF Bay Area, but my friend sent me a stainless steel "bar." It is shaped like an oval bar of soap, but it is solid stainless steel (it doesn't dispense soap or anything like that). I use it with soap when I need to clean my hands and it does seem to take the smell away. I have hear that people who work in restaurants will run the side of a knife blade (not the sharp side) across their hands to get off the fish smell. The stainless steel seems to neutralize it.

PatS, here is the bar you are talking about; these were Christmas gifts for us one year from good ole mom... we then realized it was easy to just use a stainless sin.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=690&f=2774

 

[tommboy1973]

Quote:
So is it very hard to dry pluck? How does it compare to scalding first? I am interested because just starting with homegrown chickens and not really looking forward to the scalding part!

 

[SteveH]

I've always just figured the revulsion I feel towards eating the meat from whatever I dressed for a day or two was God's way of telling me to age it . However , I've noticed that when really hungry it doesn't bother me a bit to skin or pluck something , cook it over an open fire , and dig in . I do have a stainless steel washing bar and it works pretty well ; plain old baking soda mixed with Dawn dish washing detergent to wash off that fatty residue on my hands is good also . I also agree with Dancingbear that the smell can get in your nasal passages and bother you ; it can also eventually lead you to not smelling it while those around you do . I've worked in a stockyard and my clothing would absorb the smell of manure and probably even my skin and hair . After awhile I never noticed it , but those around me would sure look at me funny when I just changed boots and walked into a restaurant for lunch .

 

[mike67909]

I always used mustard after cleaning fish. The only problem is you smell like mustard

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:

I had that thought after I posted, I've been wondering if I smell like dead chickens for a few days after butchering, and just don't know it! After a lifetime of allergies, my nose is not the most reliable sniffer on the planet.

Oh well, most of the time, I'm out here on the farm where nobody would notice anyway. I'll have to ask my friends, (the real ones that will tell me the truth

) next time I go visit somebody the day after processing.