What do you use for a scald pot?

[Mac in Wisco]

We use a thirty gallon stockpot on a very large propane burner to dunk four or five birds at a time. The more water the better it holds the temperature. We fill it with hot water from the house so that we don't use large amounts of propane trying to bring our cold well water up to temperature.

 

[becky3086]

My water bath canner over a fire. It is a real pain to keep the fire going but all I can do right now.

 

[al6517]

For small 1 or 2 bird batches I too use the turkey fryer pot. But when I have large turkey's or alot of birds to do all at once I pull out the Ole bad boy, a big 40 gal Crawfish boiling pot, it does burn some propane to get it hot but will do all I need that's for sure.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Our setup goes like this:

Chickens in crates

Six kill cones on a steel stand that I welded up, they drain into a pan filled with straw or grass clippings. I really only do four birds at a time, but have found the extra cones useful to start loading up more birds before the others have bled out. If I was really going for speed, eight would be great. I could run birds in batches of four rather rapidly with eight cones.

5 Gallon bucket of water to rinse blood from hands

30 gallon aluminum stockpot on propane burner fueled from BBQ style tank. I use the same pot to simmer large quantities of stewing hens to debone them before canning the meat. I then use the same propane burner to fire up the pressure canner.

Thermometer to check water temperature

Heavy rubber gloves for the person doing the scalding. Not absolutely necessary, but things can get uncomfortable.

Drum style plucker

55 gallon blue drum with water to hold plucked birds

Plastic banquet table as work table for person removing head, feet, oil gland.

5 gallon bucket for unwanted parts

Old cast sink with drainboard that is mounted on a steel cabinet. I came across this in an old shed and the owner gave it to me. I do the evisceration on the drainboard and drop the offal down through the sink hole into a bucket placed inside the cabinet, under the sink.

Garden hose with nozzle to rinse birds and work surfaces

55 gallon blue drum to chill processed birds

Once the birds are processed I usually switch out the giant stockpot for a smaller one to dunk the birds in heat shrink bags.

and of course, sharp knives and people to help

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
As I think about it, a sink really isn't necessary, I like to work on the drainboard of the sink that I scrounged because it's at counter-top height and controls the water. The sink just becomes a place to dispose of the offal. I've eviscerated them on the banquet table too, but table-top height is really too low to work comfortably.

Do a google search for eviscerating tables. Ideally, you want something along these lines. Workbench height, with a rim to control the water and keep the birds from sliding off, and a hole to dispose of the offal.

 

[mikki717]

I use the burner from a turkey fryer, but we had to come up with something bigger for processing turkeys. Big Box store had 42 or 60 quart kettles (over $100.00) , but I did not want to spend that much money!

DH welded 3 legs onto this cut, stainless steel, 55 gallon drum. I have used it for two processing sessions and it works great! Half of 55 gallons is about 100 quart usable space.

 

[bigredfeather]

I use a 20 gal galvinized trash can and a stand burner.

 

[AZBootsie]

Quote:
Charcoal briquets provide a hot, even heating in this setup...this is a copper kettle set down in the top of an outside fireplace, one for patios. Worked like a charm and kept the water at just the right temp all day long.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6459_meat_chickens_processing_004.jpg

That is a perfect set up!!

 

[oldcluck]

A few years ago i made a lot of home brewed beer. So i have a 10 gallon stainless steel pot and a large outdoor propane burner that work wonderfully for scalding chickens.