What temperature of the water when you are ready to pluck a chicken?

[FF]

Hello. At what temperature does the water need to be when you are getting ready to pluck a chicken by hand? And how long does it need to be in there? Thanks for the help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

About 160*F. I dip it in, pull it out, dip it back, shake it around a little until I can easily pull out the wing feathers. Then it is ready.

 

[FF]

Thanks you very much

 

[Salt and Light]

Try 140 degrees. I recently used this temperature and found several advantages:

1. Easier on my hands while dunking
2. Easier to handle birds after dunking
3. No ripping of birds' skin
4. Feathers easily removed.

My 2 cents

 

[eKo_birdies]

for us, 153 degrees seems to be best.

try a few, play around with the temp (to an extant), and see what you like and what works best for YOU!

as you can see, there is no single "right" answer!

ETA guess my thermometer is off... as i have yet to "cook" a bird's skin (or even come close to it) at 153*. these birds go to others and i have never had a single complaint, only raves on how beautiful they look and how nice and clean the plucking job is. that temperature definitely doesn't make for an ugly dressed bird here.

 

[petrelline]

If I scald at 150 or higher the pin feathers are harder to remove, and the black pin feathers leave spots on the skin. It also seems to cook the skin a little, which makes for an ugly dressed bird (I don't care, but I'm selling chickens now and the prettier I can make them the better.)

I have better luck at 140-145. Takes a little longer, but the quality overall is better.

 

[karl E lutz]

I just did 20 and I did put your hand in 3 seconds only and its ready! wing feathers pull easily!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-properly-scald-chicken-my-never.html

This is good information on getting a good scald for plucking. Check the rest of that site for other great info on butchering.

edited to get the link correct

 

[quercus21]

I have to agree with Salt and Light & petrelline. 140 - 145 degrees, dunk and swirl, pull from water and test. When the feathers come off easily, it's ready. I also use a plucker.