So I've been processing our own chickens (between 2-3 dozen per year) for a few years now and I thought it might be helpful if I shared a few things that make for a successful Processing Day. Note: I'm 63 and I do this by myself, no helpers.
1. Flow and organization are important. Have your tools, your buckets, utensils all clean and ready to use before Processing Day.
2. Start early, before the heat kicks in. Especially if you have more than a couple of birds to do. I have found the birds tend to be less fussy early in the day, before the hunger has kicked in.
3. It takes me about an hour to get the scalding pot going (I get it to 150 degrees F, for me that's perfect).
4. So my flow goes as follows:
This is a Yardbird Chicken Plucker. It's a very good, very reliable machine (so far).
Steel table top for processing. I have two filet knives, one boning shears, and random instruments that help me pull out the lung tissue. Everything was cleaned with bleach solution before use.
Rinse bucket for dunking.
Bagged and resting in the Ice Bath.
End Notes: We buy Cornish Cross chickens twice a year because a) they're very easy to process and b) they taste great. Cornish Cross are NOT genetically modified, they are hybrids however. I like to process them before 12 weeks of age because basically, I'm pretty much "over it" by 9 or 10 weeks and ready to move 'em on out. They are a lovely, mostly docile breed except for the young roosters who will peck each other to death if I don't cull them from the main flock (they too go to Freezer Camp). I kid you not.
One more thing: don't be too hard on yourself if you mess up a bird or seem to be doing it wrong. We learn by doing. Happy processing!
1. Flow and organization are important. Have your tools, your buckets, utensils all clean and ready to use before Processing Day.
2. Start early, before the heat kicks in. Especially if you have more than a couple of birds to do. I have found the birds tend to be less fussy early in the day, before the hunger has kicked in.
3. It takes me about an hour to get the scalding pot going (I get it to 150 degrees F, for me that's perfect).
4. So my flow goes as follows:
- Restraining Cones where chickens are killed and blood drains into buckets below each cone
- Scalding Pot where each bird is dipped until feathers on wings are easily pulled out,
- Chicken Plucker for approx 10 to 20 seconds,
- Steel Table for removing innards, feet, etc. Note: I use cheap, super sharp filet/boning knives. They're awesome.
- Rinse Bucket for a few dunks to make sure the bird is clean and ready to bag,
- Ice Bath where they soak until they are bagged and shrink-wrapped (which is done when all the birds are finished). Letting the birds rest in an ice bath is supposedly good for the meat, producing "age on the bone".
- Once everyone is bagged, they remain in the ice bath until I've cleaned up the entire area with mild bleach solution. All utensils are brought inside. All the feathers and guts are buried in the soil of our kitchen garden.
Bagged and resting in the Ice Bath.
End Notes: We buy Cornish Cross chickens twice a year because a) they're very easy to process and b) they taste great. Cornish Cross are NOT genetically modified, they are hybrids however. I like to process them before 12 weeks of age because basically, I'm pretty much "over it" by 9 or 10 weeks and ready to move 'em on out. They are a lovely, mostly docile breed except for the young roosters who will peck each other to death if I don't cull them from the main flock (they too go to Freezer Camp). I kid you not.
One more thing: don't be too hard on yourself if you mess up a bird or seem to be doing it wrong. We learn by doing. Happy processing!
