Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 6521 Location: Dordogne
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 15 4:56 pm Post subject:
God, its a regular occurance here throughout the year. I hatch about 100 chicks annually, so morally Im obliged to keep and eat the cockerels.
It dosnt bother me now, and I just get organised first thing.
I dont bother with plucking - helluva faff. I just take the dead bird in the kitchen, split the skin, remove the fillets and legs, bag the carcass and on to the next.
Ducks were always that wee bit stronger and a couple of years back did 14 in a day. bar over neck, holding legs at the thighs and inside a cutdown traffic cone to contain the flapping wings. Again, peel off skin.
The cockerels that I'm killing are eight months old and are dressing out at about 7lbs, so they're well worth plucking and producing a lovely tasty traditional roast chicken.
We dry pluck immediately after killing while the body is still warm. Start with the flight feathers (though usually can't be faffed with wing tips). Then we do a fast rough pluck over the rest of the wings and the body. When it starts to get tough(er) we then pour boiling water over.
It can be difficult to get the boiling water to penetrate the feathers. Doing the rough pluck first makes it easier to get the water in.
12Bore
Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 9089 Location: Paddling in the Mersey
Finished! I bumped that cockerel off this morning. I've just finished plucking what was a nice last summers Welsummer cockerel and as I sat there in the old stable, with my wellies and my rubber apron on, I was wondering how many of you dry plucked as opposed to wet plucked?
And yes, while I realise that perhaps I should have put some more clothes on, its sometime times nice to be a simple bloke.
Karen's jointed the chicken this evening. Unless you rear your own birds, when did you last eat a bird with meat as dark as this. Its a million light years away from the insipid crud that supermarkets sell and you'll have to take it from me as to how tasty it will be.
Last edited by Bodger on Thu Feb 19, 15 6:07 am; edited 1 time in total
or a chook with a decent home ,diet ,activity ,age etc etc
no contest
i dont eat industrial fowl
mal55
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 168 Location: Erewash or in the dog house
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 15 2:32 pm Post subject:
I have a wall mounted guillotine type dispatcher. I've found that if I put the lever gently over the bird's neck just below the head lift the bird up as far as it will go then drop it at the same time as jerking the lever down I get a clean kill every time. I talk quietly to the bird all the time.
The worst thing for us is plucking due to arthritis. I tried one of those pluckers you fit onto an electric drill but ended up looking as though I'd been tarred and feathered! My wife was in hysterics as I tried to get into the house. At the finish I had to strip down to socks and pants outside before she'd let me in. I've never used the flipping thing since! It's wonderful how you never have a camera handy when you need one isn't it!!
Woo
Joined: 19 Sep 2011 Posts: 787 Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire
I have a wall mounted guillotine type dispatcher. I've found that if I put the lever gently over the bird's neck just below the head lift the bird up as far as it will go then drop it at the same time as jerking the lever down I get a clean kill every time. I talk quietly to the bird all the time.
The worst thing for us is plucking due to arthritis. I tried one of those pluckers you fit onto an electric drill but ended up looking as though I'd been tarred and feathered! My wife was in hysterics as I tried to get into the house. At the finish I had to strip down to socks and pants outside before she'd let me in. I've never used the flipping thing since! It's wonderful how you never have a camera handy when you need one isn't it!!
Don't talk to me about feathers! A scenefrom Christmas past.
A heavy snow storm but many hands made light work.
Father and son. The one's on the right.
Blind Pugh.
Two Christmas Dinners.
mal55
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 168 Location: Erewash or in the dog house
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 15 10:26 pm Post subject:
That's nothing Bodger! Unfortunately I was working outside and it came on to drizzle. The feathers stuck absolutely everywhere. I could've done a double act with Frosty the Snowman!
Those look beautiful birds though.
They were fantastic tasting and made Christmas dinner that year.
mal55
Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 168 Location: Erewash or in the dog house
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 15 5:17 pm Post subject:
You can't beat home grown and fed birds. I started with Sasso "White Rangers" and "Gauloise" which were fantastic despite being "broilers."
The ones we didn't manage to knock off ended as layers and we got crosses with a Bressé cock from them which eat even better.
The first time I ever had to neck a bird was when my father in law died. My brother in law and I had to knock off a shed full of turkeys. We started off with the small ones and worked our way up. The last one was built like a Russian weight lifter and pulled David off his feet. He looked like he was being Emu'd!! The bl%^*y thing kept giving him the evil eye, kind of set it's neck muscles and just wouldn't give up. At the finish we had it straight jacketed in a sack with a corner cut out and I had hold of it whilst he wrung it's neck. I felt terrible at the muck up we'd made of it and couldn't face turkey for years. If you can't make a clean kill you shouldn't do it but at the time we had no choice.
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