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cassy
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 1047 Location: South West Scotland
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Posted: Fri May 28, 10 10:20 am Post subject: Gutting a chicken |
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Yesterday I was given 3 chickens which I gutted and skinned. I'd not done it before and although I finished it, I'm not too happy with the results, in that it was all a bit messy. In my defence, I was not expecting them, or I would have read up on it before hand.
Q1. Can anyone point me in the direction of some graphic illustrations to help next time? I'm wondering if I need a chicken autopsy book? My books did not have enough details to make me feel confident that I had all the entrails out and although I'm sure I had all the intestine out, there were still some part (lungs?) left inside. I also wanted to keep the liver (possibly for pate) and other useful parts but I was not sure what I was looking at. I have frozen what I think are the liver, heart, necks and kidney(?) and thrown away the gall bladder, crop, intestines. I felt extremely stupid as I thought I would be able to identify the main parts insides a chicken, having cooked giblets before .
Q2. Should I have washed the carcasses afterwards? There seemed to be conflicting advice with regards to contaminating the meat. I did rupture the intestine of 1 bird, but was holding it bottom down over a bucket, so I'm reasonably confident that I did not contaminate the meat. They are now in the freezer (we don't have a fridge) and in case I have caused contamination, I'm intending a) to rinse them if necessary once they have defrosted, b) cook them up within the next few days and c) cook them extremely well . Is that enough or are they dog food now?
Q3. What order do you carry out the work in? The head, feet and wings had been removed already so I decided to gut then skin, with the idea that any spilt intestine contents could then be removed with the skin, but with hindsight, I think I should have done it the other way round, to keep the work surface clean.
Q4. Is this method one that people would recommend? It seemed a little easier than John Seymour's 'cut round the anus and pull' approach.
Q5. Anything else I missed? Should I have checked the livers for flukes etc?
Thanks in advance and apologies for the exceptionally dumb questions. |
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chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35934 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
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judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
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Posted: Fri May 28, 10 10:32 am Post subject: |
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It sounds as though you did fine, Cassy.
First, depending on the age of the bird, it can sometimes be difficult to get your hand inside as there isn't a lot of space. (Turkeys are great as there is a huge cavity, home-grown cockerels can be a very tight fit sometimes.)
The link you posted is how I do it. Start at the top, remove the neck then finger inside to loosen everything from the walls of the cavity.
When you then go in at the bottom end, again as described, get your hand in as far as you can until you can feel the solid lump - the gizzard. Get a firm grip on that and pull gently and slowly. Everything should come out together. (Don't worry too much about the lungs - they tend to stay stuck to the carcase.)
I do the evisceration part at the sink, with the bird on the drainer and a carrier bag in the sink. I simply pull the whole lot out into the bag and then pick out the bits I want (otherwise you need at least another set of hands to do the job). It sounds to me that the only bits of offal you missed are the gizzard (makes great stock) and the testicles (if appropriate!).
I always wash the bird inside and out after gutting, then wipe the entire surface down with bleachy water before starting the next bird to avoid any cross-contamination.
It is a messy job, and a third hand would be very useful, but it really sounds to me as though you did everything you should have done.
Last edited by judith on Fri May 28, 10 10:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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Tavascarow
Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 8407 Location: South Cornwall
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Tavascarow
Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 8407 Location: South Cornwall
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judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
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Jo S
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 5174 Location: Somerset
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RichardW
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 8443 Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
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cassy
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 1047 Location: South West Scotland
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Posted: Fri May 28, 10 11:44 am Post subject: |
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Thanks everybody, it sounds as if I didn't mess it up too badly then.
Chez wrote: |
I thought we had an article about this, but the closest I can find is the one of pheasant: |
That was really helpful, wish I'd thought to search there! It looks as if I identified the parts correctly.
judith wrote: |
When you then go in at the bottom end, again as described, get your hand in as far as you can until you can feel the solid lump - the gizzard. Get a firm grip on that and pull gently and slowly. Everything should come out together. (Don't worry too much about the lungs - they tend to stay stuck to the carcase.) |
Sounds good, it makes sense to grab a solid bit. John Seymour's method seemed to be pulling from the other end which is much more delicate.
judith wrote: |
I always wash the bird inside and out after gutting, then wipe the entire surface down with bleachy water before starting the next bird to avoid any cross-contamination. |
I wish I'd done that now, but I'll know next time, thanks! Do you dry the bird afterwards? Paper towel?
Tavascarow wrote: |
Try doing quail! |
Oi! Let me get the hang of chickens first!
Richard wrote: |
What they should do is tell you to clean up the kitchen properly after you have washed the bird & wash your hands & equipment. ....... If you have a totally clean board to work on & manage to do a clean job of the gutting then just a quick internal rinse is enough. Any "issues" then a full wash is warranted as they would be condemned in the factory if spotted. |
That sounds like a good system, thanks. I washed the tools and work surface with hot soapy water then scalded them, so the main things I did wrong were that I should have skinned them before gutting to keep the working area clean, I didn't clean down between birds and I should have rinsed them after gutting. I've got a glass chopping board I could have worked on, but not knowing what to expect, I worked on a washed plastic bag (I had the idea that things would spill all over the place ).
I think next time will be so much easier now I've got a better idea of a safe and clean working technique. Thanks! |
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chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35934 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
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cassy
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 1047 Location: South West Scotland
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RichardW
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 8443 Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 45382 Location: yes
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judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
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