Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It's wise to rotate your stock and always use the oldest birds in the freezer first. If
slaughtering and processing are done properly, you shouldn't have any worries about
contracting salmonella. Don't be alarmed if, during slaughter, you poked the intestines
and intestinal contents got on the meat. Simply rinse it off and get it into the freezer as
fast as you can.
Slaughtering Other Poultry Species
Turkey slaughter is perhaps simpler than chickens, except that they are larger birds,
which makes slaughter a bit more awkward. Picking feathers off turkeys is easier but
you need larger containers for the hot and cold water. Large rubber tubs or old laundry-
room sinks work well. An extra helper should make the task a little less burdensome,
depending upon the size of the turkey.
Guinea fowl and pheasants are also very easy to pick and are a simple, quick source
of meat.
Coturnix quail are simplest to process if you skin them rather than pick off their feath-
ers. As cruel as it may sound, it is most efficient to just pull their heads off. Once their
heads are off, don't even bother dipping them in hot water; just skin them quickly, re-
move their internal organs and rinse them. You can have a dozen quail ready for the
freezer in no time. (See
chapter 15
, Coturnix Quail, for more details.)
Waterfowl present the biggest home-slaughtering challenge, because the removal of
their feathers is difficult. Try to slaughter in cooler weather when their feathers firm up.
Waterfowl butchered in warm weather will retain fluffy down feathers on the carcass,
making them unappealing and unpalatable.
The water for defeathering needs to be hotter for waterfowl, sometimes even boiling
to get the feathers off geese. After checking that the water is the proper temperature, dip
the bird, pull off some feathers, and repeat as often as is necessary to get all the feathers
off. Skinning the bird may be simpler than picking, but it removes some of the flavor.
Many people use duck wax to strip off the downy feathers that stick maddeningly to the
carcass (see box opposite).
TAKING FEATHERS OFF WITH WAX
If you're set up for it, defeathering is easier if you have a small heater with a contain-
er of what's called duck wax warming. Duck wax can be obtained from most hunting
or outdoor stores. To melt the wax, fill the container half full of hot water and add the
slab of duck wax. The wax will melt and float on top of the water.
