Chicken Cleaning: Not a Post For the Squeamish
Before I get to it, or post a single picture, let me give you ample warning; this post deals with, and shows, the blood and guts of cleaning/butchering a chicken. I'm talking chickens one minute, dead the next. So if you don't want to see or read about that, click away. May I suggest you check out one of my other blogs? Okay, you've been sufficiently warned. On with the show...
Before I go all slaughter house let's talk phases of bird cleaning. It goes Catch 'em, Kill 'em, Dip 'em, Pluck 'em, Clean 'em, Eat 'em. Most people don't care and don't want to know about anything before the last stage, but after seeing the Food Inc. and American Meat documentaries I wanted to see first hand how local farms do it. A first hand experience is literally what I got. After a dreadful attempt to catch 'em the guys suggested I leave it to the professionals.
After Matt showed me how to do the deed I personally sent seven chickens to their maker. Please don't think I found it fun or amusing, it was simply educational and something that has to be done. No more gore, let's move on.
The next part of the process is dipping the birds in boiling water to loosen up the feathers. You basically hold onto the toes and submerge the bird for 30 seconds. This was hot! Standing over a boiling cauldron that's on top of a burning fire is not fun. Thankfully it was over fast and we were on to plucking.
De-feathering a bird is actually pretty easy after you've dipped them for 30 seconds. They slide right out.
The most stomach turning of the process might be the first half of the cleaning phase, where you remove the guts of the bird and cutting off the areas that stink... you know what areas I'm talking about. Depending on if the bird had recently eaten or was close to relieving itself, it can be a pretty stinky phase. Luckily I made it through without losing my lunch.
The second half of the cleaning phase, rinsing the birds clean of any blood or entrails, was where Marieta joined the fun.
She was really hesitant to even come to the farm. She is an eater who appreciates the animal, and the process it takes to put it on your plate, but she did not want anything to do with any part that didn't resemble an ingredient. You can thank her for all the photos from the afternoon.
If you don't know from my Sustaining Iowa venture, Marieta and I are big into local food and we are proud to espouse its virtues wherever we go. A few weeks ago one of our favorite local farms, Coyote Run, was holding a chicken butchering party (basically a bunch of farm patrons helping kill and clean a bunch of birds), and due to my Master degree homework I couldn't make it. So Saturday at the first farmers' market of the 2012 season, I told Matt and Patrick from Coyote Run my dismay at missing the event. Pat said we should come down on Sunday and help them clean 10 roosters. I jumped on it. I am the type of guy who is interested in the full food spectrum, and animals, as we know, must die to become food.
Before I go all slaughter house let's talk phases of bird cleaning. It goes Catch 'em, Kill 'em, Dip 'em, Pluck 'em, Clean 'em, Eat 'em. Most people don't care and don't want to know about anything before the last stage, but after seeing the Food Inc. and American Meat documentaries I wanted to see first hand how local farms do it. A first hand experience is literally what I got. After a dreadful attempt to catch 'em the guys suggested I leave it to the professionals.
Here I am holding two soon-to-be-butchered roosters with Matt Russell, half of the duo that runs Coyote Run Farms. Prior to this experience I had no history slaughtering chickens. Matt got me started and Pat, his Coyote Run compatriot, pushed me across the finish line. Here you see Matt getting ready to put a rooster in the funnels, this is probably the ugliest part of the process. From the pictures we took you could tell Pat was not enjoying it, but as well know if you want to eat chicken, this has to be done.
(Last chance to click away before the blood)
After Matt showed me how to do the deed I personally sent seven chickens to their maker. Please don't think I found it fun or amusing, it was simply educational and something that has to be done. No more gore, let's move on.
De-feathering a bird is actually pretty easy after you've dipped them for 30 seconds. They slide right out.
The second half of the cleaning phase, rinsing the birds clean of any blood or entrails, was where Marieta joined the fun.
She was really hesitant to even come to the farm. She is an eater who appreciates the animal, and the process it takes to put it on your plate, but she did not want anything to do with any part that didn't resemble an ingredient. You can thank her for all the photos from the afternoon.
When it was all said and done we had butchered 10 roosters (obviously these eggs didn't come from them). I can now say I know how to prepare a bird from pasture to kitchen table and have a greater respect for what it takes to bring a chicken to the kitchen table. Not sure I will be practicing that talent any time soon, but now I know, and through this post hopefully you've learned quite a bit as well.
For this post, I chose to share only a few select pictures, but there are many more where they came form. If you're interested in seeing a little more from my chicken cleaning ordeal click here.
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