Preparing poultry for the table

Lorraine Turnbull explains how to prepare your own poultry for the table, both as jointed birds and as a complete roast.

Having bred pure breed poultry now for quite some time, I always have a surplus of cockerels, which naturally we eat.  Actually, our own poultry have become so popular with the family that instead of just doing the odd one for a roast, I now use the meat for chicken fajitas, kebabs, casseroles, in pasta dishes and of course soup.

Of course you have to start with a bird.  You will get more meat on a large fowl, dual purpose or meat bird.  I have bred and eaten both Light Sussex and Maran (both dual purpose breeds), and have to say that the Maran was marginally more popular with the family, with quite a lot of breast meat, and a slightly superior taste.  Hens bred exclusively for meat include the Cobb or Ross strains.

I have eaten a bird at 16 months old, and wouldn’t repeat the experience.  Dave, our trusty cockerel was a wonderfully fertile bird, but turned a bit nasty, as a lot of Light Sussex cockerels can and so was dispatched and cooked.  Even in a casserole, he was very tough and now, after much experimental cooking, we eat our birds at about 4-6 months old.

Our birds naturally free range and are fed layers pellets in the morning with mixed corn in the afternoon.  I always put grit and oystershell out for them, as this improves gizzard function and ultimately makes healthier birds.   The afternoon before they are due to be killed we withhold food, but allow them water.  The next morning, they are taken from their house early and killed immediately to avoid distress.  We find that in the winter, when the mornings are dark they are usually a little sleepy and its all done before the bird has properly woken up.  Very little stress at all.  Neck dislocation is our favoured method – its quick and absolute.  Once the bird has been killed there are two ways that you can prepare the meat for cooking.  I will concentrate here on jointing a bird – if you want to do a whole bird for roasting please contact me for details of a course I run on this.

JOINTING

This is the quickest and easiest method – so perfect for beginners.  Please note that using this method removes the skin from the bird: you are left with bare fillets and joints.  If you don’t feel confident with eviscerating (gutting) a bird, then I suggest this method.

So, placing your bird on a clean, dry area, part the feathers with your hands just under where the wing joins the body; what we would call the armpit.  Insert a sharp knife here to open the skin, and then tear or cut to reveal the flesh underneath.  You need to be aiming to pull the skin away from the flesh on the breast of the bird.  You should now have the whole breast area revealed, which you simply remove from the bird with a sharp knife.  Run the knife along the breastbone slowly, slipping the knife gently under the breast fillet, parting it from the underlying ribcage.  Place the fillet on a clean, dry plate and turn bird over, repeating as for the other side.  To get the drumsticks, firstly again part the feathers, slit the skin open and pull away to reveal the area on which you will be working on. I force the leg to disjoint at what we would call the hip. Use a sharp knife to cut away the flesh where it joins the body.  This is quite fiddly, so take your time. Finally, when you have removed the legs from the body, you will probably want to remove the feet.  This is easily done with a sharp axe on a wooden block.  Finally, rinse all your joints and fillets in cold running water, before either freezing or preparing to cook.

Main points to remember

• keep worksurfaces clean
• rinse fillets or carcase in clean cold running water
• place meat for eating on a clean plate
• refrigerate or freeze as soon as possible
• cook thoroughly

If you’d like to go on a full Prepare your bird for the Table course, please contact me at info@killibury.co.uk or look at our website for details, www.killibury.co.uk