30. As has been implied, poultry must be properly prepared before it is
ready for cooking; likewise, the method of cookery determines how it
must be prepared. For example, if it is to be roasted, it must be drawn;
if it is to be stewed, it must be drawn and cut into suitable pieces;
and so on. The various steps that must be taken to make poultry suitable
for cooking are therefore considered here in detail.
31. DRESSING A CHICKEN.--Although, as has been shown, the housewife does
not have to dress the chicken that she is to cook--that is, kill and
pluck it--there may be times when she will be called on to perform this
task or at least direct it. A common way of killing chicken in the home
is simply to grasp it firmly by the legs, lay it on a block, and then
chop the head off with a sharp hatchet or a cleaver. If this plan is
followed, the beheaded chicken must be held firmly until the blood has
drained away and the reflex action that sets in has ceased. Otherwise,
there is danger of becoming splashed with blood.
32. After a chicken has been killed, the first step in its preparation,
no matter how it is to be cooked, consists in removing the feathers, or
_plucking_ it, as this operation is called. Plucking can be done dry by
simply pulling out the feathers. However, a bird can be plucked more
readily if it is first immersed in water at the boiling point for a few
minutes. Such water has a tendency to loosen the feathers so that they
can be pulled from the skin easily. Unless the chicken is to be used at
once, though, dry plucking is preferable to the other method. Care
should be taken not to tear or mar the skin in plucking, and the
operation is best performed by pulling out the feathers a few at a time,
with a quick jerk. In a young chicken, small feathers, commonly called
pin feathers, are apt to remain in the skin after plucking. These may be
pulled out by pinching each with the point of a knife pressed against
the thumb and then giving a quick jerk.
[Illustration: FIG. 3]
33. Whether live poultry is dressed by a local butcher or in the home,
the length of time it should be kept after killing demands attention.
Such poultry should either be cooked before rigor mortis, or the
stiffening of the muscles, has had time to begin, or be allowed to
remain in a cool place long enough for this to pass off and the muscles
to become tender again. Naturally, if this softening, or ripening,
process, as it is sometimes called, goes on too long, decomposition will
set in, with the usual harmful effects if the meat is used as food.
[Illustration: FIG. 4]
34. SINGEING A CHICKEN.--On all chickens except very young ones, whether
they are home dressed or not, hairs will be found on the skin; and, as
has been mentioned, the older the bird the more hair will it have. The
next step in preparing a chicken for cooking, therefore, is to singe it,
or burn off these hairs. However, before singeing, provided the head has
not been removed, cut it off just where the neck begins, using a kitchen
cleaver or a butcher knife, as in Fig. 3. To singe a dressed chicken,
grasp it by the head or the neck and the feet and then revolve it over a
gas flame, as shown in Fig. 4, or a burning piece of paper for a few
seconds or just long enough to burn off the hairs without scorching the
skin. After singeing, wash the skin thoroughly with a cloth and warm
water, as shown in Fig. 5. Then it will be ready for drawing and
cutting up.
[Illustration: Fig. 5]
35. DRAWING A CHICKEN.--By drawing a chicken is meant the taking out of
the entrails and removing all parts that are not edible. Although this
work will be done by some butchers, the better plan is to do it at home,
for, as has been stated, chicken or any other poultry must be cooked
very soon after the entrails are removed. Chicken that is to be roasted
is always prepared in this way, as the cavity that remains may be filled
with stuffing. Drawing is also necessary when chicken is to be cooked in
any other way, as by stewing or frying, but in addition it must be cut
up. The procedure in drawing a chicken is simple, but some practice is
required before deftness will result.
[Illustration: Fig. 6]
[Illustration: Fig. 7]
[Illustration: Fig. 8]
[Illustration: Fig. 9]
[Illustration: FIG. 10]
36. In order to draw a chicken, carefully cut a lengthwise slit through
the skin on the neck, and slip the fingers down around the _crop_, which
is a small sack that holds the food eaten by the chicken. Then pull
the crop out, and with it the windpipe, as in Fig. 6, taking pains not
to tear the skin nor to break the crop.
Next, remove the tendons, or thick white cords, from the legs, so as to
improve the meat. These may be easily removed, especially from a chicken
that is freshly killed; that is, one in which the flesh is still moist.
Simply cut through the skin, just above the foot, as in Fig. 7, being
careful not to cut the tendons that lie just beneath the skin; then slip
a skewer or some other small, dull implement, as a fork, under the
tendons, pull down toward the foot until they loosen at the second
joint, and pull them out. This operation is clearly shown in Fig. 8.
With the tendons removed, the feet may be cut off. To do this, cut
through the skin where the two bones join, as shown in Fig. 9. As the
joint separates, cut through the remaining tendons and skin on the back
of the legs.
[Illustration: FIG. 11]
37. Proceed, next, to cut a crosswise slit through the skin between the
legs at a point above the vent, as in Fig. 10, so that the entrails may
be removed. This slit should be just large enough to admit the hand and
no larger. Insert the fingers of one hand in this slit and gently move
them around the mass of the internal organs, keeping them close to the
framework of the bird. This will loosen the entrails at the points where
they are attached to the body. Then, inserting the hand, slip the
fingers around the mass at the top, near the neck, and with one pull
remove the entire internal contents, as Fig. 11 shows. The lungs, or
lights, as they are sometimes called, do not come out with this mass.
They will be found covered with a membrane and tightly fastened inside
the breast bone, and must be removed by pulling them out with the tips
of the fingers. After the entrails are removed, pour clean cold water
into the cavity, rinse it well several times, and pour the water out.
[Illustration: Fig. 12]
[Illustration: FIG. 13]
38. Among the contents drawn from the chicken will be found the heart,
the liver, and the gizzard. These are called the _giblets_. They are the
only edible internal organs, and must be separated from the rest. To do
this, squeeze the blood from the heart, and then cut the large vessels
off close to the top of it. Then cut the liver away. In handling this
part of the giblets extreme care must be taken, for tightly attached to
it, as Fig. 12 shows, is the _gall bladder_, which is a tiny sack filled
with green fluid, called bile. If this sack breaks, anything that its
contents touches will become very bitter and therefore unfit to eat. The
gall bag should be cut out of the liver above the place where it is
attached, so as to be certain that it does not break nor lose any of the
bile. Next, remove the gizzard, which consists of a fleshy part
surrounding a sack containing partly digested food eaten by the
chicken. First trim off any surplus fat, and carefully cut through the
fleshy part just to the surface of the inside sack. Then pull the
outside fleshy part away from the sack without breaking it, as in Fig.
13, an operation that can be done if the work is performed carefully.
After removing the giblets and preparing them as explained, wash them
well, so that they may be used with the rest of the chicken. As a final
step, cut out the _oil sack_, which lies just above the tail, proceeding
in the manner illustrated in Fig. 14.
[Illustration: FIG. 14]
[Illustration: Fig. 15]
[Illustration: FIG. 16]
[Illustration: FIG. 17]
[Illustration: FIG. 18]
[Illustration: Fig. 19]
[Illustration: Fig. 20]
[Illustration: Fig. 21]
[Illustration: Fig. 22]
39. CUTTING UP A CHICKEN.--When chicken that has been drawn is to be
fried, stewed, fricasseed, or cooked in some similar way, it must be cut
into suitable pieces. In order to do this properly, it is necessary to
learn to locate the joints and to be able to cut squarely between the
two bones where they are attached to each other. To sever the legs from
the body of the chicken, first cut through the skin underneath each leg
where it is attached to the body, as in Fig. 15, bend the leg back far
enough to break the joint, and then cut through it, severing the entire
leg in one piece. When the legs are cut off, cut each one apart at the
joint between the thigh and the lower part, as in Fig. 16, making two
pieces. To sever the wings from the body, cut through the skin where the
wing is attached, as in Fig. 17, and bend it back until the joint
breaks. Then cut it off where the ends of the bones are attached to the
joint. When both legs and both wings are removed, proceed to cut the
body apart. As shown in Fig. 18, place the chicken, neck down, on a
table, and cut down through the ribs parallel with the breast and the
back, until the knife strikes a hard bone that it cannot cut. Then
firmly grasp the breast with one hand and the back with the other and
break the joints that attach these parts by pulling the back and the
breast away from each other, as in Fig. 19. Cut through the joints, as
in Fig. 20, so that the back, ribs, and neck will be in one piece and
the breast in another. [Illustration: Fig. 23] If desired, the breast
may be divided into two pieces by cutting it in the manner shown in Fig.
21; also, as the back will break at the end of the ribs, it may be cut
into two pieces there. Finally, cut the neck from the top piece of the
back, as in Fig. 22.
The pieces of chicken thus procured may be rinsed clean with cold
water, but they should never be allowed to stand in water, because this
will draw out some of the extractives, or flavoring material, soluble
albumin, and mineral salts.
40. PREPARING CHICKEN FEET.--Many persons consider that chicken feet are
not worth while for food. This, however, is a mistaken idea, for they
will add to the flavor of soup stock or they may be cooked with the
giblets to make stock for gravy. Chicken feet do not contain much meat,
but what little there is has an excellent flavor and should be removed
for use when creamed chicken or any dish made with left-over chicken is
to be cooked.
To prepare chicken feet for use as food, scrub the feet well and pour
boiling water over them. After a minute or two, remove them from the
water and rub them with a clean cloth to peel off the scaly skin, as
shown in Fig. 23. Finally remove the nails by bending them back.
41. UTILIZING THE WING TIPS.--The last joint, or tip, of chicken wings
has no value as food, but, like the feet, it will help to add flavor to
any stock that is made. This small piece of wing may be removed and then
cooked with the feet and giblets.