POULTRY

POULTRY is the term used to designate birds that have been domesticated, or brought under the control of man, for two purposes, namely, the eggs they produce and the flesh food they supply. All the common species of domestic fowls--chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowls, and pigeons--are known as poultry. However, none of these species is included under this term unless it is raised for at least one of the two purposes mentioned. As the term is to be understood, poultry includes all domestic fowls that are killed in order that their flesh may be cooked and used as food for human beings. Of course, many wild birds are killed for the flesh food they furnish, but they are classed under the term game.

Poultry is probably never a necessity in the ordinary dietary, and when prices are high it is a decided luxury. Still it does aid materially in relieving the monotony of the usual protein foods, and it supplies that "something out of the ordinary" for special occasions. Then, too, it is often valuable in the diet of an invalid or some person with a poor appetite. Poultry is, of course, used more in some homes than in others; yet there is scarcely a home in which it is not served some time or another.

Composition of poultry

The composition of poultry is very similar to that of meats. In fact, poultry is composed of protein, fat, water, mineral salts, and extractives that do not differ materially from those found in meats. The protein, which usually varies from 15 to 20 per cent., is a much more constant factor than the fat, which varies from 8 to 40 per cent. This variation, of course, makes the total food value high in some kinds of poultry and low in others. For instance, in a young broiler that has not been fattened, the food value is extremely low; whereas, in a mature well-fattened bird, such as a goose, which increases very markedly in fatty tissue after reaching maturity, it is extremely high. A factor that detracts considerably from the edible portion of poultry is the waste material, or refuse. This consists of the bones, cartilage, head, feet, and entrails, or inedible internal organs. The greater the proportion of such waste material, the more the total nutritive value of the flesh is reduced. It is claimed that birds that have light-colored flesh do not become so fat as those which have dark flesh. This, of course, makes their nutritive value less, because the fat of poultry is what serves to supply a large part of the nutrition. There is no particular difference, as is commonly supposed, between the red and white meat of poultry. The difference in color is due to a difference in the blood supply, but this does not affect the composition to any extent.

PREPARATION:

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.

DRESSING

•        Although, chefs does not have to dress the chicken that they cook--that is, kill and pluck it--there may be times when they 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.

•        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.

SINGEING OF 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. To singe a dressed chicken, grasp it by the head or the neck and the feet and then revolve it over a gas flame, 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. Then it will be ready for drawing and cutting up.

CUTTING OF 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, 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, making two pieces. To sever the wings from the body, cut through the skin where the wing is attached, 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. 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. Cut through the joints, so that the back, ribs, and neck will be in one piece and the breast in another.If desired, the breast may be divided into two pieces by cutting ; 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.

•        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.

DETERMINING THE FRESHNESS OF CHICKEN

There are a number of points that indicate whether or not a chicken is fresh. In a freshly killed chicken, the feet will be soft and pliable and moist to the touch; also, the head will be un-shrunken and the eyes full and bright. The flesh of such a chicken will give a little when pressed, but no part of the flesh should be softer than another. As actual decomposition sets in, the skin begins to discolour. The first marks of discoloration occur underneath the legs and wings, at the points where they are attached to the body. Any dark or greenish colour indicates decomposition, as does also any slimy feeling of the skin. The odour given off by the chicken is also an indication of freshness. Any offensive odour, of course, means that the flesh has become unfit for food.