Learning Poultry

Poultry has about 75% water, 20% protein, and 5% fat, along with some carbohydrates. Most chickens are raised indoors and fed strict diets in a controlled environment, these chickens are raised pretty healthy, but do not have the amount of flavor as a free range chicken. Free range chickens are allowed to move around freely and eat more outdoors in a natural environment. Two different kinds of poultry are light meat and dark meat,

Light Meat: Breast and wings, less fat, less connective tissue, cooks faster.

Dark Meat: Legs and thighs, more fat, more connective tissue, longer to cook.

Dark color in the dark meat is because of a protein called myoglobin, which stores oxygen for proteins. Duck, goose, and squab have all dark meat.

Cooking Whole Poultry:

When roasting a poultry whole it is important to cook the legs without overcooking the breasts. Roast the breast face down for part of the roasting, baste the poultry with fat, do not use water or stock, the fat protects the poultry from drying, or separating the breast from the leg and roasting them for two different times are effective ways to prevent the breast from drying before the legs are ready.

Chicken:

  • Rock Cornish Game Hen, a very tender and delicate young breed of chicken, 5 weeks or less, 3/4lb
  • Broiler or Fryer, young chicken tender flesh and smooth skin, 6 to 12 weeks, broiler 1 1/2lb fryer 2 1/2lb.
  • Roaster, young chicken tender flesh and smooth skin, 3 to 5 months, 31/2 to 5lb.
  • Capon, castrated male chicken with tender flesh and a large breast, very flavorful, under 8 months, 5 to 8lb
  • Hen or Fowl, mature female with tough flesh and coarse skin, over 10 months, 3 1/2 to 6lb.
  • Cock or Rooster, mature male, coarse skin with a tough dark meat, over 10 months, 4 to 6lb

Turkey:

  • Fryer-roaster, young bird with tender flesh and a smooth skin, under 16 weeks, 4 to 9lb.
  • Young Turkey, tender flesh, 5 to 7 months, 8 to 22lb
  • Yearling Turkey, fully matured turkey that is still tender, under 15 months, 10 to 30lb
  • Mature Turkey, old turkey with tough flesh and coarse skin, over 15 months, 10 to 30lb

Duck

  • Broiler or Fryer Duckling, young tender duck with soft bill and windpipe, under 8 weeks, 2 to 4lb
  • Roaster Duckling, young tender duck with bill and windpipe beginning to harden, under 16 weeks, 4 to 6lb
  • Mature Duck, old duck with tough flesh and hard bill and windpipe, over 6 months, 4 to 6lb.

Goose

  • Young Goose, young bird with tender flesh, under 6 months, 6 to 10lb.
  • Mature Goose, old tough bird, over 6 months, 10 to 16 months.

Pigeon

  • Squab, very young pigeon with light, tender meat, 3 to 4 weeks, under 1lb.
  • Pigeon, older pigeons with tough dark meat, over 4 weeks, 1 to 2lb.

Guinea

  • Young Guinea, tender, 3 to 6 months, 3/4 to 1 1/2lb.
  • Mature Guinea, tough, up to 12 months, 1 to 2lb.

HOW TO TELL IF A BIRD IS DONE

For large roasted birds the internal temperature should be 180degreesF, the thigh is the last part of the poultry to become fully cooked. When cooking smaller poultry you can tell if its done by the looseness in the joints, the leg moves freely in the socket, the juices inside the poultry are clear instead of cloudy, red and pink. You can also tell if a poultry is done if the flesh separates from the bone, if the flesh has shrunken this means the poultry is over cooked. Also you can tell if poultry is done by the firmness of the breast, touch it with your finder like you would a steak, the meat of the poultry should be firm and not give in to pressure.

TRUSSING

Trussing means tying the legs and wings against the body of the poultry to make a compact, solid unit. The purpose for trussing is for even cooking, and it also looks attractive when presenting a poultry whole.

  1. Place the chicken breast up with the neck end toward you. Tuck the first joint of the wings behind the neck.
  2. Press the legs forward and down against the body of the chicken.
  3. Pass the center of a length of twine under the hip bone just ahead of the tail of chicken.
  4. Bring the twine up and across the ends of the legs of the chicken.
  5. Pass the twine under the ends of the legs of the chicken and pull tight.
  6. Bring the ends of the twine toward the neck end of the chicken. Pull firmly on the twine while pressing on the breast portion of the chicken with your thumbs.
  7. Tie the twine tightly.
  8. The stub of the neck holds the twine in place, preventing it from slipping behind the back.
  9. Now you have a trussed chicken.