How to Butcher a Rooster
While the female chickens provide eggs, male roosters may be killed to provide meat. Although anyone's first try at butchering will inevitably be a slow and laborious process, with practice it can be carried out in minutes. While cutting up the rooster, any parts intended for human consumption should be immediately placed into a pot of cold water with a lid to prevent contamination. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Freshly plucked rooster
- Source of running water
- Sharp knife
- Bucket
- Pot with a lid
Instructions
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1
Rinse the chicken under running water and remove any remaining pin feathers.
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2
Lay the chicken on its back and hold one of its feet down against the work surface. Cut between the joints and through the tendons using a firm downward sawing motion. Repeat this process to remove the rooster's other foot. Put the feet in the waste bucket.
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3
Hold the head firmly and cut into the neck just below it. Again, use a sawing motion to cut through the bones and connective tissue. Place the removed head in the waste bucket.
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4
Lay the rooster on its back. Stretch the neck out and cut into the skin half way up. Pinch the skin at the cut between thumb and forefinger and pull it toward the head-end of the neck, working the knife beneath it so that it comes away in a strip.
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5
Identify the esophagus and trachea exposed beneath the skin and pull them free of the neck. Follow the esophagus down to the rooster's crop and hold it firmly in one hand while pulling slowly and steadily to remove it from the body cavity. Throw the extracted crop and esophagus into the waste bucket.
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6
Pull the skin around the neck down and away from the neck until you reach the body. At the base of the neck, cut through the meat around the bone. Lift the chicken up by the neck with one hand, while using the other to twist the bird's body until the neck comes off.
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7
Place the knife above the oil gland, which is identifiable as a small lump, on the rooster's tail. Slice downward and outward. Remove anything that is the yellow-color of the gland and throw it away.
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8
Identify the vent at the rear end of the bird. Cut a small horizontal opening above it so that the chicken's body cavity is exposed.
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9
Work the fingers inside the opening and firmly grasp the skin above and below it. Make the opening wider by pulling with both hands.
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10
Reach inside the body cavity and remove the viscera. The hand should enter the cavity over the top of the rooster's guts. Grasp the guts and pull them out slowly and steadily. This will take more than one try. Identify the green gall bladder and ensure this hasn't been broken during the process -- the bile contained within it will ruin the meat. Cut around the vent to free the large intestine. Dispose of all viscera in the waste bucket.
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11
Locate the rooster's heart, lungs and liver near the center of the bird's chest. Pull them out or use the knife to scrape them away. Dispose of them in the waste bucket.
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12
Clean the bird's body cavity in water and remove any lingering matter.
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13
Lay the chicken on its back with the legs toward you. Cut through the skin attaching the thigh to the breast. Bend the leg backward away from the body to pop out the thigh joint. Cut around the bone to release the thigh and leg. Repeat the process for the other side.
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14
Grasp the lower leg and cut downward through the joint that connects the leg and thigh. Repeat the process for the other leg.
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15
Turn the chicken onto its breast and cut either side of the spine to expose the bird's backbone. Remove the backbone and dispose of it.
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16
Cut straight through the chicken's breastplate to create two halves. Turn the halves over and cut through the joint where the wings meet the breast.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
