How Do I Skin a Chicken When Butchering It?

There are many steps that take place before you can serve a beautifully cooked chicken.

Skinning a chicken is an integral step of the butchering process. Though skinning fowl isn't the most pleasant thing in the world, it is necessary whether you are preparing the chicken for your family or for distribution. Though a bit gruesome, the process is rather simple once you get the hang of it.

Things You'll Need

• Small rope or string
• Meat cleaver
• Butchering knife

Instructions

1. Tie the chicken's legs together using either a short rope or strong string.

2. Chop off the head using a meat cleaver or other sharp, heavy cutting device.

3. Hang the chicken by its legs so that it is upside down and in the air.

4. Use a butchering knife, or other sharp knife, to make your first cut near the leg. Make the cut around the leg joint, which should have some yellow coloration as a marking. Cut all the way around, but not too deep. Do not cut the tendon.

5. Begin to pull the skin from the leg, making cuts as you go. Pull the skin downward. Continue to pull and cut until you reach the thigh.

6. Make an incision on the breast and begin to pull the skin in the same manner you did with the legs, cutting as you go.

7. Continue cutting and pulling until there is no skin left.

References

• Backwoods Home Magazine; Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living: How to Butcher a Chicken in 20 Minutes or Less; Dr. Roger W. Grim