Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume III Part 18

19. The determination of quality, especially freshness, is much the same for other kinds of poultry as it is for chicken. In fact, the same points apply in most cases, but each kind seems to have a few distinguishing features, which are here pointed out.

20. SELECTION OF TURKEYS.--Turkeys rank next to chickens in popularity as food. They are native to America and are perhaps better known here than in foreign countries. Turkey is a much more seasonal food than chicken, it being best in the fall. Cold-storage turkey that has been killed at that time, provided it is properly stored and cared for, is better than fresh turkey marketed out of season.

21. The age of a turkey can be fairly accurately told by the appearance of its feet. Very young turkeys have black feet, and as they mature the feet gradually grow pink, so that at more than 1 year old the feet will be found to be pink. However, as the bird grows still older, the color again changes, and a 3-year-old turkey will have dull-gray or blackish looking feet. The legs, too, serve to indicate the age of turkeys. Those of a young turkey are smooth, but as the birds grow older they gradually become rough and scaly. A young turkey will have spurs that are only slightly developed, whereas an old turkey will have long, sharp ones.

22. Turkeys are seldom marketed when they are very young. But in spite of the fact that this is occasionally done, the mature birds are more generally marketed. Turkeys often reach a large size, weighing as much as 20 to 25 pounds. A mature turkey has proportionately a larger amount of flesh and a smaller amount of bone than chicken; hence, even at a higher price per pound, turkey is fully as economical as chicken.

23. SELECTION OF DUCKS.--Ducks probably come next to turkeys in popularity for table use. Young ducks are sold in the market during the summer and are called _spring duck_. The mature ducks may be purchased at any time during the year, but they are best in the winter months.

The flexibility of the windpipe is an excellent test for the age of ducks. In the young bird, the windpipe may be easily moved; whereas, in the old one, it is stationary and quite hard. The meat of ducks is dark over the entire bird, and the greatest amount is found on the breast.

Its flavor is quite typical, and differs very much from turkey and chicken. However, there is a comparatively small amount of meat even on a good-sized duck, and it does not carve to very good advantage; in fact, more persons can be served from a chicken or a turkey of the same weight. Young ducks are rather difficult to clean, as a layer of fine down, which is not easily removed, covers the skin.

24. SELECTION OF GEESE.--Geese are much more commonly used for food in foreign countries than in America. Their age may be told in the same way as that of ducks, namely, by feeling of the windpipe. The flesh is dark throughout and rather strongly flavored. The fat is used quite extensively for cooking purposes, and even as a b.u.t.ter subst.i.tute in some countries. Because of this fact, geese are generally fattened before they are slaughtered, and often half the weight of the bird is fat. The livers of fattened geese reach enormous proportions and are considered a delicacy. They are used for _pate de fois gras_. Usually, this is put up in jars and brings a very high price.

25. SELECTION OF PIGEONS.--Pigeons are raised primarily for their use as _squabs_. These are young birds about 4 weeks old, and their meat is tender and agreeable to the taste. The meat of the mature pigeon becomes quite tough and unpalatable. The breast is the only part of the bird that has meat on it in any quant.i.ty, and this meat is slightly lighter in color than that which comes from the remainder of the body. Midsummer is the best season for squabs, but they can be purchased at other times of the year. The cost of squabs is too high to allow them to be used extensively as a food in the ordinary household.

TABLE I

GUIDE TO THE SELECTION OF POULTRY

Market Name Weight Age Season Pounds

Squab broiler 3/4 to 1-1/4 6 to 8 wk. April to July Broiler 1-1/2 to 2 2 to 4 mo. May to Sept.

Frying chicken 2-1/2 to 3 6 mo. June to Oct.

Roasting chicken 3 to 6 6 mo. to 1 yr. All Year Fowl 4 to 5 over 1 yr. All Year Capon 6 to 10 6 to 8 wk. May to Sept.

Turkey broiler 1-1/2 to 4 2 to 4 mo. June to Sept.

Roasting turkey 8 to 25 6 mo. to 3 yr. Oct. to Jan.

Spring Duck 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 2 to 6 mo. May to Dec.

Roasting Duck 4 to 8 6 mo. to 1 yr. Best in winter Green goose 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 2 to 6 mo. May to Dec.

Roasting goose 4 to 8 6 mo. to 1 yr. Oct. to Mar.

Squab 1/2 to 3/4 4 wk. June to Sept.

Guinea hen broiler 1 to 2 2 to 4 mo. Aug. to Nov.

Guinea fowl 3 to 5 6 mo. to 1 yr. Oct. to Mar.

26. SELECTION OF GUINEA FOWLS.--Guinea fowls are coming into common use as food. The young birds are preferable to the older ones. They are ready for the market in early autumn, while the old birds may be procured at any time. The breast meat of guinea fowls is almost as light as that of chicken, but all the meat of this bird has a gamy taste, which is absent in the chicken. If this particular flavor is much desired, it may be developed to even a greater degree by allowing the bird to hang after killing until the meat begins to "turn," that is, become "high." Such meat, however, is not usually desirable in the ordinary menu.

27. SELECTION OF PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, AND QUAIL.--Pheasant, partridge, and quail are usually considered game birds, but certain varieties are being extensively domesticated and bred for market. Such birds are small and are used more in the nature of a delicacy than as a common article of food.

28. TABLE OF POULTRY AND GAME.--In Table I are given the market names of the various kinds of poultry and game birds, as well as the corresponding age, the weight, and the season of the year when they are most desirable. This table will serve as a guide in selecting poultry that is to be used as food.

COMPOSITION OF POULTRY

29. 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 OF POULTRY FOR COOKING

PREPARATION OF CHICKEN

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.s 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 6]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 9]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ma.s.s 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 ma.s.s 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 ma.s.s.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 12]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.