Eviscerating (Gutting) and Cleaning
At 8:05 in
How to butcher chicken at home, detailed instruction you'll find nowhere else!
What happens here
After plucking, the chickens are moved to a processing table for evisceration. First, remove the wing tips and feet by bending the joint and cutting through the tendon. These can be saved for stock. Next, carefully pinch the skin near the vent, and using a sharp knife, cut outwards to open the abdominal cavity without piercing the intestines. Use gloved fingers to reach inside and gently rake out the lungs, intestines, and other internal organs, ensuring all manure is removed. For the crop, pinch the skin around it, cut away from yourself, and pull it out. Separate the gizzard (muscle used for chewing, it's green inside), heart, and liver (carefully remove the small green gall bladder from the liver without bursting it, as it will make the meat bitter) for consumption. The remaining intestines are discarded. This bird is then rinsed thoroughly.
Goal: Clean and prepare the chicken carcass for chilling
Tools and materials
- Dexter Paring Knife Dexter — Removing wing tips, feet, and cutting around the vent and crop
- Processing Table — A clean surface for evisceration
- Rubber Gloves — Protecting hands and maintaining hygiene
- Chicken Cornish Cross — The animal being processed
- Water Tap water — Rinsing the bird after evisceration