HOW TO PROPERLY SPLIT DOMESTIC AND WILD DUCK

It is difficult for city dwellers to imagine slaughtering poultry, but for poultry farmers this process is one of the main ones in growing chickens, geese or ducks. This seemingly simple task has a lot of nuances, knowing about which you can get a good carcass, without undue suffering of the bird. In this article we will talk about all the stages of slaughtering and butchering ducks, which even a beginning poultry breeder can handle.

How to score

Before proceeding to action, it is important to choose the right moment and prepare the bird. The most suitable time for slaughter is 60-65 days of duck life, when the plumage grows completely, but the feathers on the wings are still immature. In this case, the skin surface will not be bristly and will retain its attractive appearance. If this moment is missed, then removing the plumage from the carcass will be a little more difficult, and the meat will not be so tender.

Preparing birds for slaughter begins 12-16 hours before the process itself, by cleaning the goiter and stomach from food debris.

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To this end, it is recommended to stop feeding the ducks and increase their water intake. In addition, on the night before slaughter, in the room with selected feathers, they leave the lighting, so that they quickly get rid of the food eaten. Slapping ducks using cones to immobilize As for the process of slaughter, there are several proven methods. If the priority task for you is to get a clean bloodless carcass, then the humane attitude to the bird will have to be neglected.

In this case, the whole procedure is as follows:

The duck is suspended by the legs and the wings are laid behind each other (for convenience, metal cones are often used);
The head is pulled through the lower opening of the cone and with the help of a knife, the bird’s carotid artery is cut, keeping the instrument not perpendicular to the neck, but slightly angled;
With the throat cut, the duck is left for 10-20 minutes to allow the blood to completely flow into the substituted bucket.
As soon as the blood stops flowing, you can move on to the next stage - plucking.

Did you know? The characteristic quacking of ducks can only be heard from females, drakes mostly hiss and do not make loud noises.

Many poultry farmers consider the standard beheading with an ax to be a more humane way of slaughtering ducks. In this case, with one hand, the duck is held by the wings, and the second (with an ax) is brought over the neck previously laid on a stump or other suitable surface. If you do everything quickly, the bird will not even have time to get scared. Of course, in this case the feathers, and the carcass itself is stained with blood.

How to nip

The next step in obtaining tasty and tender duck meat is the removal of plumage. At first glance, this seems to be an easy task, but the ease with which it will be implemented will depend on the method chosen: “on dry”, by scalding or by soaking and ironing (hot).

It will probably be useful for you to learn how to quickly pluck a duck without hemp and how to properly pluck poultry with a nozzle.

Dry method

According to this method, immediately after the slaughter of the bird, she is simply pulled out feathers. The process of getting rid of feather cover looks like this:

The poultry breeder sits on a chair so that the carcass of a clogged duck is lying on its knees, and the head hangs down over a previously prepared container for feathers.
Removal of feathers begin from the chest, then go to the back and shoulders, and in the last turn pay attention to the wings and tail.
Now it remains to get rid of the remaining small hairs, for which a sharp knife is used: the blunt side is pressed against the carcass, and the hairs against the knife, after which they are pulled out with a sharp movement “towards themselves”.
Plucked duck is rolled in flour, trying to rub it in as much as possible, thereby eliminating excess moisture.
Remnants of down and small hairs can be removed by scorching the carcass: before you bring it to the fire, you need to spread your wings and stretch the skin. All actions are performed very carefully, so as not to melt the subcutaneous fat and not to spoil the presentation of the bird. The soot that appeared in the process can be easily washed off with water, so do not worry about it.
At the end of the process of plucking, it remains only to wash the duck.

This method of plucking is equally good both when breeding domestic ducks and when cooking wild birds.

Important! At all stages of bird plucking, try not to damage her skin, otherwise she will begin to crawl and continue the procedure will be very problematic.

Scalding

Scalding is the easiest and most convenient way to remove feather cover from any poultry., and in contrast to dry plucking, it is possible at once to get rid of a larger number of feathers. This process consists of the following steps:

Heat the water to 80 ° C, but do not boil it, otherwise the skin on the carcass will burst and further procedure will be very problematic.
Place the duck in the water tank and hold it for about 1 minute.
Taking the carcass from the pan, you can proceed to the very plucking, first pulling out feathers from the wings, abdomen, and then from the tail. Lastly, feather cover is removed from the back and legs.
After removing all the feathers, scorch the carcass over the fire.

Scalding is convenient to apply when there is no opportunity to mess with the bird immediately after slaughter. True, there is a minus - under the influence of hot water duck meat turns red.

Important! To facilitate the task of removing feathers from the carcass, pull them out in the direction opposite to their growth.

Hot way

This option of plucking cannot be called traditional, because in comparison with the previous ones it is more complex and not all hostesses are willing to spend extra time on its implementation. In this case, you should prepare a durable fabric bag made of natural material, and also keep the iron ready.

Hot plucking involves the following:

The bag should be soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes.
After the specified time, gently reach and place the duck carcass in it.
Heat the iron and gently iron the contents of the bag through the walls.
After this, it is advisable to get the carcass out as soon as possible.

Of course, this procedure can not be called very easy, because the duck in the bag gives it a very inconvenient volume, but with a little effort, you will see how easy it is to solve the problem of plucking. An alternative to "hot plucking" is the freezing of the carcass along with the feathers and their pulling out immediately after thawing (in this state they easily leave the skin).

How to properly duck

The most difficult stages of cooking a home (or wild) duck are over, but this does not mean that in the future there will be no problems with dressing it. To minimize possible difficulties, you should be aware of some stages of the procedure and their features.

From the insides

Finished clean duck carcass must be rid of entrails, because with any method of cooking meat they are not needed.

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Do this like this:

First paws are cut off with a sharp knife.
Then they turn the duck around to the neck and, having slipped the knife under the skin, separate it from the neck.

Under the skin immediately visible some tube (with a small bag at the other end), which must be completely pulled out. It will be easier to do if you break through the film above it, although you will have to break it before removing the remaining internals.
Then the esophagus is torn off from the neck, pulling the protruding part of it with the fingers (the film that fell into the hands is also removed). The tube of the esophagus does not need to be pulled out of the duck yet, it is enough just to set it aside.
At this stage, the carcass is turned towards itself with its paws and an incision is made 1-2 cm below the anus, while at the same time trying not to hook the rectum.
After the incision will be clearly visible guts of the bird. They gently lift and cut the anus itself, keeping the knife away from the entrails.
After removing this part, access to the abdomen of the duck appears, by putting your hand inside, you should carefully detach the film adjacent to the meat in a circle (in fact, it keeps all the internal organs together).

From the guts first get the heart. It is edible, so it is desirable to immediately put it in a clean container.
Behind him it is necessary to grope the esophagus (disconnected from the neck, it is still located near it from the opposite side), and by extending it through the lower part, you can reach all the other entrails simply by assembling them with your hand.
Pushing aside the entire contents of the duck, it is worth checking again what’s left inside. Some parts of the tubes may have broken off and are still there.
Now the carcass can be set aside and analyze the elongated viscera: the liver is carefully separated (so as not to hurt the spleen) and the stomach is cut off (later it can be cut, cleaned and, after removing the inner film, cooked).

Video: How to cut a duck

On this process of cleaning the carcass from the viscera can be considered complete and it remains only to cut it into pieces.

Did you know? There are no nerve endings and a vascular net in the paws of the ducks, so the birds can easily swim in the water and not feel cold.

In portions

If you are not going to stuff the duck, then the cleaned and gutted carcass should be divided into portions. The sequence of analysis is as follows:

The first cut off the neck, just at the level of the sternum (from it you can cook soup or feed pets).
Then the wings are removed, breaking the joints with the hands (only the skin and muscle tissue are cut with a knife).
The torso unfolded by the legs begins to be disassembled, making an incision slightly to the left of the middle: first, the left side of the sternum is removed along the bone line, and then the carcass is turned over and the right side of the sternum is cut out along the bone line.
Next come the legs. Slightly stepping down from the middle of the skeleton, along the bone line, an incision is made and the blade is carried out to the joint itself, which can be broken by hand to facilitate the work.
In the same way, the leg is separated from the other side.

Video: How to cut a duck into portions Thus, you will get two chest parts (the most delicious meat) and two good hips, and from the remaining skeleton you can cook a delicious rich broth.

How to carve a duck in the hunt

It is possible to cut duck in the field in almost the same way as at home, except for the convenience of work.

Learn how to breed wild ducks at home.

To begin with, the plucked and obsmalnaya carcass removes the head, then the wings and legs are cut off, and all further actions are performed in the following sequence:

Having turned the duck to its lower part, it is necessary to make a neat cut slightly above the anus (just like it was described earlier).
Then, holding the insides, with a knife blade, increase the incision upwards and make another one in the neck region to separate the esophagus tube from it.
Now you can get the insides from the abdominal cavity and separate the edible parts: the stomach, heart, liver. The stomach is cut and cleaned in the same way as in the dressing of poultry.
At the end of the process, the carcass is washed, the internal cavity is cleaned well again and either the broth is boiled on the spot or taken home.

Slaughtering and cutting birds is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance, but in this matter it is worth keeping calm and adhering to all stages of the task. Over time, you will spend less and less time, and the actions will become clear and coordinated, without the slightest inaccuracies.

Important! To keep the carcass in the field longer, you can use the nettle, stuffing it with the bird from the inside. So the carcass quietly lie for a day without a refrigerator and soaking in salt.