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Classic
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page 237
POULTRY.
Do not feed poultry the day before killing; cut off the head, hang up by the
legs, as the meat will be more white and wholesome if bled freely and quickly.
In winter, kill from three days to a week before cooking. Scald well by dipping
in and out of a pail or tub of boiling water, being careful not to scald so much
as to set the feathers and make them more difficult to pluck; place the fowl on
a board with head towards you, pull the feathers away from you, which will be in
the direction they naturally lie (if pulled in a contrary direction the skin is
likely to be torn), be careful to remove all the pin-feathers with a knife or
pair of tweezers; singe, but not smoke, over blazing paper, place on a
meat-board, and with a sharp knife cut off the legs a little below the knee, to
prevent the muscles from shrinking away from the joint, and remove the oil-bag
above the tail; take out the crop, either by making a slit at the back of the
neck or in front (the last is better), taking care that every thing pertaining
to the crop or windpipe is removed, cut the neck-bone off close to the body,
leaving the skin a good length if to be stuffed; cut a slit three inches long
from the tail upwards, being careful to cut only through the skin, put in the
finger at the breast and detach all the intestines, taking care not to burst the
gall-bag (situated near the upper part of the breast-bone, and attached to the
liver; if broken, no washing can remove the bitter taint left on every spot it
touches); put in the hand at the incision near the tail, and draw out carefully
all intestines; trim off the fat from the breast and at the lower incision;
split the gizzard and take out the inside and inner lining (throw liver, heart,
and gizzard into water, wash well, and lay aside to be cooked and used for the
gravy);
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