How to draw and pluck a pheasant
In this instance it's a small hen pheasant, that will roast nicely for one, but the process is the same for any bird.
I'm plucking it at the kitchen table since it's too cold outside.First lay the bird on it's back, take a small bunch of breast feathers twixt finger and thumb and "pluck", that is, pull sharply out and away from the direction they would normally lie in.
Don't try to do too much at once or you'll tear the skin. Just keep going till the whole body is done.
Making steady progress go halfway down the neck, do the legs and the tail do care fully, take care not to rip the skin but it will happen here and there.
Doing the wings takes a bit more effort and you might want a pair of pliers handy to help with the bigger feathers.
You don't have to worry about the wing primaries (the tough, long ones at the end of the wing) if you don't want, just locate the hinge of the wing and cut it off with a pair of shears.
But since I'm doing this for the camera, I'm doing it as you might want to with a bigger bird.
Next cut the head off.
Use a finger to seperate the skin from the neck, before sliding the skin back and cutting through the inner neck (bone and meat), close as possible to the body. Keep this for stock.
Next, to take the feet off, cut round the skin at the bottom of the "breeks",
snap the joint
Then pull hard while holding on to the thigh, and you should be able to pull the tendons out.
You should now have a bird that looks like this:
This is where it is worth taking your time and plenty of care. The idea is to cut around the vent without opening it up.Using a small, narrow bladed knife, cut carefully and close to the vent.
Try not to cut in too deep as if you open this end of the digestive tract you'll get all the stinky stuff, (not a problem, but it's worth taking a bit of time to try to get it right). Next, you need to pop a finger inside and into the birds cavity and then "draw" the innards out, as intact as possible.
This will be followed by the other organsincluding the gizzard,
All of this goes into the bin, but coming next is the giblets,
Which we want to save for stock, along with the neck.
Back at the other end of the bird now, to remove the crop. This is the first part of the digestive process, and for the curious will contain the last meal enjoyed by the bird. In this case it was wheat.
You are just about done now, take the bird to the sink and run it under a tap, including directing water into the cavity and flushing it out of the neck, also rinse any feather off, then pat it all dry.
Run a finger around inside to make sure you havn't missed anything, and thats' it, you should have a dish of giblets:
Now just twist and tuck the wings under the bird, the legs together and the end result should look like this:
Hope this has been a help to those who havn't seen it before, it's as easy as it looks so have a go.
How to draw and pluck a pheasant
In this instance it's a small hen pheasant, that will roast nicely for one, but the process is the same for any bird.
I'm plucking it at the kitchen table since it's too cold outside.First lay the bird on it's back, take a small bunch of breast feathers twixt finger and thumb and "pluck", that is, pull sharply out and away from the direction they would normally lie in.
Don't try to do too much at once or you'll tear the skin. Just keep going till the whole body is done.
Making steady progress go halfway down the neck, do the legs and the tail do care fully, take care not to rip the skin but it will happen here and there.
Doing the wings takes a bit more effort and you might want a pair of pliers handy to help with the bigger feathers.
You don't have to worry about the wing primaries (the tough, long ones at the end of the wing) if you don't want, just locate the hinge of the wing and cut it off with a pair of shears.
But since I'm doing this for the camera, I'm doing it as you might want to with a bigger bird.
Next cut the head off.
Use a finger to seperate the skin from the neck, before sliding the skin back and cutting through the inner neck (bone and meat), close as possible to the body. Keep this for stock.
Next, to take the feet off, cut round the skin at the bottom of the "breeks",
snap the joint
Then pull hard while holding on to the thigh, and you should be able to pull the tendons out.
You should now have a bird that looks like this:
This is where it is worth taking your time and plenty of care. The idea is to cut around the vent without opening it up.Using a small, narrow bladed knife, cut carefully and close to the vent.
Try not to cut in too deep as if you open this end of the digestive tract you'll get all the stinky stuff, (not a problem, but it's worth taking a bit of time to try to get it right). Next, you need to pop a finger inside and into the birds cavity and then "draw" the innards out, as intact as possible.
This will be followed by the other organsincluding the gizzard,
All of this goes into the bin, but coming next is the giblets,
Which we want to save for stock, along with the neck.
Back at the other end of the bird now, to remove the crop. This is the first part of the digestive process, and for the curious will contain the last meal enjoyed by the bird. In this case it was wheat.
You are just about done now, take the bird to the sink and run it under a tap, including directing water into the cavity and flushing it out of the neck, also rinse any feather off, then pat it all dry.
Run a finger around inside to make sure you havn't missed anything, and thats' it, you should have a dish of giblets:
Now just twist and tuck the wings under the bird, the legs together and the end result should look like this:
Hope this has been a help to those who havn't seen it before, it's as easy as it looks so have a go.
I'm plucking it at the kitchen table since it's too cold outside.First lay the bird on it's back, take a small bunch of breast feathers twixt finger and thumb and "pluck", that is, pull sharply out and away from the direction they would normally lie in.
Don't try to do too much at once or you'll tear the skin. Just keep going till the whole body is done.
Making steady progress go halfway down the neck, do the legs and the tail do care fully, take care not to rip the skin but it will happen here and there.
Doing the wings takes a bit more effort and you might want a pair of pliers handy to help with the bigger feathers.
You don't have to worry about the wing primaries (the tough, long ones at the end of the wing) if you don't want, just locate the hinge of the wing and cut it off with a pair of shears.
But since I'm doing this for the camera, I'm doing it as you might want to with a bigger bird.
Next cut the head off.
Use a finger to seperate the skin from the neck, before sliding the skin back and cutting through the inner neck (bone and meat), close as possible to the body. Keep this for stock.
Next, to take the feet off, cut round the skin at the bottom of the "breeks",
snap the joint
Then pull hard while holding on to the thigh, and you should be able to pull the tendons out.
You should now have a bird that looks like this:
This is where it is worth taking your time and plenty of care. The idea is to cut around the vent without opening it up.Using a small, narrow bladed knife, cut carefully and close to the vent.
Try not to cut in too deep as if you open this end of the digestive tract you'll get all the stinky stuff, (not a problem, but it's worth taking a bit of time to try to get it right). Next, you need to pop a finger inside and into the birds cavity and then "draw" the innards out, as intact as possible.
This will be followed by the other organsincluding the gizzard,
All of this goes into the bin, but coming next is the giblets,
Which we want to save for stock, along with the neck.
Back at the other end of the bird now, to remove the crop. This is the first part of the digestive process, and for the curious will contain the last meal enjoyed by the bird. In this case it was wheat.
You are just about done now, take the bird to the sink and run it under a tap, including directing water into the cavity and flushing it out of the neck, also rinse any feather off, then pat it all dry.
Run a finger around inside to make sure you havn't missed anything, and thats' it, you should have a dish of giblets:
Now just twist and tuck the wings under the bird, the legs together and the end result should look like this:
Hope this has been a help to those who havn't seen it before, it's as easy as it looks so have a go.