Poultry Meat Processing Techniques for Quality and Safety

Chickens, turkeys, ducks, bush fowl, geese, guinea fowl, or pigeons are all classified as poultry. Edible meat varies from 34.4–39.1% for roast turkey, with approximately 60% light meat and 40% dark meat. The yield of edible meat ranges from as low as 28.4% for chicken wings to as high as 62.3% for breast and thigh.

Edible yield is influenced by age, size, strain, processing techniques, phosphate treatment, and cooking methods. Other components affecting yield include moisture, protein, and fat. On a raw basis across all classes, protein content averages 18.1% for chicken and 20.1% for turkey.

The lipids of both turkey and chicken are relatively rich in unsaturated fats, influenced by diet, age, and sex of the birds. Cholesterol content is low in raw turkey, with the least amount in breast meat. The four basic steps of processing birds include removing the blood, removing the feathers, taking out the organs, and chilling the carcass.

Slaughtering and Blood Removal in Poultry Processing

Before processing chickens, feed should be removed no less than four hours prior to processing to empty the intestine and reduce the risk of breaking the intestines during evisceration.

Water should be provided until about an hour before processing, except during extreme heat when birds may become uncomfortable without fresh, cool, clean water. Broilers are ideally caught at night for loading, as they are easier to catch, struggle less, and settle down in coops faster.

Turkeys and fowl are caught and handled whenever needed for processing. Slaughtering and defeathering involve hanging, sometimes stunning, bleeding, scalding, picking, and washing. Slaughtering includes stunning and bleeding. When carcasses are stunned, the method should preserve heart action.

Stunning with an electric shocker is frequently used for turkeys and occasionally for other poultry to prevent struggling and relax the muscles holding the feathers. Shocking reduces the rate of bleeding in turkeys, but the total blood loss remains the same as other methods if sufficient time is allowed for complete bleeding.

This is the first step in processing the bird. The head can be removed, but restraining the bird prevents it from jumping around after head removal, avoiding bruising of the meat.

Hanging the bird upside down and nicking the carotid artery just behind the ear allows the heart to pump blood out of the body. Leaving blood in the body results in a strong metallic or iron taste in the meat.

A short, sharp knife should be used for this step. While the bird is bleeding out, pithing can be performed by plunging a sharp knife into the bird’s brain through the roof of its mouth, aiming toward the angle of the eye. Twisting the blade may contact the hypothalamus, potentially causing the bird to release all feathers, easing the next step.

Using a killing cone holds the bird upside down for bleed-out while restricting movement, preventing bruising of the meat. For high-volume processing, a stun knife can render the bird unconscious before bleeding. Blood can be collected and disposed of in a compost pile or washed down the drain. Several methods for bleeding poultry include:

1. i. Modified Kosher: Severing the jugular vein just below the jowls, leaving the windpipe and esophagus uncut.
2. ii. Decapitation: Removing the head.
3. iii. Severing Veins in the Roof of the Mouth: Used when carcasses are pierced through the brain.

The “modified kosher” method is widely used in modern processing because it ensures good bleeding while leaving the head and neck intact for suspending the carcass during evisceration. Decapitated birds lose less blood than those slaughtered by “kosher” killing or pierced through the brain.

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Feather Removal Through Scalding

Poultry immersed in water heated to 160–180°F for 30–60 seconds is considered hard scalded. Feathers are easier to remove at this temperature, but the flesh becomes “doughy” and lifeless, and the skin discolors soon after processing. Hard scalding is primarily used for waterfowl, as their skin does not discolor as readily.

Carcasses scalded at 138–140°F for 30–75 seconds are subscalded, breaking down the outer skin layer without affecting the flesh. Subscalding allows easy feather removal and uniform skin color, but the skin surface is sticky.

Semi-scalding, or soft scalding, occurs at 123–130°F for 90–180 seconds, leaving the skin intact for more diverse chilling and packaging methods. However, feather removal is harder, requiring more hand pinning or additional pickers on the processing line.

To address semi-scalding challenges, hocks and necks are sometimes scalded separately at higher temperatures after picking, allowing feather removal by pickers with skin removal limited to the neck and hocks.

Scalding at 130–138°F should be avoided, as it is too hot to keep skin intact and too low to remove the entire epidermal layer, causing blotches and unsightly patches if the skin dehydrates. A new “semi-scald” system showers carcasses with hot water and conveys them through humidity cabinets sprayed with steam at 140°F.

Scalding involves treating carcasses with hot water or steam to loosen feathers from follicles. For turkeys, plunge the bird into 145–155°F water for 3–4 minutes, swirling to ensure water permeates all surfaces.

Tail feathers should come off easily when ready. For chickens, water temperature should be 130–170°F, monitored with a thermometer. Chickens require scalding for 30 seconds to two minutes by dunking up and down in hot water to loosen feathers for easy plucking. Over-scalding, using water that is too hot or scalding too long, begins cooking the skin.

Scalding can be done in a large pot, immersing the entire bird, including feet, and agitating with a spoon. For a “soft” scald, use water at 125–130°F for 90–120 seconds. Test the scald by pinching toe scales; if they release, begin plucking by pulling feathers backward from their natural direction.

A mechanical chicken plucker can reduce plucking time. Scales and nails on legs should be removed, and a propane or butane torch can singe remaining hair-like feathers. White feathers are less visible than colored ones if accidentally left on the carcass. Feathers can be composted or discarded in regular trash.

After scalding and rough picking, fowl carcasses are dipped in hot wax to remove pin feathers, typically while suspended by the head and feet. After dipping twice, carcasses are immersed in cold water to harden the wax, which peels off, pulling out small feathers for a clean carcass.

Modern processing plants use conveyor lines with rubber-fingered pickers to beat and rub off feathers, with water washing feathers away. After picking and pinning, carcasses are singed over a flame to remove hair-like filoplumes.

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Washing for Clean Poultry Carcasses

Carcasses are washed with a stream of water and scrubbed with rubber fingers, loosening soiled areas and reducing microorganisms. This ensures a clean carcass ready for further processing.

Evisceration for Organ Removal

Evisceration methods vary by region, poultry species, and processing plant. Beyond removing belly contents, evisceration includes inspection of viscera by a veterinarian or supervised personnel.

Leaving organs, head, and feet attached results in a “New York” dressed chicken, common in Asian markets. However, most U.S. consumers prefer removing the intestinal tract and related organs. A freshly killed bird remains warm inside.

Carefully cut the skin in a circle around the vent using the side of a sharp knife to avoid nicking the intestines, which could spill contents. If the intestines are accidentally broken, clean the bird to remove visible feces before chilling, and sanitize the workspace and knives.

Widen the vent opening with fingers, then turn the bird to the head end. Remove the head with sharp chicken shears, cutting up through the skin along the back of the neck to avoid the esophagus and larynx.

Locate the esophagus, a soft tube along the front of the neck, and loosen it from surrounding tissues. Carefully loosen the crop from the skin and surrounding tissues, as it is strongly attached. Reach into the neck cavity to loosen tissues, ensuring the crop slides smoothly into the body cavity when pulling from the vent.

From the vent end, pull out the intestines, crop, esophagus, larynx, lungs, and reproductive organs with minimal resistance. The lungs, bright pink and wedged between ribs, should be gently removed and discarded. Grasp the heart along the breastplate, setting it aside as a giblet.

Separate the liver, avoiding the gall bladder, a small green sac that can impart a bitter taste if broken. Cut out the gizzard, also a giblet, and discard the remaining intestines. Using poultry shears, cut off the neck close to the shoulders for soup stock.

Trim the heart to remove veins and arteries, squeezing out coagulated blood. Open the gizzard, wash out feed, and peel off the thick yellow koilin lining. Remove excess ducts and the gall bladder from the liver. Save giblets and the neck in a container for soup stock or gravy.

Flip the carcass onto the breast and remove the preen gland at the tail to avoid a strong flavor. Cut down to the bone at the head end of the gland and scoop it out toward the tail. Remove the feet at the hock joint, where skin and scales meet, ensuring no ammonia-induced lesions are present. Feet and wing tips can be used for soup stock.

Chilling, Microbiology, and Preservation of Poultry Carcasses

1.Second Washing of the Carcass

Before chilling, vigorously wash the carcass inside and out with clean water to remove visible fecal material. The carcass is washed again and rapidly chilled from about 90°F to 35°F to prevent bacterial spoilage and preserve quality. Chilling in slush makes the meat more succulent after packaging. Poultry is then graded and packaged as fresh.

2. Preparing the Ice Water Bath and Chilling Technique

Prepare an ice water bath in a bucket, bin, or ice chest large enough to immerse one or multiple birds. The carcass should remain immersed for up to four hours to complete rigor mortis, ensuring tender muscles, especially in younger meat chickens.

Add ice as needed to maintain the breast muscle temperature below 40°F, measured directly with a thermometer. After chilling, drain the water, place the carcass in a resealable plastic bag, and refrigerate or freeze until preparation. Consulting a local poultry extension specialist or attending a poultry processing class can provide valuable experience.

3. Microbiology of Poultry Meat

Salmonella, including Salmonella orangienburg, S. typhimurium, S. newport, S. enteritidis, S. anatum, S. montevideo, and under certain conditions S. gallinarium and S. pullorum, is the most significant group of bacteria in poultry causing human illness.

Other transmissible bacterial diseases include paracolon infections, erysipelas, staphylococcal infections, tuberculosis, brucellosis, listeriosis, tularemia, pasteurellosis, pseudotuberculosis, diphtheria, anthrax, botulism, and leptospirosis.

Organisms cause spoilage by inducing chemical changes in carbohydrates, fats, or proteins, though some changes, like fermentation, are desirable. Live poultry typically have 600–8,100 organisms per square centimeter of skin.

After processing and evisceration, carcasses have 11,000–93,000 organisms/cm². Live turkeys have 750–41,000 organisms/cm². Off-odors appear when bacterial counts reach a log of 6.5–8.0 per cm², and slime forms at 7.5–9.0/cm². Pseudomonas and Alcaligenes are the primary organisms on slime-spoiled carcasses.

Genera identified on eviscerated cut-up poultry include Pseudomonas, Micrococcus, Achromobacter, Sarcina, Streptococcus, Eberthella, Salmonella, Escherichia, Streptomyces, Penicillium, Oospora, Cryptococcus, and Rhodotorula.

Immediately after processing, chromogenic bacteria represent 50–60% of the microflora, with colorless cocci and related forms comprising 20–25%. After storage, chromogens and miscellaneous bacteria account for less than 1% of total organisms.

4. Preservation Techniques for Poultry Meat

In tropical climates, poultry carcass quality deteriorates rapidly without refrigeration, limiting safe handling to a few hours post-slaughter. Consequently, poultry is often purchased live. Transportation methods significantly affect quality, with rough handling causing death losses, broken wings, legs, and bruises.

After slaughter, the only desirable change is increased tenderness, requiring a few hours, which is shorter than the time leading to deterioration or spoilage. Dressed poultry, with only blood and feathers removed, spoils more slowly than eviscerated or cut-up carcasses due to minimal meat contamination.

For extended storage life, sanitary processing, rapid chilling, low storage temperatures, and moisture-vapor-proof packaging are essential. Prompt chilling to below 1.7°C (35°F) and storage or transport near 0°C (32°F) can yield a storage life of 2–3 weeks.

Dipping poultry in water with antibiotics like chlortetracycline or oxytetracycline, or in corn citric acid-potassium sorbate solution, may extend refrigerated storage life if sanitation is adequate. At freezing conditions below -9°C (15°F), microbial activity ceases, preventing sliming and souring, allowing poultry meat to be stored for months or years.

Below -9°C, dehydration is the primary quality threat, particularly for eviscerated or cut-up carcasses due to exposed muscle surfaces. Moisture-vapor-proof packaging materials mitigate this issue.

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