How to pluck a domestic goose quickly and correctly

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

With the onset of cold weather comes the time of slaughtering poultry in the villages, including geese. The owners are faced with the question of how to properly pluck a goose so that both the meat is tasty and the fluff with feathers can be used to good use in the household. Goose meat has long been considered a delicacy, goose feathers and feathers are a valuable material in the manufacture of light, soft pillows and feather beds. Craftswomen make very original artificial flowers from large feathers.

Plucking a goose is a very labor-intensive job, for this you need to gain skills and patience. There is one caveat before slaughter, which must always be remembered by those who keep this poultry. Experienced owners know how to quickly pluck a goose, as they slaughter a bird before a molt, the exact time of which is determined in different ways.

When should a goose be slaughtered for meat?

Some geese for meat ripen in 310 days, others will need 270 days, early maturing reach 8 months.

The beginning of the natural process of molting is noticed by the fact that feathers from a goose can be easily removed by pulling out without persistence and without blood. At the same time, geese in the pasture begin to actively lose their feathers.

You can feel the body of a bird under the wings. If duringrunning a hand along the body in the opposite direction of the growth of the feather, the presence of stumps (pimples) will not be detected, which means that the poultry are ready for slaughter. If fingers find stumps when touched, then the goose should be left until the next molt, because when plucked, these stumps will torture anyone, even an experienced person in this matter, and the goose carcass will become unmarketable.

How to pluck a goose after slaughter? You need to know: geese are plucked after slaughter when blood drains from them. First you need to prepare a suitable container for folding down and feather, for this a cardboard box from under household appliances or a tall box will do. If you need to leave large feathers for some needs, you will need a container for them, because they can also be useful on the farm.

There are several ways to pluck geese. Now let's try to figure out how to pluck a goose correctly. Among all methods, the most common has long been the dry method of removing feathers and fluff.

Dry plucking of poultry

How to quickly pluck a goose in a dry way? First, large feathers are pulled out from the tail of the carcass, then from the wings, from the armpits. Armpit feathers are usually thrown away, and other large feathers are usually used by housewives to make brushes for smearing pastries. Soft, fluffy down is used to make pillows, blankets or jackets. Feathers should be pulled with a sharp movement, grabbing a little so that the skin is not torn. The goose must be kept on its knees with its tail towards the container and the fluff must be plucked in the direction of its growth. The sequence of plucking a goose carcass is different for everyone: usuallystart from the side of the chest, then move on to the back, tail and neck. Feathers and fluff on the elbows and neck remain. In order to complete the plucking, these parts are dipped in turn into boiling water and held for 1-2 minutes. After that, the fluff comes off very easily.

Cold way of plucking geese

With this method, the goose is subjected to cooling for 3-4 hours, then the fat deposits under the skin are compacted. When warm, the skin sometimes breaks when plucked dry, and the appearance of the carcass deteriorates.

During this time, the fusible subcutaneous fat solidifies, and the feathers are pulled out much easier, the skin of the goose is almost not injured. Many hunters know how to pluck a goose in the field, and the cold method is more acceptable for them.

Scalding a domestic goose

This method differs from the dry one in that the goose down is easily plucked and does not scatter around the room. After scalding, feathers and down become clean, this is important when you plan to use them for pillows and duvets. Before starting, you need to prepare hot water with a temperature of 80-90 degrees and make sure that it does not cool down if you want to clean more than one goose. How to pluck a domestic goose this way?

The finished goose should be taken by the paws and dipped in boiling water for a few minutes. Here you will have to follow safety precautions so as not to burn yourself with hot water or steam from boiling water. The scalded goose is thrown back onto a large tray andgently pluck, removing stumps.

Plucking a goose with an iron

Another way of plucking a goose has been invented - this is the treatment of the carcass with a hot iron. Experienced housewives know how best to pluck a goose with a hot iron. To do this, take a cotton rag folded in several layers, soak it and apply it gradually to different parts of the carcass, making movements, as when ironing clothes. The rag is soaked several times as necessary and shifted until the entire goose carcass is ironed. Feathers and down are obtained with this method clean, the down does not scatter around the room and does not sit on clothes that are difficult to clean from adhering down.

Can you pluck a goose with power tools?

With the above methods of plucking poultry, a lot of effort and time is expended if a person does not have certain skills. Advanced people did not puzzle over the question of how to pluck a goose for a long time, and came up with a way to perform this procedure using power tools in the form of a drill or a screwdriver, which are now available in almost every household. Speci alty stores sell a special attachment for plucking poultry and game, which simplifies the process of getting rid of feathers at home. At the same time, fluff and feathers are removed from the neck and torso, elbows and paws quickly, without effort. But there is a drawback of this method: soft fluffs and a feather are removed together, indiscriminately, then you have to sort themmanually.

The advantage is that you don't have to bother with the preparation of boiling water, iron, especially since these methods are very time-consuming and unsafe. So the problem of how easy it is to pluck a goose can be solved rationally.

Singing off the hairs and stumps of a goose carcass

So we figured out the well-known methods of plucking a goose.

With any method of plucking, after removing the feathers, the goose carcass is scorched over the fire of a gas stove, during which all small protruding coarse fluffs and hairs are removed. If there is no gas stove, you can do this with a gas burner, a soldering iron. At worst, if there are no such tools at hand, then you can singe the carcass under the fire of a torch, paper or a bundle of straw. But after them, traces of soot may remain on the wet skin of a goose. Then it is recommended to take bran or flour and rub the skin of the goose with them. After that, with a clean, dry cloth, remove the remnants of flour and bran. The meat from this procedure will acquire a spicy taste. When singeing, it is necessary to straighten the skin in order to remove wrinkles on it, pay special attention to the places “under the armpits” and on the elbow bends - stretching them, hold a gas or alcohol burner over the fire. Singeing should be done carefully so as not to damage the skin and not melt the fat under the skin of the bird.

Well, with the help of these tips, you can easily learn the rules of how to pluck a goose, and then successfully apply them in practice.