Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 3: Soup; Meat; Poultry and Game; Fish and Shell Fish

by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

SELECTION OF CHICKEN

11. To be able to select chicken properly, the housewife must be familiar with the terms that are applied to chickens to designate their age or the cookery process for which they are most suitable. Chicken is a general name for all varieties of this kind of poultry, but in its specific use it means a common domestic fowl that is less than 1 year old. Fowl is also a general term; but in its restricted use in cookery it refers to the full-grown domestic hen or cock over 1 year of age, as distinguished from the chicken or pullet. A broiler is chicken from 2 to 4 months old which, because of its tenderness, is suitable for broiling. A frying chicken is at least 6 months old, and a roasting chicken is between 6 months and 1 year old. With these terms understood, it can readily be seen that if fried chicken is desired a 2-year-old fowl would not be a wise purchase.

The quality of the bird is the next consideration in the selection of chicken. A number of things have a bearing on the quality. Among these, as has already been pointed out, are the feeding and care that the bird has received during its growth, the way in which it has been prepared for market, and so on. All of these things may be determined by careful observation before making a purchase. However, if the bird is drawn, and especially if the head and feet are removed, there is less chance to determine these things accurately.

12. GENERAL MARKS OF GOOD QUALITY.--A chicken older than a broiler that has been plucked should not be scrawny nor drawn looking like that shown in Fig. 1, nor should the flesh have a blue tinge that shows through the skin. Rather, it should be plump and well rounded like the one shown in Fig. 2. There should be a sufficient amount of fat to give a rich, yellow color. It should be plucked clean, and the skin should be clear and of an even color over the entire bird. Tender, easily broken skin indicates a young bird; tougher skin indicates an older one. The skin should be whole and unbroken; likewise, when pressed with the fingers, it should be neither flabby nor stiff, but pliable.

13. The increase of age in a chicken is to some extent an advantage, because with age there is an increase in flavor. Thus, a year-old chicken will have more flavor than a broiler. However, after more than a year, the flavor increases to such an extent that it becomes strong and disagreeable. With the advance of age there is also a loss of tenderness in the flesh, and this after 1-1/2 or 2 years becomes so extreme as to render the bird almost unfit for use. As the age of a chicken increases, the proportion of flesh to bone also increases up to the complete maturity of the bird. Hence, one large bird is a more economical purchase than two small ones that equal its weight, because the proportion of bone to flesh is less in the large bird than in the small ones.

14. DETERMINING THE AGE OF CHICKEN.--An excellent way in which to determine the age of a chicken that has been dressed consists in feeling of the breast bone at the point where it protrudes below the neck. In a very young chicken, a broiler, for instance, the point of this bone will feel like cartilage, which is firm, elastic tissue, and may be very easily bent. If the bird is about a year old, the bone will be brittle, and in a very old one it will be hard and will not bend.

15. If the head has been left on, the condition of the beak is a means of determining age. In a young chicken, it will be smooth and unmarred; in an old one, it will be rough and probably darker in color. If the feet have been left on, they too will serve to indicate the age. The feet of a young chicken are smooth and soft; whereas, those of an old bird are rough, hard, and scaly. The claws of a young one are short and sharp; but as the bird grows older they grow stronger and become blunt and marred with use. The spur, which is a projection just above the foot on the back of each leg, is small in the young chicken, and increases in size as the age increases. However, the spurs are more pronounced in males than in females.

16. Another way of telling the age of dressed chicken is to observe the skin. After plucking, young birds usually have some pin feathers left in the skin. Pin feathers are small unformed feathers that do not pull out with the larger ones. Older birds are usually free from pin feathers, but have occasional long hairs remaining in the skin after the feathers have been plucked. These do not pull out readily and must be singed off when the chicken is being prepared for cooking.

17. DETERMINING THE FRESHNESS OF CHICKEN.--There are a number of points that indicate whether or not a chicken is fresh. In a freshly killed chicken, the feet will be soft and pliable and moist to the touch; also, the head will be unshrunken and the eyes full and bright. The flesh of such a chicken will give a little when pressed, but no part of the flesh should be softer than another. As actual decomposition sets in, the skin begins to discolor. The first marks of discoloration occur underneath the legs and wings, at the points where they are attached to the body. Any dark or greenish color indicates decomposition, as does also any slimy feeling of the skin. The odor given off by the chicken is also an indication of freshness. Any offensive odor, of course, means that the flesh has become unfit for food.

18. LIVE CHICKENS.--Occasionally chickens are brought to the market and sold alive. This means, of course, that the birds are subjected to a certain amount of fright and needless cruelty and that the work of slaughtering falls to the purchaser. The cost, however, is decreased a few cents on the pound. Such birds must be chosen first of all by weight and then by the marks that indicate age, which have already been given.