Subnostr

After listening to #[0] at The Survival Podcast talk about all the things you can do with a sous vid machine, I pulled the trigger.

I'm going to try salmon tonight.

But what I'm really seeing here is a machine to effortlessly heat scalding water to process a couple chickens...

I'm not at all sure about leaving it in the water during the scalding since that is a very dirty process, but I can see heating it up to 160°F, dump it into a bucket and the water should hold above 142° Fahrenheit long enough to scald and pluck a few chickens. As the water cools, the scald time will go from tens of seconds up to a couple minutes.

Lots of people complain about how difficult chickens are to pluck. It's just not true. That is, assuming you get a good scald. If you don't get a good scald, they won't pluck with a plucker either.

Divide the estimated scald time by 3, do three dunks and check the large wingtip feathers each time you pull up. When they slide out effortlessly it's done. If they don't, keep scalding. Stop scalding and start plucking.

With turkeys the largest and hardest feathers are the tail feathers, but they can pretty much be forced out by the time the wingtips are loose.

If you haven't tried it, you should note that waterfowl are more difficult...

#grownostr

#homesteading

#tsp

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Discussion

Rocking Lazy JM ranch 2y ago

My gut says it might not work but worth a try if you aren't doing many.

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

If you are doing more than a few you will have to reheat the water. The only reason it wouldn't work for at least a couple is if it can't hold a few gallons of water over 159 degrees.

You can heat water on the stove top too, but you need a thermometer and then you have to carry it to wherever you are doing the deed.

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

I don't know where 159° came from above. Scald temperature ranges from 142° f to about 165°f. Hotter temperatures within this range scald a lot faster but leave the skin more brittle, and it will tear more easily. If you are good at hand plucking, that's not a terribly big problem. If you are using a plucker, the skin will look like you dropped it in a shredder if scalded at hotter temperatures. When I was using a plucker, I always tightly controlled my scalding temperature between 145 and 147° f.