The noble, handsome black grouse is a desired trophy for many hunters. Hunting for black grouse is exciting, and in the spring on the lek it is also spectacular. This bird is rightfully considered a worthy prey, since its meat is nutritious and healthy. Black grouse dishes are varied and very tasty.

Features and taste of meat

The meat of young birds is very tender and juicy, well suited for baking and frying. In braids it is more rigid. Experienced chefs advise that before cooking brassica, soak it for 1-2 days and only then stew or boil it. When hunting, grouse are usually baked in clay, spit-roasted, or boiled.

The bird's breast consists of two layers of meat: the upper one is dark and the lower one is pinkish-white.

Among the many beneficial substances contained in meat, it is worth highlighting manganese, iodine and folic acid. The small amount of fat in the meat and the content of easily digestible protein make it suitable for dietary nutrition.

Lingonberries or cranberries, rice, potatoes, broccoli and spaghetti go well with black grouse meat. The carcass is usually stuffed with mushrooms, hazelnuts, asparagus and even exotic mangoes, kiwis and pineapples. And a large selection of sauces makes it possible to cook and serve poultry to suit any, even the most demanding taste.

Below we will tell you how tasty and easy it is to cook black grouse.

Cutting and preparation

It is recommended to keep the harvested poultry in the cold for several days before cooking and only then begin processing. First of all, the bird needs to be plucked. To make the process easier, the carcass should be kept in boiling water for several minutes.

The bird is then gutted, being careful not to damage the gall bladder. To get rid of a specific smell, you can rub the carcass with soda, then rinse thoroughly and dry. There are recipes for cooking black grouse, where the bird is baked with giblets; in this case, the lungs, kidneys, stomach and heart are carefully placed into the carcass.

To decide how to cook grouse, you need to determine the age and sex of the bird. Females weigh on average 1.5 kg, males are larger - the weight of the koscha is about 1.8 kg. It is better to cut the males into pieces, marinate them, and then stew them well with sauce. And the female carcass can be stuffed, baked or fried whole.

Cooking in the field

While hunting, even without any special culinary talents, you can enjoy grouse dishes that you cannot prepare in your apartment.

Roast in clay

Before you start cooking grouse in clay, it is worth checking whether the clay is suitable for this delicacy. You need to roll several balls from clay and throw them into the fire. If the clay sinteres into clumps and does not crumble, it means it can be used for cooking.

A larger bird is selected for cooking; it should be plucked, wings, legs and head cut off, scorched over a fire, gutted and washed thoroughly. Rub with salt outside and inside, wrap in burdock leaves and coat with clay (1.5-2 cm layer), shape into a pie and place in the ashes of a burning fire.

The fire must be maintained throughout the cooking process. After an hour and a half, the clay pie needs to be turned over and baked for about another hour. Then take the pie out of the fire, break the clay and you can enjoy the amazing taste of the roast in its own juice.

Grouse on a spit

Perhaps this is the most ancient recipe for cooking black grouse.

A roasting spit is usually made from straight, sanded alder, maple, or walnut branches. The branch must support the weight of the bird and not bend under its weight.

The gutted carcass is placed on a spit and secured well with bast, thick threads or wire (not copper), stuffed and pinned so that the stuffing does not fall out. For the filling you can use mushrooms, nuts, berries and pieces of lard.

In order for the meat to be baked and juicy, it must be kept for several minutes in the hottest part of the fire, then baked at medium temperature over coals.

Black grouse shulum on the fire

Experienced hunters advise: in order not to bother with plucking, you can remove the skin of the bird along with the feather. Then you need to chop off the wings and legs, gut them and cut them first along the spine, then the halves across into several parts.

The bird is placed in a pot of water, potatoes, carrots, onions, chopped into large chunks, a little garlic, peppercorns and a few juniper berries are added. You can also add tomatoes and mushrooms. Salt to taste and add bay leaf at the end of cooking.

Cook the shulum over a small fire for at least an hour.

Cook at home

Deciding on a recipe is not easy, since there are many ways to prepare black grouse at home.

Cream soup

For grouse soup you will need:

• 1 black grouse;
• 80 g butter;
• vegetables: 1 carrot and onion and parsley (root);
• 2 tbsp. l. wheat flour;
• a glass of milk;
• 2 raw yolks;
• salt and spices (black pepper, saffron, coriander, juniper or nutmeg).

Fry the prepared and cut into pieces carcass for 15-20 minutes over medium heat. After frying, cook the meat and vegetables for 40 minutes. Separate the meat from the bones, set aside 1/3 of it, and pass the rest through a meat grinder. Add a cup of broth to the twisted meat and beat with a blender.

Take half the butter and saute the flour in it, add 5-6 tablespoons of broth and stir, add meat puree and, if necessary, more broth to bring to the desired consistency. Bring to a boil, add salt and remove from heat, season with milk-egg mixture and remaining meat.

Finely chop the remaining fillet and add to the soup.

Stewed stuffed grouse

Grouse stuffed with mushrooms turns out tasty and satisfying; even a novice housewife can master the recipe for this dish.

To prepare 6 servings:

• one large carcass;
• 50-60 g butter;
• one onion;
• 300 g of any mushrooms;
• one bunch of parsley;
• 1 tbsp. l. wheat flour;
• vegetable oil;
• zest of one lemon;
• 150 g sour cream;
• salt and spices.

Boil the mushrooms in salted water, cut into thin strips, mix with whipped butter, finely chopped onion and parsley. Season to taste with black pepper.

Rub the prepared carcass inside and out with coarse salt and black pepper. Fry the chopped legs in hot oil and set aside.

Stuff the bird with mushroom filling, sew it up or secure it with toothpicks. In the remaining oil after frying, fry the carcass on all sides until golden brown. Add mushroom broth and legs to the bowl. Simmer for 45-50 minutes.

Remove the carcass, remove the threads and divide into portions along with the filling. Add hot water to the juice remaining after stewing, pass through cheesecloth or a sieve, add flour. To avoid lumps, the flour must first be mixed with a small amount of cold water. Bring the sauce to a boil, add lemon zest and salt to taste. Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat and add sour cream, stirring constantly.

Serve the dish with boiled rice.

Roast in a pot

There are many ways to cook grouse in the oven. It can be baked, stewed in pots, fried whole or in pieces, on an open baking sheet or in a sleeve.

Cooking black grouse in pots. For this dish you will need:

• 1 braid;
• 50 g butter;
• 0.6-0.7 kg of potatoes;
• 2-3 medium onions and carrots;
• 200 g mushrooms (champignons or porcini);
• 150 g cheese (preferably hard varieties);
• 2-3 cloves of garlic;
• 100 g fat sour cream;
• spices, salt and herbs are added to taste.

Kosach is a good choice for this dish. The black grouse meat is separated from the bones and cut into small pieces, salted, spices are added, stirred until juice appears and marinated for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

While the meat is marinating, prepare the remaining ingredients. Potatoes are cut into medium cubes, carrots are grated on a coarse grater, onions are cut into half rings, cheese is chopped on a fine grater, garlic and herbs are finely chopped, mushrooms are fried in butter.

After the meat has been marinated, put everything in pots. At the bottom - a piece of butter and then lay out in layers: meat, onions, carrots, potatoes, a little salt, mushrooms, cheese, garlic with herbs and a tablespoon of sour cream on top. Pour water until the pot narrows and cover with a lid.

The prepared pots are placed in the oven and baked at 180-200 degrees for about an hour. After which the oven turns off and the dish simmers for another 30 minutes with the door closed.

Baked kosach with potatoes

How to cook grouse with potatoes so that the meat is soft and juicy? Of course, in the sleeve.

For this recipe you will need:

• Kosach prepared in advance and soaked in a weak vinegar solution;
• 2-4 tbsp. l. adjika (depending on the severity);
• 1-1.5 kg of potatoes;
• salt and seasoning for game.

For the sauce you will need 1 tbsp. l. tomato paste and mayonnaise, 1 tsp. adjika, salt and spices.

The bird is rubbed inside and out with adjika and marinated for 40 minutes. Peeled and cut into large pieces potatoes are mixed with the sauce. The bird and potatoes are carefully placed in the sleeve, the ends of the sleeve are secured, and several punctures are made in the upper part to allow steam to escape.

Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 30 minutes, and then at 150 degrees for another 1.5 hours. Serve on a platter, garnished with chopped herbs.

Roasted grouse with cider sauce

This exquisite dish can be a worthy decoration for a holiday table.

Ingredients for four servings:

• 1 black grouse carcass;
• 250 g of any minced meat (it is better to take fatter);
• a glass of cider (or dry white wine);
• one onion;
• apple;
• bun;
• one egg;
• sauce thickener;
• salt and spices (nutmeg, paprika, marjoram, black pepper, parsley).

Fry the onion, cut into half rings, until golden brown. Mix minced meat, egg, onion and a bun soaked in water, add salt and spices. Stuff the bird and sew up the hole. Rub the carcass with coarse salt and black pepper. Wrap the grouse in foil so that the top remains open. Fry in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. Cooking grouse in the oven will take about two hours.

Place the bird on a plate, and drain the juice remaining after frying. Cut the peeled apple into thin slices. Mix cider and frying juice, bring to a boil, add thickener and apples according to the recipe. Remove from heat.

Serve with boiled potatoes and parsley.

Bon appetit!

Video

From this video you will learn a very tasty and simple recipe for a dish made from black grouse meat.

Today we continue the topic of game dishes and consider the question of how to cook black grouse. You will learn several recipes that will help you prepare this bird with a special delicacy and aroma.

The problem of buying a black grouse carcass can only be faced by those who have only heard about hunting on TV or read somewhere in books. For a real hunter, this is not a problem, since he gets it himself in the wild.

Of course, not everyone manages to bring back the desired trophy from a hunt, but the topic of preparing game is always on the hunter’s mind. You can use the same recipes for years, but something new always attracts attention.

It is possible that in this article someone will learn about new aspects of the topic regarding how to cook black grouse. Your dishes will acquire completely different aromas and tastes that were not familiar before.

Most often, at the very beginning of their culinary experience, many people start cooking game by frying it in a frying pan. Take the carcass and wash it well with water. Next, chop into pieces and place in a hot frying pan. Chopped onions are thrown on top, and then there is a long frying and languid stewing.

This method can be called the most primitive of all existing ones, since no additional effort is required to process the meat in any way. As a result, we get game that has a specific smell.

If we talk specifically about black grouse, it has a delicate taste, but the males require the cook to soak it and finely cut it into pieces, that is, it should not be cooked entirely.

How to cook black grouse correctly and tasty?

Contents of the article:

Everyone wants their dish to be aromatic, tasty and tender, but not all cooks succeed in this. Often the reason for failure lies precisely in poor knowledge of how game meat works.

The fact is that it has a specific smell, which it is recommended to get rid of, since many people do not like it. If we talk about black grouse, then it is the male that must be soaked in the solution, since it contains the most unpleasant odors.

As for the female, she not only has less weight, but her meat is also more tender, so it is even recommended to cook her whole, and not chop her into pieces like the male.

Before cooking this game, you need to get rid of the feathers, that is, pluck it. To do this, you should first put the bird in hot water for a few minutes so that the feathers then fall off easily.

If specific odors remain, then you cannot do without a solution of water and vinegar in the ratio of one glass per liter of water. The meat should lie in this solution for 24 hours. Then it will need to be rinsed well with water.

Now the black grouse meat is ready to be used for preparing any dish. If you want to stuff a whole carcass and bake it in the oven, it is better to use a female for this. Such preliminary activities will be the key to further tasty and aromatic dishes.

Baking grouse in the oven with potatoes

Cooking in the oven is practiced by many cooks. In addition, it is difficult to imagine that some family at home did not have such a kitchen appliance. Thus, this recipe needs to be highlighted.

Required ingredients:

• black grouse (carcass) – 1 pc.;
• lard you need to take 250 g;
• sour cream with 15% fat content – ​​500 ml;
• two heads of garlic are needed;
• tomatoes – 2-3 pcs.;
• potatoes are needed in quantity - 1-1.5 kg;
• onions – 2-3 heads;
• black pepper, spices, salt, dill according to your taste.

Cooking process

1. The first stage is to prepare the grouse carcass for sending into the oven. It is necessary to make cuts in the area of ​​the brisket in order to send pieces of lard there along with garlic, which must first be chopped. The inside of the carcass needs to be filled with tomatoes, lard with garlic and chopped onions. By the way, cut the tomatoes into four parts. Now the carcass is placed on a baking sheet.
2. Next, take the potatoes and cut them into circles, and then put them around the grouse. Place onion rings and lard with garlic on top of the potatoes.
3. Now it's time to prepare the sauce. Take sour cream and mix it with spices and salt. If necessary, it is not prohibited to add water to this mixture. Next, pour it onto the carcass and potatoes. There should be enough sauce so that it completely covers the potatoes, and the grouse carcass itself floats a little in it.
4. The final stage involves sending the grouse into the oven, where the temperature is already at 200 degrees. The baking process lasts about 1.5 hours. Every twenty minutes, try to turn the carcass over and pour the sauce over it.

Cooking shulum from black grouse

Almost every opening of a new hunting season begins with this dish. Typically, a group of hunters lights a fire and begins the process of preparing the most famous dish among hunters.

1. Preparing a carcass for cooking involves its primary processing. If earlier we talked about the fact that the black grouse should be sent into hot water, then when hunting they try to immediately remove all the skin from the bird along with the feathers.
2. Next you need to cut off the legs, wings, head and gut it. The carcass is first cut along the spine, and then the halves are cut in half again.
3. At the next stage, the black grouse is thrown into a pot over a fire and potatoes, onions, carrots, peppercorns, garlic and juniper berries are added there, of which only a few pieces will be enough. Of course, there should already be water in the pot.
4. Some gourmets prefer to add tomatoes and mushrooms to the pot for a better taste. As for the salt, add it here according to your preferences. At the end of cooking, don't forget to throw in the bay leaf.

Grouse in clay

This unusual cooking recipe is not so often used by modern hunters, but it is recommended to know it, since life sometimes puts a person in strict limits.

Before cooking, check the clay to ensure it is suitable for use. To do this, you need to roll several clay balls and throw them into the fire.

If after some time they turn into lumps and do not disintegrate, then it can be easily used for baking a black grouse carcass.

The legs, head and wings of the carcass must be cut off. Pluck and gut it, and then rinse well with water. Next, you need to take salt and rub it on all sides.

Then the black grouse should be wrapped in burdock and coated well with clay so that the total layer is no less than 1.5 - 2 cm. Try to give it all the shape of a pie, and then send it to the fire, where the carcass will be cooked in the ash.

Cooking time takes about 2 – 2.5 hours. After one hour, this pie needs to be turned over and wait the same amount of time until it is completely cooked. Remember that the fire must burn well all this time. When the required time has passed, the carcass in clay needs to be taken out and simply broken down to get to the meat itself.

Conclusion

There are many different recipes for cooking black grouse, but they can be divided into two groups. One consists of recipes that can be implemented directly in nature in camping conditions. Another group includes recipes that are used only at home.

For example, it is easy to prepare shulum or black grouse in clay in nature, but baking black grouse with potatoes in the oven can be easily done at home in the kitchen.

By nature, black grouse meat is a dietary meat, which has very little fat but a lot of protein. In addition, it is rich in vitamins, minerals and acids.

The black grouse is a medium sized bird. Females weigh on average 1.5 kg, males are larger, reaching a weight of about 1.8 kg. Black grouse meat is dietary, juicy and very tasty. It contains many different vitamins and minerals.

Grouse meat contains retinol (vitamin A), water-soluble vitamin B, biotin (vitamin H), niacin (vitamin PP).

The breast of this bird consists of two layers: the upper one is dark and the lower one is pinkish-white. It is the grouse breast that is the most tender and delicate meat, which is so valued in cooking.

Right on the hunt, even without culinary talent, you can prepare a delicious dish from this bird, which cannot be prepared in an apartment or even in a restaurant.

Cooking black grouse at home is quite simple; the most important thing is to know some nuances and secrets. Tender and juicy meat, you can bake and fry, make shulum from it, or even stuff it.

Baking grouse in the oven with potatoes

In order to cook black grouse in the oven you will need: carcass, bacon 250 grams, sour cream 500 ml, 2 heads of garlic, 3 tomatoes, 1.5 kg of potatoes, 3 heads of onions, pepper, spices, salt, herbs.

Before putting the carcass in the oven, you need to prepare the grouse, make small cuts on the breast to put the bacon and garlic into them. Place tomatoes, bacon with garlic and onions inside the carcass. Place the carcass on a baking sheet.

Then we place the potatoes cut into circles around the black grouse. On top of the potatoes we put onion cut into rings and bacon with garlic.

Sauce: mix sour cream with spices and salt. Next, pour the prepared sauce onto the carcass and onto the potatoes. Cook at 200 degrees for 1.5 hours.

Cooking shulum from black grouse

In order to prepare shulum you will need: black grouse, onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, garlic, juniper berries.

First you need to remove all the skin and feathers. Then get rid of the head, legs, wings and gut it. Then throw the carcass into a pot of water over a fire and gradually add carrots, potatoes, onions, peppers, juniper berries and garlic.

Some hunters like to add tomatoes, mushrooms and bay leaves to the pot.

Grouse in clay

In order to cook black grouse in clay you will need: black grouse, clay, salt, burdock leaf.

First prepare the clay, roll into balls and throw them into the fire.

The carcass needs to be processed, legs, head and wings removed. Pluck and gut, then rinse. Then rub the carcass with salt. Then wrap the carcass in burdock, coat it with clay and put it in the fire, where it will cook for 2.5 hours. Turn over every hour. When the carcass is ready, break the clay.

Black grouse soup

In order to prepare grouse puree soup you will need: grouse, 80 grams of butter, carrots, onions, parsley, 2 tablespoons of wheat flour, 2 egg yolks, salt, spices.

Cut the carcass ready for frying into pieces and fry in a frying pan for 20 minutes. After frying, cook the black grouse meat with vegetables for 40 minutes.

Sauté flour in oil, add 6 tablespoons of broth, stir. Add meat puree. Boil.

Stewed grouse stuffed with mushrooms

In order to prepare stuffed grouse you will need: grouse, 60 grams of butter, onion, 300 grams of mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, 1 tablespoon of wheat flour, vegetable oil, lemon zest, 150 grams of sour cream, salt and spices.

First, let's prepare the filling. To do this, you need to boil the mushrooms in salted water and then finely chop them. Add butter, chopped onion and parsley with pepper to the mushrooms. Rub the prepared carcass with salt and black pepper inside and out.

Fill the grouse with mushroom filling and sew it up. Fry the carcass in oil until golden brown. Add mushroom broth and simmer for about an hour over low heat.

Stewed grouse stuffed with mushrooms goes well with a side dish of rice and tomato salad.

Roasted grouse with cider sauce

To prepare grouse according to this recipe you will need: grouse, 250 grams of minced meat, a glass of cider, an onion, an apple, a bun, an egg, a sauce thickener, salt and spices.

Fry the onion, mix the minced meat, egg and onion with the bun soaked in water, add salt and pepper. Fill the grouse with this filling. Wrap in foil so that the back of the grouse is open. Roast the black grouse in the oven at 200 degrees. Roast for 2 hours.

Mix the juice obtained from frying grouse with apple cider and bring to a boil. The sauce is ready. Place the finished black grouse on a plate. Can be served with boiled potatoes.

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Drake - a coveted trophy

When you finally decide to take a break from the everyday hustle and bustle, go somewhere far away to hunt for a few days, one very serious problem arises: how to preserve the trophies until you return home or how to cook them in the field. Now we will dwell in detail on how to properly preserve game bird meat, how to clean it and cook it over a fire.

You got a great hunting trophy - what to do with it next?

Freshly caught game birds are not immediately plucked - they must be allowed to cool. It will remain fresh longer if the carcass is hung so that the wind blows on it. There is no need to store poultry in plastic bags, in a bag or backpack. In such conditions it will deteriorate twice as quickly. It’s better to hang it on a game bag on your belt or on a tree at a rest stop. It should be borne in mind that in warm weather you can keep harvested pheasant, goose, and duck uncleaned in this way for no more than 6-8 hours, and in the summer heat - no more than 4. Small birds - half as much.

If you go on a multi-day hunt far from home, there is a way to preserve meat for a whole week.

To do this, you need to take with you a regular 10-20 cc syringe and a pack of purified salt. On the spot, you need to prepare a strong solution (a full tablespoon of salt per 100 ml of clean boiled water) and use a syringe to inject it into the muscles of the paws, chest, shoulders, neck, back, around the rump. For one goose and wood grouse, about 200 ml of solution is used, for a large duck - 100 ml, for a small bird like teal - about 40 ml. There is no need to overdo it, otherwise the game will be heavily overcrowded.

Another way is to pluck the bird, gut it and generously rub it with salt inside and out (100 salt per kilogram of weight). If there is a lot of game, then you can put them in an enamel container and smoke them after 5-6 days.

Meat spoils very quickly in places where shot and entrails enter. To preserve game birds for 24 hours, gut them, but do not pluck, wash or salt them (you can blot the inside with a dry cloth).

If you put spruce and pine needles inside, the freshness will be preserved for 2 days.

You can also use nettle or dry mustard. The powder should be generously sprinkled on the head, under the feathers, especially in the tail area and under the wings, and everything inside.

You can also use onion or garlic - cut into slices, push some into the esophagus and fill the abdomen.

If you are hunting somewhere at a hunting base and there is a freezer, the bird can be frozen uneviscerated.

How to easily pluck game - a few secrets

If the carcass was stored in the refrigerator, pour boiling water over it. All feathers must be removed. Of course, there will be some small undeveloped feathers and fluff left. This simple procedure will make cleaning easier - rub the carcass with flour and let it dry for 10 minutes. The remains of feathers and down will rise - they need to be scorched. This is how you can clean almost the entire bird, except that its fluff is very strong and you have to either tar it or remove it with the skin. In the latter case, you should carefully remove the yellow subcutaneous fat - it is very valuable. It adds a gamey flavor to broth and other dishes.

In ancient times they used this method - they carried with them a piece of salted lard in a thin linen cloth and rubbed it on the plucked carcass.

Another effective way to get rid of fuzz (and not everyone likes a singed bird because of the smell) is to immerse the bird with feathers completely in cold water (1 tablespoon of soda per liter) and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then scald with boiling water several (3-4) times - everything will come off very easily, and the skin will be perfectly clean.

To gut a bird without making a cut, you need to make a small incision in the abdomen near the anus and carefully pull out the intestines and stomach. Be sure to make sure that the gallbladder is selected. Do not rinse, but pour a few tablespoons of salt through the cut and shake the carcass thoroughly. Then push juniper branches or nettles into the cut.

Juniper is a great way to keep game fresh

An old folk method of storing poultry and game

It is good to pluck, wash and dry the carcasses, place them backside down in a saucepan and pour curdled milk or kvass on top. Cover the dish tightly with a lid and tie it with gauze to prevent insects from sneaking in. Meat can be stored this way for up to 7 days. Before use, rinse well and then soak for an hour in a weak solution of baking soda.

Cooking game bird meat in a pot over a fire

After capercaillie, goose, and duck, first of all, you should use the game whose carcass is most severely damaged, since such meat spoils faster.

The bird is plucked, gutted, legs, wing tips, and mostly the head are cut off. Diving ducks and coots are not plucked, but the feathers are removed along with the skin. Next, rinse thoroughly, trying to extract as much as possible of the shot. Most game is cooked over a fire by boiling - this is broth, shurpa, roast. You definitely need to remove the foam. To prepare shurpa, take a little more water so that it covers the meat. Only after cooking the meat until cooked, you need to add potatoes, spices, and salt.

A very tasty dish of Hungarian cuisine - bograc

Initially, frying is done in a pot - about 200 fresh or smoked lard is rendered, then onions and carrots are added in slices and lightly fried. Be sure to add a little paprika and immediately pour in water, put chopped game and a glass of beans in it. When they are almost ready, add potatoes in large cubes, a little tomato (ketchup is fine), spices, salt and cook everything until the potatoes are completely boiled. For spicy lovers, you can add hot pepper.

At the end of cooking, a branch of a fruit tree is set on fire in the fire, preferably cherries, and stewed directly in the pot. This gives the dish a unique aroma. The result is an extremely tasty and rich dish, something between a thick soup and a stew.

Next time we will tell you how to cook a bird on a spit, bake it in a fire, in clay, in ash and hot earth.

The bird is plucked in different ways, depending on its species and whether feathers are going to be used or not. Goose feathers, as well as feathers from roosters, turkeys, guinea fowl and drakes, which are used to make jewelry, are valuable. The bird can easily be plucked dry - immediately after it has been killed and has not yet cooled down, or after it has rested. Between these periods, she plucks poorly. Turkey, guinea fowl and pigeons should be plucked immediately. Feathers should be pulled out one at a time to avoid damaging the skin. The feathers on the tail and wings of a turkey are difficult to pluck; to do this, you need to use pliers.

Hens, chicks, not too plump geese and ducks from which the best feathers have been removed can be scalded with boiling water - then the feathers will be pulled out more easily. To do this, take the bird by the legs, soak it in cold water and put it in boiling water. After keeping it in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, try to see if the feathers are easily pulled out. It is recommended to immerse the bird in boiling water several times rather than keep it in it for a long time - this can damage the skin.

If you buy a fattened goose or duck or fatten it yourself, then such a goose is not scalded with boiling water, but petted. To do this, cover the killed goose with a wet cloth and run a hot iron over it, steaming the feathers piece by piece. The head, neck, wings, areas under the wings and paws are scalded in boiling water. Since goose feathers are an important export product, the goose should be plucked without scalding, and the feathers should also be sorted correctly (white feathers separately from colored ones, feathers from the wings - separately from soft ones). A feather that has been scalded with boiling water or ironed is not suitable for further use.

The bird's paws are scalded with boiling water and skinned, and the claws are cut off. The beak of a small bird is cut off, and that of a large bird is cleaned. The eyes are removed by cutting the eyelid with a sharp knife, which widens the eye opening and the eye is easily removed.

When a bird scalded with boiling water dries, feathers are revealed that were not visible when wet. Then the bird is finally plucked, for which it is recommended to use tweezers. In addition to small feathers, there is still fluff on the bird, which needs to be scorched over a fire - on a gas stove or alcohol lamp, over a candle or burning greasy paper. Chickens, which have the most fluff, should be singed especially carefully.

If they want the bird to rest, then (so that the meat does not acquire an unpleasant odor and spoil) the intestines are pulled out of it. To do this, insert a hook into the anus, grab the rectum with it, wrap it around the hook and carefully pull it out. Then the intestine is pulled out with the fingers until it comes out completely, after which the contents of the intestine are compressed so that its end is empty, and the intestine is cut off.

HOW TO GUTTER A POULTRY

With the left hand they pull back the skin on the crop and behind, at the neck, with the right hand they carefully cut the skin so as not to cut the crop. Through the resulting hole, the crop, esophagus and larynx can be easily removed. You can also cut off the head, cut the skin on the neck, pull it back and, tearing the film protecting the goiter, pull out the goiter, esophagus and larynx. After this, the skin pulled back from the neck is pulled off, the neck is pulled out somewhat and cut off. If the crop, esophagus and larynx are properly removed, it will be easier to then gut the abdominal cavity.

After the first operation, carefully so as not to damage the intestines, the abdomen is cut. The right hand is inserted into the hole and the contents of the abdominal cavity are carefully separated from the walls, placing it on a sheet of paper. First of all, you need to find the gallbladder and cut it out along with the greenish piece of liver adjacent to it. Only after this the liver is separated and placed on a plate. Then the stomach is taken out and cut along the cornea, the contents are poured onto paper, and the hardened mucous membrane is pulled off or cut off with a knife. The heart is also cut out and added to the rest of the offal. Chicken eggs that are not laid are not thrown away. If they are yellow and round, they can be put into the dough.

When gutting a fattened goose, first separate all the insides from the film.

A bird cooked with minced meat is gutted in the same way, with the only difference being that the skin is pulled back both on the neck and on the breast: the skin on the neck is pulled down, the neck at the vertebra is incised, broken and separated. The remaining piece of the neck is inserted into the hole leading from the crop to the abdominal cavity (in the event that only the crop is stuffed). If the minced meat is also placed in the abdominal cavity, then the neck is not inserted into the hole.

Pigeons must be gutted especially carefully so as not to cut the crop. You should not look for the gall bladder - the pigeon does not have one.

If the bird is prepared as a whole, then the carcass is shaped so that the breast protrudes forward. The legs are bent, pressed against the carcass, and their ends are tied to the wings. The wings are folded over the back. The goose and duck are not tied up, but only the abdominal walls are secured with a pin.

A fat goose should be kept for a long time in the refrigerator or covered with snow before gutting. The better the goose freezes, the easier it is to gut it. The goose must be cut from the anus to the sternum. To do this, you first need to cut the layer of fat with the tip of a knife, and very carefully, especially near the breast bone. In this case, you need to act quickly and in a cold room so that the fat does not have time to melt. It is recommended to cool your hands in cold water from time to time. In the same way, carefully separate the liver from the fat. The visceral fat located under the liver must be separated from the intestines and placed in a bowl (see picture).

When removing the liver, you need to pay attention not to damage the gallbladder.

Place a plate near the hole and place the removed intestines along with intestinal fat on it. To do this, put your fingers behind the liver, take out the larynx, and then the heart, liver and stomach. The liver is placed in a plate, the gallbladder is lightly held with the fingers of the left hand and cut out with a sharp knife along with the liver adjacent to it. You need to act extremely carefully, as spilled bile would damage the liver.

Then you need to separate the esophagus from the stomach, cut the stomach, throw away the contents, scrape off the film with a knife. Fat from the intestines is removed only in a frozen state - then it is easily separated without the help of a knife. If fat has adhered to the intestines, it is scraped off with the blunt side of a knife, being careful not to cut the intestines and not contaminate the fat. The fat removed from the intestines is washed, cut into pieces and melted separately, adding a small amount of milk: then the unpleasant smell inherent in the interior fat will disappear. This fat is used in making sauerkraut and also for frying onions.

Fat from the intestines must be carefully removed with the blunt side of a knife.

Rendered goose fat is spread on bread and served with potatoes boiled in their skins. It is also added to the dough. It should be stored in a cool and dark place. Goose fat hardens slowly. In order to speed up this process, place a jar of melted goose fat in a bowl with cold water. To preserve goose fat for a long time, you should add fresh rendered lard to it.

The intestines of a fattened goose can be eaten. They are cut lengthwise, washed in several waters, thoroughly rubbed with salt and washed again. The intestines prepared in this way are wrapped around cleaned goose feet and boiled in soup.

If they want to keep it for a longer time, so that the meat becomes more tender (but so that it does not spoil), they do not wash it with water, but only wipe it with a clean towel and wrap it in paper; in the summer, the bird must first be gutted and then wrapped in a cloth soaked in vinegar or cover with slices of onion, the smell of which drives away flies. Instead of onions, you can also cover the bird with fresh nettles.

If there is no refrigerator or cold pantry, then the bird that they want to preserve for some time is scalded or fried. You need to cook or fry for a short time, but long enough so that a sufficiently thick layer of the bird is fried. The bird is then removed from the water, cooled and stored under a metal mesh hood.

Goose and duck blood should be used the same day as it spoils quickly. The liver can be cooked immediately or soaked in milk for several hours. A small liver is used to make meatballs or soufflés. In summer, the giblets should be boiled, removed from the soup, cooled and covered from flies.