Poultry

[willy]

This may be off issue, but I fried a squirrel yesterday in corn oil. I used a KFC tyoe of seasoning. It was flavorful to the bone, although a little tough. Our present chicken just isn't up to snuff.

[ThePieMan]

Sept 14, 2020 20:44:00 GMT willy said:

This may be off issue, but I fried a squirrel yesterday in corn oil. I used a KFC tyoe of seasoning. It was flavorful to the bone, although a little tough. Our present chicken just isn't up to snuff.

you're right, but no matter, its a poultry  matter...


(paltry...) 

[Ken_Griffiths]

Dustin, breaded and pressure-fried some pork chops the other week and they looked absolutely delicious. I must try that sometime. It just has to be better than squirrel. I assume you hold it by its little fluffy tail as you eat it - ha ha (yuch! 🤮)

[ThePieMan]

The Colonel explains his Chicken:

timestamp 1:12

"...Grade A Broiler/Fryers, and they have to be fresh..."

Current? Standards
United States Classes, Standards, and Grades for Poultry
www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/PoultryStandard.pdf

Broiler or fryer. A broiler or fryer is a young chicken (usually under 13 weeks of
age), of either sex, that is tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin and flexible
breastbone cartilage. (p.3)

Standards for Quality of Ready-to-Cook Poultry
§70.220 A Quality. (pp. 8-13)
(a) Conformation. The carcass or part is free of deformities that detract from its
appearance or that affect the normal distribution of flesh. Slight deformities, such as slightly
curved or dented breastbones and slightly curved backs, may be present.
(b) Fleshing. The carcass has a well developed covering of flesh considering the kind,
class, and part.
    (1) The breast is moderately long and deep, and has sufficient flesh to give it a rounded
appearance with the flesh carrying well up to the crest of the breastbone along its entire length.
    (2) The leg is well fleshed and moderately thick and wide at the knee and hip joint area,
and has a well-rounded, plump appearance with the flesh carrying well down toward the hock
and upward to the hip joint area.
    (3) The drumstick is well fleshed and moderately thick and wide at the knee joint, and
has a well-rounded, plump appearance with the flesh carrying well down toward the hock.
    (4) The thigh is well to moderately fleshed.
    (5) The wing is well to moderately fleshed.
(c) Fat covering. The carcass or part, considering the kind, class, and part, has a
well-developed layer of fat in the skin. The fat is well distributed so that there is a noticeable
amount of fat in the skin in the areas between the heavy feather tracts.
(d) Defeathering. The carcass or part shall have a clean appearance, especially on the
breast and legs, and shall be free of protruding feathers and hairs as defined in 7 CFR §70.1. 
...
(e) Exposed flesh. The requirements contained in this section are applicable to exposed
flesh resulting from cuts, tears, and missing skin.
    (1) The carcass may have exposed flesh due to cuts, tears, and missing skin, provided the
aggregate area of all exposed flesh does not exceed an area equivalent to the area of a circle of
the diameter specified in the following table:
...
    (2) Large carcass parts, specifically halves, front halves, or rear halves, may have
exposed flesh due to cuts, tears, and missing skin, provided the aggregate area of all exposed
flesh does not exceed an area equivalent to the area of a circle of the diameter specified in the
following table:
...
    (3) Other parts may have exposed flesh due to cuts, tears, and missing skin, provided the
aggregate area of all exposed flesh does not exceed an area equivalent to the area of a circle of
the diameter specified in the following table:
...
    (4) For all parts, trimming of the skin along the edge is allowed, provided that at least
75 percent of the normal skin cover associated with the part remains attached, and further
provided that the remaining skin uniformly covers the outer surface in a manner that does not
detract from the appearance of the part.
    (5) In addition, the carcass or part may have cuts or tears that do not expand or
significantly expose flesh, provided the aggregate length of all such cuts and tears does not
exceed a length tolerance using the dimensions listed in the following table:
...
(f) Disjointed and broken bones and missing parts.
    (1) Parts are free of broken bones. Parts are free of disjointed bones except that thighs
with back portions, legs, or leg quarters may have the femur disjointed from the hip joint. The
carcass is free of broken bones and has not more than one disjointed bone.
    (2) The wing tips may be removed at the joint, and in the case of ducks and geese, the
parts of the wing beyond the second joint may be removed, if removed at the joint and both
wings are so treated. The tail may be removed at the base.
    (3) Cartilage separated from the breastbone is not considered as a disjointed or broken
bone.
(g) Discolorations. The requirements contained in this section are applicable to
discolorations of the skin and flesh of poultry, and the flesh of skinless poultry, as defined in the
definitions in the regulations 7 CFR §70.1.
...
(h) Freezing defects. With respect to consumer packaged poultry, parts, or specified
poultry food products, the carcass, part, or specified poultry food product is practically free from
defects which result from handling or occur during freezing or storage. The following defects
are permitted if they, alone or in combination, detract only very slightly from the appearance of
the carcass, part, or specified poultry food product:
...
(i) Backs. A-quality backs shall meet all applicable provisions of this section pertaining
to parts, and shall include the meat contained on the ilium (oyster), pelvic meat and skin and
vertebral ribs and scapula with meat and skin.

[41 FR 23681, June 11, 1976. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, and
amended at 51 FR 17281, May 9, 1986; 60 FR 6640, Feb. 2, 1995, 63 FR 15174, March 30, 1998]

[ThePieMan]

I'm going back over old resources about the preparation of raw chicken for cooking, having previously stated that I had read somewhere that it was common practice to soak chicken ( a process I referred to as, "blonding") in order to remove the chicken blood. So I'm hunting down the reference. here's an early one from the Virginia Housewife, 1860...

[ThePieMan]

www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0SGIZ8BIGI0mER;AF6EA58C-2134-4E04-BFDD-FED42A0A9AD3

[ThePieMan]

www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0SGIZ8BIGI0mER;FB70FA7E-54E8-47EF-B176-41E275E9D8D6

[cascader]

Older but still interesting and relevant article on the decline of poultry flavor with various KFC mentions.
Also includes an older KFC gravy ingredient list worth capturing.

One of the NJ flavor companies Ungerer & Co., later bought by Gividuan was mentioned elsewhere in the forum as a source of the KFC fire log and nail polish scent.

www.salon.com/2013/03/17/modern_chicken_has_no_flavor_lets_make_it_in_a_lab/

[ThePieMan]

Great Article, but I feel it finished somewhat unresolved.

[ThePieMan]

I have several times mentioned, "blonding" the chicken as a process. I have still not tracked down the original source for that term however, the process is quite clear in this recipe from, "Housekeeping in Virginia" 1878 by Maree Cabell Tyree. archive.org/details/housekeepinginol01tyre/page/186/mode/2up

The first recipe clearly outlines the process of bleeding the chicken in salted water (blonding) without actually using the term. The second recipe presumes this processing has already been done. The cooking methods described may be interesting to those who might want to improve their skillet frying. For me, the take-home point on this is the removal of the fat before adding water. Makes sense, of course, but it was never mentioned by CHS when describing his mother's, and his "early" cooking method.

[ThePieMan]

Watching one of my favorite Chinese Cooking Shows, and Chef John's doing Sweet and Sour Chicken. What I love about these videos is the occasional tid-bit insight into why certain things are done, from a "Chinese" viewpoint or rationale. What I find fascinating is how that may also be relevant to our own methodologies of cooking, but just haven't been articulated. 




Here he talks about adding a little sugar to the chicken marination, for "umami" effect. Interesting. Especially as we have fromtime to time looked at the use of various sugar types in the making of KFC. Food for thought.

TPM
p.s. and for gits and shiggles, here's the entire chicken playlist 

[willy]

I do love Chinese food. They really do emphasize the marriage of different tastes.