Notes For Poultry Unit
Creative Cooking II
Poultry

A term used to describe any domesticated
bird i.e. turkey, chicken, duck, goose,
guinea hen, Cornish hen
Turkey, chicken and goose are
most common
Nutrition
all contain high quality proteins, iron,
phosphorus, and B vitamins.
 amount of fat in poultry varies older bird
contains more than younger
 dark meat higher in fat than light meat.
Both still lower than red meats
 most fat found under skin, can be reduced
by removing it
 because it is lower in fat it is found
processed into many forms
 Can end up in hot dogs, bacon, luncheon
meats, ham

Selection
All poultry is federally inspected by USDA
for wholesomeness, health and sanitation
 Grading is not mandatory but may be
done voluntarily
 Grades A, B & C. Retail is mostly A
 Characteristics of good quality - full
fleshed, meaty, well distributed fat, few
blemishes on skin, few or no pin feathers

Age
Young birds are tender, used for baking,
roasting and frying
 Older - less tender used for soups, stews
and casseroles

Buying Poultry

can be purchased fresh, chilled, frozen or canned

can be purchased whole, cut in halves or pieces
breast, legs, thighs, wings, backs or combos
leg-thigh, breast-wing, breast including backs

chicken contains more bone in proportion to muscle
however breasts, legs and thighs are meatier than
wings and backs

Amount per person - with bone ½= 1# per person ,
boneless approximately 1/4-1/3lb.
Giblets
are the edible organs, typically
including the heart, gizzard, liver, and other
internal organs
 A whole bird is often packaged with the giblets
(sometimes sealed in a bag in the body cavity).
 Although it does not technically
fit the definition above, the neck
is often included with the giblets,
as it must be separated from the
body during the process of
butchering.

Visual Inspection
Choose birds with well distributed fat
 Look for chicken that has a lot of muscle
on the thighs and breasts
 Blemish free skin
 Frozen birds should be solidly frozen
 Freezer burn looks pale, dry, frosty areas,
be sure wrapper is not torn
 Remember some boneless/skinless
chicken has been tenderized
 By solutions of sodium and water, you're
paying for water weight

Sanitation
Poultry is very perishable
 Proper storage will inhibit salmonellaebacteria in poultry
 To refrigerate remove store wrapping ,
rinse and rewrap
 Can be stored in freezer 6-8months
 Once thawed cannot be frozen or will lose
quality
 Watch for cross contamination in cutting
utensils and board

Principles of Cookery

Like all protein food use low to medium temperatures and watch
timing, high temp or too long of a cooking time will cause dryness
and toughness.

Method depends on age of the bird
young more tender - dry methods, roasting, broiling, frying
older less tender - moist methods, stewing , braising

Poultry must be cooked to well-done stage but not overcooked
pink color does not mean it is undercooked, pink color may be
caused by the chemical reaction , gases in oven combine with
substances in poultry to turn flesh pink

Bones will turn dark brown when cooked, caused by blood cells
in bone broken down during freezing, color has no effect on flavor
Roasting

Bird is placed breast side up in shallow pan and
placed uncovered in oven at 325 degrees, or
internal temp of 185 degrees, trussing-wing tips
turned back onto the shoulder and drumsticks
tied to tail, to prevent over browning of edges.
If stuffing bird, do not stuff
until placing in oven
 Remove stuffing
immediately after cooking

Broiling

Young more tender birds, place meat on
broiler pan and brush with margarine,
place 4-5 inches from heat source
Frying
pieces of poultry are dipped into batter or
bread crumbs then fried in 1/2 inch of hot
fat in skillet.
 May be partially cooked in pan and
finished in oven

Baking

pieces are coated, arranged on baking
sheet and baked in moderate oven
Braising

Poultry pieces are browned in small
amount of fat, then water or liquid is
added to skillet and poultry is cooked over
low heat 45min-1 hour
Stewing

Poultry is completely covered with water
in large kettle, vegetables and seasonings
may be added for flavor, liquid is
simmered never boiled.
Recipes to be prepared in lab
Chicken Tetrazini
Chicken
Stir - fry
Supreme dela fromage’
Or
Chicken kiev
filled with rice
Creole chicken
Sweet and sour chicken
Greek Lemon
chicken