Plucking is mandatory for chicken processing when you want to keep the skin. Plucking means removing the feather manually or using the plucking machine. Whether you are pulling out the feather with a hand or machine, the scalding process makes the entire way easy.
Scalding means drowning the chicken in hot water for 30 seconds to 1 minute so that the skin will be soft and the feather will lose. The process is straightforward if you follow the steps correctly.
How to Pluck a Chicken Using Hot Water
picking up tiny feathers is time-consuming, but bathing a chicken in hot water makes the plucking easy. Bathing in hot water is called scalding.
Things You Will Need
- A burner
- A big bucket
- Killing cone
- Water
Step 1: Stir Up the Water
Boil water between 130 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit and check the temperature with a thermometer. Slow down the burner to maintain the temperature.
Step 2: Scalding
Hold one chicken leg and dip the chicken into the water for 1 minute and switch the leg after 30 seconds so both sides can get scalded evenly. If you want to keep the leg, 30 seconds is enough to peel them off.
Try to plunge the chicken in and out so the root of the feather will be loose. The chicken feather is almost spilled-proof, so you need to get them better to separate them easily. The feather will start to come off after a couple of seconds.
Pull the wing feather to see if they come off quickly. Do not scald the bird for too long, or the skin will start to tear.
Step 3: Start Plucking
You don’t need to use any plucker if the bird is scalded correctly. Still, you can hand pluck it or use a tabletop or tub-style plucker.
Plucking with Hand
Hold the chicken upside down for hand plucking and pull out the feathers with gentle force. Some feather needs to be pulled gently because the chicken skin should remain intact if you want them.
Check under the wings, between the chicken legs, and other tight areas to pull all the feathers by hand. If any feathers are hard to come, dip the chicken into boiling water for about 10 seconds and start pulling the feather again.
After removing all the feathers, there may be some tiny feathers left. Hold the chicken or feather area on a gas stove and burn that little feather.
Plucking with Table Top Plucker
The tabletop plucker removes the feather more quickly and efficiently than hand plucking.
Plucking the whole chicken will take only 30 seconds to a minute. First, scald the chicken and remove the feather with your hand as much as possible.
Or start the tabletop plucker and put the chicken on the plucker while holding the chicken leg. Roll the chicken across the plucking finger. You still have to hand pluck after using a tabletop plucker.
Plucking with Tub Style Plucker
A tub-style plucker is an expensive option but worth the price. The plucker has a tub with a rubber finger and an electric motor-driven plate. The plate spins when you turn on the plucker. You can simultaneously put two to three chickens in a tub-style plucker, which does not require hand plucking. The chicken will clean entirely after 30 seconds.
Step 4: Clean the Chicken
After plucking, the chicken needs to be appropriately cleaned, whether making a dish with it or keeping it in the freezer.
Wash the chicken thoroughly, and if any tiny or pin feather is left, hold the area on the stove to burn them. Don’t hold the chicken for too long; the skin will burn.
What’s the Fastest Way to Pluck a Chicken?
The fastest way to pluck a chicken is, using tub style plucker. Plucking a whole chicken takes only 15 to 30 seconds, and you don’t have to hand pluck it. Also, the tub-style machine can pluck multiple chickens at the same time.
What Is The Easiest Way To Pluck A Chicken
The easiest way to pluck a chicken is by scalding and then hand plucking. You don’t need to use any tools for it; dip the chicken into the hat water bucket for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, move it up and down while holding one leg, and switch the leg after a couple of seconds and do the same process.
After that, hold the chicken and pull off the feather with the other hand. This way, the skin, and meat will remain intact, and you will get the pure test of the chicken.
Is It Easier to Skin or Pluck a Chicken?
Skinning and plucking are two different methods that require when you want the skin or not; if you don’t want the skin, skinning a chicken will be good as it is faster than plucking. But you have to pluck the chicken when you need the skin intact. Skinning is easier as you don’t need to use a big bucket o hot water to scald them.