Chilling Domestic Poultry

• 1). Check your freshly plucked and cleaned birds for any pinfeathers or fine hairs that might still be adhering. Pluck them out, or sear them off with a match or lighter.
  
  
• 2). Fill a large, food-grade tub with ice water.
  
  
• 3). Rinse the freshly cleaned birds under cold running water, inside and out, to remove any blood or other contaminants from the butchering process. Place them in the ice water.
  
  
• 4). Chill chickens for two hours in the ice water, and turkeys up to 10 hours. The birds should reach an internal temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less.
  
  
• 5). Remove the birds from the chilling water and hang them by one wing for 10 minutes, allowing them to drain. Pat them dry, inside and out, with paper towels, then package the birds for refrigeration or freezing.
  
  

Chilling and Aging Game Birds

• 1). Bleed the birds as soon as possible after they are shot, then chill them in a picnic cooler surrounded by gel freezer packs or bags of ice to reduce their temperature.
  
  
• 2). Hang the birds in a cool place -- ideally a spare refrigerator that is not used for any other purpose -- with their feathers and skins intact. A temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower is the best for food safety, though the birds age more effectively at 10 degrees higher than that.
  
  
• 3). Age young pheasants, ducks or geese for three days; older, tougher birds for up to seven days. During this time rigor mortis will come and go, and natural enzymes in the meat will cause it to become tender and more flavorful.
  
  
• 4). Pluck aged birds dry, rather than scalding them in the conventional fashion. After aging, the skin is prone to tear when the birds are scalded.
  
  
• 5). Eviscerate the birds by cutting around the vent with the tip of a knife, then open up the cavity and draw out the entrails. Discard the entrails and rinse the birds inside and out, then pat them dry. Cook or freeze the aged birds immediately.