You may need to remove down and pin feathers from undrawn poultry. Remove them with tweezers, or tug with a knife.
Holding the bird in both hands, stretch it over an open flame (gas or alcohol) and singe the down, turning the bird so that the skin does not scorch and split in the heat.
Set the bird on a board and chop off the feet with a large knife or cleaver, about 1 in/2.5cm below the first joint. (The feet can be cleaned and used for stock.)
Turn the bird over, stretch the neck skin against the vertebrae, and slit the neck skin lengthwise.
Holding the neck in one hand, with the other, pull the skin away from the flesh.
Turn the bird over and cut off the neck, as close to the body as possible, leaving the skin intact. With a large knife, chop off the head and discard it. Turn the bird so that it is breast down, then pull the tubes from the neck skin, and cut them off.
Insert a forefinger into the neck end of the bird and turn it against the bone to loosen the lungs and other innards.
Turn the bird over. Make a vertical slit in the tail cavity to enlarge it. Insert your finger and turn to loosen the innards.
Gently pull out the innards in one piece, taking care not to break the gall bladder (the green sac attached to the liver) as the bitter juice will taint the meat. Wipe the inside of the bird with a damp cloth. The innards consist of the lungs, heart, liver, gall bladder and gizzard. (In game birds they include the intestines.) Discard the lungs and intestines, cut the gall bladder from the liver and discard it.
Note
The giblets, which comprise the heart, liver, gizzard and neck of the poultry, can be sliced, cooked and used as ingredients for stuffing or stock. Before being used they should be washed in cold water and trimmed. The gizzard is first split and the crop, or hard membrane, is cut away and discarded. For additional ideas on how to cook giblets, see Poultry trimmings.
Turn the bird breast down and cut the oiling gland from behind the tail cavity.
Using a carving steel, remove the tough sinews from the legs. Trim the wing pinions. If necessary, wipe the bird with a cloth.
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