Prepping chicken


 

Lynn Dollar

TVWBB Emerald Member
I do Chris's Hot and Fast cook from the Cooking Topics page quite often. I do two yardbirds , spatchcocked, then halved. Wife and I eat one half, freeze the rest for later.

But I've never had a consistent prepping routine, especially after reading about not rinsing the birds with water in the sink to avoid contamination. I've always opened them in the sink and rinsed the purge. Now I'm just draining the purge best I can and then using paper towel to pat them dry. But getting them dry is a battle.

My latest routine has been using three cookie sheets. I put two or three layers of paper towel down in one sheet, right next to the sink. After patting down a bird in the sink, I move it to that sheet.

Then I move the bird to another cookie sheet to spatchcock and trim the fat. And then again, use paper towel to pat it dry.

I then move to yet another cookie sheet to apply rub. I would prefer the bird and the cookie sheet to be completely dry for the rub. If I consider it dry enough, I might add olive oil to hold the rub. But even after all the patting and moving around, I can't seem to get them completely dry.

And I end up spreading purge over three cookie sheets and invariably , on the counter tops. Its a mess.

Does it have to be this much trouble ? Am I trying too hard ?
 
We don't do whole birds at your frequency but I'm at least partly in your camp; mine aren't completely dry when I rub. I think the only time(s) they have been that dry is when I air dry in the fridge but making room is usually impossible.
 
Remove from package (in sink) with one hand, use paper towel in other hand to dab away accumulated "packaging juices". Deposit on cutting board. Butterfly/split and trim as desired. Deposit bird on cookie sheet with aluminum foil on top and paper towels on top of that. Dry with the paper towels, discard both towels and aluminum, and you should now have a dry sheet and bird. At this point, you should have contained the most eggregious mess to the sink and cutting board, so clean up should be minimal.

FWIW, I've been known to rinse my birds (I'm a rebel), and I find that holding the faucet close to the bird (if yours is extendable) with a fairly low water flow will minimize or eliminate splashing.

My counters and sink always get a decent Lysol (or similar) rub down post chicken prep. My wife is allergic to the thought of cross contamination.

HTH,
Rich

PS: One more tip.....as best I can, I always try to just handle the bird with one hand (my left), keeping my right hand uncontaminated to handle tearing towels from the roll, the knife, the faucet, etc.....This doesn't always happen, but I do try! :)
 
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Lynn, I won’t say you’re doing too much but, you’re making a lot of extra steps and waste, I like Rich’s method, I do much the same, open carefully, dispatch liquid as close to drain as possible, transfer wrapping to the plastic shopping bag as close as possible to sink (if not in the adjacent sink bowl, leave that there while the bird is further prepped, place all the contaminated paper towels, foil, waxed paper, rubber gloves, in the bag and take that immediately to the bin.
Spraying chicken goo all over the kitchen is something I really try to avoid but, accidents do happen then all you can do is get out the antiseptic wipes and spray the whole room with bleach!
I’ve not needed to do that in years but...

PS- I whole heartedly agree on the single hand manipulation whenever possible!
 
Yes, I like the aluminum foil idea, that will reduce the number of cookie sheets.

Using one hand is great, but easier said than done. I really like having the wife work with me on this , she can pat and I can hold the bird. The other day, I got purge on the top of the paper towel roll :) , so now that roll of towels is on the patio.


I would really like to get the bird dry enough to apply rub in deep aluminum pans, and I say pans, cuz I generally use a different rub on two of the birds. Easier to get the bird covered with rub in those deep pans. But I hate the idea of rub mixing with purge.

And I may go back to rinsing with water, our faucet is extendable and I can change it to a mild spray. We also clean the counters and sink with disinfectant no matter if we rinse or not, so what diff would it make ?
 
I used to rinse (not to excess like you have--no negativity intended) then didn't because of the reasons mentioned.

Now, I just rip off the packaging, stick it in either the roasting pan OR sheet in preparation for seasoning/rotisserie.

Don't overthink it. The heat will kill any nasties. You are cooking at +325o right?
 
I used to do my chicken prep on cookie sheets, but lately I use half or full pans.
Seems to contain the "stuff" from getting all over the place.

Tim
 
I spatch 99% of my whole birds. Typically 1-2 at a time. I wear two layers of blue nitrile gloves. I set up cooling racks over disposable sheet pans, or regular sheet pans. I remove the birds from the bag. I do not rinse poultry. I place the bird on a cutting board and spatch. Remove glove pair #1 then season. Then onto the cooling rack over the pan. I dry brine all my poultry prior to cooking so this goes into the fridge for 4hrs-24 hrs. Nothing covering the bird.

44643263524_011f4ec190_c.jpg"


This bird is ready for the fridge to dry cure prior to cooking.
 
I've been rinsing my chicken for.....ever. I always give a complete wipe down with some disinfectant after. I would do the same even if I didn't rinse. I'm not sure I see the harm.
 
You all seem to be a lot more carefull than me.
I unwrap the chicken in the sink and put straight on the rotisserie or on a cutting board if I want to cut it up.
From there it goes on the grate. It can sit and dry out a bit if needs be, but I figure that the heat of the fire is hot enough to crisp the skin anyway (I always manage crispy skin, even if it is by putting it on direct heat at the end of the cook).
Throw away the chicken wrap, wash my hands and the sink and that's all.
 
Prepped yardbird this morning and it went much better, I used several tips from above. Used the aluminum foil and paper towel on a cookie sheet, after taking bird out of package. Put on two pair of surgery gloves, and used a wire rack on a cookie sheet to apply rub and to put in fridge after seasoning.

Will smoke them on the 18 WSM later this afternoon.

Old dogs can learn new tricks and it never hurts to ask. Thanks to all that responded.

Here they are with Plowboys Yardbird rub and two others with Cavender's Greek Seasoning.

wnvEd9o.jpg
 
Gosh, I ALWAYS rinse chicken, spatch, then onto a pan covered with paper towels where I dry it. Season, then into the fridge for a while before cooking hot & fast on the WSM. I always clean the sink and prep area afterwards. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?
 
I've been rinsing my chicken for.....ever. I always give a complete wipe down with some disinfectant after. I would do the same even if I didn't rinse. I'm not sure I see the harm.

You all seem to be a lot more carefull than me.
I unwrap the chicken in the sink and put straight on the rotisserie or on a cutting board if I want to cut it up.
From there it goes on the grate. It can sit and dry out a bit if needs be, but I figure that the heat of the fire is hot enough to crisp the skin anyway (I always manage crispy skin, even if it is by putting it on direct heat at the end of the cook).
Throw away the chicken wrap, wash my hands and the sink and that's all.

I just cut up a whole chicken this morning for my dinner. I went straight from the package to the cutting board, then into Italian dressing. I sprayed everything the chicken touched down with a bleach cleaner solution and washed them with hot water and Dawn. That’s my method for years now. I grilled the chicken pieces at around 350 until everything temped at 160 degrees or more.
 
I don't see many people using fast food (or cafeteria) trays but they work in place of cookie sheets, plus they're soft so you can cut on them. I have probably a dozen, color coded (red & gray). Red is usually for electronics (etc) repairs, I use the grey for food.
 
Honestly, IDK what to think about the color, its darker than I'm accustomed to ...... could've been the rubs, I've not used them a lot , or could've gotten too much smoke. But I used what I thought was about the same size cherry chunks I normally use. Or maybe just the lighting, it was after dark. Flavor was great though.
 
Honestly, IDK what to think about the color, its darker than I'm accustomed to ...... could've been the rubs, I've not used them a lot , or could've gotten too much smoke. But I used what I thought was about the same size cherry chunks I normally use. Or maybe just the lighting, it was after dark. Flavor was great though.

Cherry tends to darken poultry, in my experience. But it tastes great.

I don't have much to add on the advice already given. But I just threw a whole roaster in the oven about 90 minutes ago and prep seems to be the key ingredient. When oven roasting, I throw some celery, carrots, onion and apple in the pan below the bird and usually some citrus and herbs in the cavity. I make sure those are ready before I start handling the bird. Also make sure I have the rub/seasoning ready to go in a container that I can reach into. So if its store bought, I dump out my required amount into a bowl so I don't have to handle the spice container. I don't rinse anymore, but will 'unveil' the bird in the sink, then move to a cutting board, cookie sheet or the roasting pan. Usually have a paper towel or two in there to absorb any drips. Then I season , truss if needed and get it in place. Then I wash my hands and begin cleaning utensils, and sink. Once all that's done, I was my hands again. Not as involved as it sounds, I promise. :)

BTW: love the Cavenders Greek rub. You're making me want to get some pitas, roast some red onion and make Tzatziki.
 

 

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