The 1918 Fanny Farmer Cookbook

inches below the leg joint, care being taken not to cut tendons; place leg at this cut over edge

board, press downward to snap the bone, then take foot in right hand, holding bird firmly in

left

hand, and pull off foot, and with it the tendons. In old birds the tendons must be drawn

separately, which is best accomplished by using a steel skewer. Make an incision through skin

below breastbone, just large enough to admit the hand. With the hand remove entrails,

gizzard,

heart, and liver; the last three named constitute what is known as giblets. The gall bladder,

lying

on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver, is removed with liver, and great care must

taken that it is not broken, as a small quantity of the bile which it contains would impart a

bitter

flavor to the parts with which it came in contact. Enclosed by the ribs, on either side of

backbone, may be found the lungs, of spongy consistency and red color. Care must be taken

that every part of them is removed. Kidneys, lying in the hollow near end of backbone, must

also be removed. By introducing first two fingers under skin close to neck, the windpipe may

easily found and withdrawn; also the crop, which will he found adhering to skin close to

Draw down neck skin, and cut off neck close to body, leaving skin long enough to fasten

the back. Remove oil bag, and wash bird by allowing cold water to run through it, not

breast.

under

allowing

bird to soak in cold water. Wipe inside and outside, looking carefully to see that everything

has

been withdrawn. If there is disagreeable odor, suggesting that fowl may have been kept too

long, clean at once, wash inside and out with soda water, and sprinkle inside with charcoal

and

place some under wings.

Poultry dressed at market seldom have tendons removed unless so ordered. It is always

desirable to have them withdrawn, as they become hard and bony during cooking. It is the

practice of market−men to cut a gash through the skin, to easier reach crop and windpipe.

This

gash must be sewed before stuffing, and causes the bird to look less attractive when cooked.

To Cut up a Fowl. Singe, draw out pinfeathers, cut off head, remove tendons and oil bag.

Cut through skin between leg and body close to body, bend back leg (thus breaking

ligaments),

cut through flesh, and separate at joint. Separate the upper part of leg, second joint, from

lower part of leg, drumstick, as leg is separated from body. Remove wing by cutting through

skin and flesh around upper wing joint which lies next to body, then disjoint from body. Cut

off

tip of wing and separate wing at middle joint. Remove leg and wing from other side. Separate

breast from back by cutting through skin, beginning two inches below breastbone and passing

knife between terminus of small ribs on either side and extending cut to collar−bone. Before

removing entrails, gizzard, heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, crop, and windpipe, observe their

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