With the feet removed, I turn my attention to the opposite end of the bird. The head must now be removed.
Joel Salatin, author of the book, Pasture Poultry Profits, removes chicken heads by pulling them off. I’ve done that. My kids have done that. Even my wife, The Lovely Marlene, has pulled a chicken’s head off its body. I recommend that you give it a try too. But it’s okay to use a knife, and it's a whole lot easier.
Slice into the neck just under the head. There are bones in the neck and you will meet with some resistance, but it is not too much for a sharp knife.
Most of the time, I just cut into the meaty section of the neck, That weakens the connection. Then I’ll pull it off.
Besides disconnecting the head from the neck, there are a couple of tubes going into the head that you need to sever. In the picture above, I am cutting through the esophagus (which is where the food goes down) and trachea (which takes air to the lungs)to finish the job.
As far as I know, there are no culinary uses for a chicken’s head. It goes in the gut bucket.
However, like the feet, chicken heads do have some educational and entertainment value. When they were younger, my boys had a lot of fun with chicken heads. Then we threw them in the bucket.
Joel Salatin, author of the book, Pasture Poultry Profits, removes chicken heads by pulling them off. I’ve done that. My kids have done that. Even my wife, The Lovely Marlene, has pulled a chicken’s head off its body. I recommend that you give it a try too. But it’s okay to use a knife, and it's a whole lot easier.
Slice into the neck just under the head. There are bones in the neck and you will meet with some resistance, but it is not too much for a sharp knife.
Most of the time, I just cut into the meaty section of the neck, That weakens the connection. Then I’ll pull it off.
Besides disconnecting the head from the neck, there are a couple of tubes going into the head that you need to sever. In the picture above, I am cutting through the esophagus (which is where the food goes down) and trachea (which takes air to the lungs)to finish the job.
As far as I know, there are no culinary uses for a chicken’s head. It goes in the gut bucket.
However, like the feet, chicken heads do have some educational and entertainment value. When they were younger, my boys had a lot of fun with chicken heads. Then we threw them in the bucket.
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