20 



BULLETIN 467, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



butcher's meat, to can meat for home use, just as they do fruits 

 and vegetables. Although beef and pork are most used for this pur- 

 pose, poultry is also put up with considerable success. The birds 

 are first cooked as if they were to be used at once — sometimes boiled 

 or stewed, sometimes fried or broiled — and are packed in jars or 

 cans much as fruit is. Then they are sterilized by cooking in steam 

 under pressure, either in a special steam cooker or, if this is not 

 available, in an ordinary wash boiler with a tight-fitting cover. If 

 this second cooking is so conducted that the meat is sterilized through- 

 out and the jars are then closed absolutely air-tight, there is no reason 

 why such home-canned poultry should not be perfectly wholesome. 

 If, however, the meat is not heated enough to kill any microorgan- 

 isms which may have found their way to it, or if there is any chance 

 for others in the air to infect the cooked meat, they may develop in 

 it while it is stored and cause severe poisoning when the meat is used. 

 Experiments are now being made in this office under controlled con- 

 ditions and with apparatus especially designed to measure interior 

 temperatures in the hope of learning whether or not common house- 

 hold methods of canning heat the food sufficiently to sterilize it 

 entirely. 



NUTRITIVE VALUE OF POULTRY. 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 



The chemical composition of different kinds of poultry and poul- 

 try products is given in the table below, which also includes a few 

 other common food materials for purposes of comparison. Data 

 regarding the composition and energy value of poultry are also shown 

 in graphic form in figures 1 and 2. 



Average composition of poultry, poultry products, and some other foods. 



Kind of food. 



Refuse. 



Water. 



Protein. 



Fat. 



Car- 

 bohy- 

 drates. 



Ash. 



Fuel 



value. 



CHICKENS. 



Young: 



Per cent. 

 18.8 



Per cent. 

 55.5 

 68.4 

 66.9 

 70.1 

 70.3 

 74.5 

 71.0 

 69.3 

 72.0 

 72.5 



51.2 

 69.7 

 69.2 

 72.8 



46.8 

 56.7 



Per cent. 

 17.8 

 21.9 

 22.6 

 20.8 

 21.9 

 21.8 

 19. S 

 22.4 

 20.7 

 24.7 



15.5 

 20.7 

 21.1 

 18.7 



17.7 

 21.5 

 21.6 

 20.5 



Per cent. 

 7.2 

 8.9 

 10.1 

 8.2 

 7.4 

 2.5 

 6.4 

 4.2 

 5.5 

 1.4 



3.3 

 8.3 

 8.8 

 6.1 



17.5 

 21.2 

 22.1 

 14.6 



Per cent. 



Percent. 

 0.9 

 1.1 

 1.1 

 1.2 

 1.1 

 1.1 

 1.3 

 1.7 

 1.4 

 1.4 



.8 

 1.1 

 1.1 

 1.3 



1.0 

 1.2 

 1.2 

 1.3 



Calories. 

 615 







760 









820 









710 









700 









500 









620 







2.4 



620 







600 









505 



Broiler: 



29.1 





415 







715 









740 









590 



Capon: 



17.5 





1,035 



Edible portion 





1,255 







55.8 

 63.3 





1,295 



Giblets 







970 



