PREPARATION OF POULTRY PRODUCTS 315 



How to scald. The first thing in scalding poultry is to have a vessel of 

 water large enough to allow free handling of the birds. The next thing is to 

 maintain the water at the desired temperature as long as required. The tem- 

 perature of the water should be just below boiling. When a single chicken or 

 a medium-sized fowl is to be scalded, it may be done in a twelve- or sixteen- 

 quart pail, by using enough water, boiling when taken from the stove, to make 

 the pail a little over half full. In pouring or dipping from the kettle or the tank 

 to the pail, the temperature of water at the boiling point will usually be suffi- 

 ciently reduced by contact with the cooler air as the water passes from vessel 

 to vessel. The bird should be taken by the feet and soused in the water in such 

 a way that the feathers will be rumpled by the movement and the water will 

 penetrate nearly to the skin without reaching it. If the bird is to be dressed 

 with the head on, the head should not be scalded but held in the hand while the 

 scalding is done. It is not as easy to scald in this way as with the head off, but 

 with a little care good work may be done. When scalding is done properly, 

 the effect at the root of the feather is to steam the skin without scalding it. 

 The time required varies with the condition and density of the feathers. A 

 chicken or a molting hen may need only a plunge so rapid that the skin is 

 hardly affected, though the scantiness of plumage allows the water to touch it. 

 A full-feathered fowl, especially an old one, may require several plunges. The 

 effect on the feathers is ascertained by plucking a few from the thigh near the 

 hock joint. If these come easily, there should be no difficulty in removing 

 the others. Only one or two birds can be scalded in the same water in this way, 

 but more may be scalded if boiling water is added. For larger birds a boiler 

 or a tub may be used. Results of scalding in this way are not uniform, how- 

 ever, and if any considerable number are to be scalded, a set-kettle, under which 

 a slow fire can be kept, should be used. This gives a body of water large 

 enough for quick and thorough work in scalding, and after a few trials of the 

 water on the stock with which he is working, an expert will put most of his 

 birds through without a blemish due to poor scalding. If a bird has been well 

 scalded, only the stiff tail and wing feathers need be pulled out. The others will 

 7-ub off, except pinfeathers in birds not in full plumage. If handled immedi- 

 ately after scalding, the feathers are usually a little too hot for the comfort of 

 the picker. They are removed just as easily after they become cool enough to 

 handle, and with little greater difficulty at any time within ten or twelve minutes. 



Ducks and geese. Waterfowl are much more difficult to scald than other 

 poultry. Their dense plumage is not so easily penetrated by the water, and the 

 ease with which the feathers on the thigh are removed is not as accurate an 

 index of the general condition. A common practice is to wrap them in burlap 

 (old grain sacks) after scalding, and allow them to steam in the hot, wet feathers 

 for some minutes before beginning to pick. Even then a supplementary scald is 

 sometimes necessary, after a part of the feathers have been removed. In pack- 

 ing establishments steaj7i is often used for scalding, giving a dry scald. The 

 steam used is sometimes taken from a pipe or a hose, but direct steaming is 

 said to be more satisfactory. Some of the smaller packing establishments use 



