In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
peeling them would be more work than they're worth. Also, what ratio of
bones (backs/necks/breast trimmings) to feet would you use? Just throw
a few in a pot or a pound of feet to say five pounds of assorted bones?

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 22:24:14 -0500, "Warren H. Prince"
> wrote:

>In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
>chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.

Being a pedicurist, I simply trim their nails.

>Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
>me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
>peeling them would be more work than they're worth.

OK. Seriously...

For stock, just rinse and toss in the pan. SOme people prefer to roast
or saute-fry them first.

I've never heard of peeling them for any chinese dishes, and I can't
think of any american dishes using feet.

-sw

"Warren H. Prince" wrote:
>
> In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
> chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
> Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
> me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
> peeling them would be more work than they're worth. Also, what ratio of
> bones (backs/necks/breast trimmings) to feet would you use? Just throw
> a few in a pot or a pound of feet to say five pounds of assorted bones?


Feet purchased from the store are already peeled and cleaned, and ready
for cooking. :-)

If you have "fresh" feet, (and I do if I am processing my own birds),
you need to peel them first.

Generally, when I am plucking a bird, it needs to be scalded, so I just
scald the feet at the same time by leaving them ON the carcass. Scalding
is similar to blanching. It makes the feathers come out _much_ easier. I
had a HELL of a time plucking ducks until someone from the poultry list
told me to add a little dish soap to the scalding water! Worked like a
charm. :-) Same goes for geese.

If you have just the feet, wash them well then dunk them in boiling
water for around 15 seconds. Not too long or they will break up when you
try to peel them!

The scales/skin and toenails peel off easily if you do it right and you
end up with nice clean feet. I've done chicken, guinea, duck and turkey
feet the same way. There is not much difference.

Emu feet are gross. I only did those once. Never, EVER again! :-P Those
get dried and given to the dogs as chews now.

I normally cook about 1 lb. of feet by themselves at a time. The stock
made from feet is so rich and delicious, I don't normally mix it with
other bones, but I don't see why you could not. :-)

The gel that comes from the cooked feet is yummy on it's own. <G>

I always add onions, garlic and celery to my initial stock before it is
cooked to add more flavor. And it smells better too. Cooking bones by
themselves with no other additions smells kinda funny.

Just my 2 cents.

K.

--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

In article >, "Warren H. Prince"
> wrote:

> In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
> chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
> Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
> me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
> peeling them would be more work than they're worth.

Nope. That outer skin peels off like the glove it is, leaving pristine
shicken skin behind. When you're a kid on a farm with shickens,
peeling the feet is cheap fun. The ones I buy have already been
skinned.
--
-Barb
State Fair prizewinning jams and jellies for sale at the Burnsville
Senior Citizens Bake Sale, November 19, 2003; 9:00 a.m. -6:00 p.m.
Diamondhead Education Center, Burnsville Parkway & Nicollet Aves,
Burnsville. 952-707-4120

Melba's Jammin' writes:

>"Warren H. Prince" wrote:
>
>>I was wondering how you prep.
>
>That outer skin peels off leaving pristine shicken skin behind.
>--
>-Barb Bris

Ahahaha. . . .



---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

Katra wrote:

>
> "Warren H. Prince" wrote:
>
>>In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
>>chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
>>Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
>>me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
>>peeling them would be more work than they're worth. Also, what ratio of
>>bones (backs/necks/breast trimmings) to feet would you use? Just throw
>>a few in a pot or a pound of feet to say five pounds of assorted bones?
>
>
>
> Feet purchased from the store are already peeled and cleaned, and ready
> for cooking. :-)
>
> If you have "fresh" feet, (and I do if I am processing my own birds),
> you need to peel them first.
>
> Generally, when I am plucking a bird, it needs to be scalded, so I just
> scald the feet at the same time by leaving them ON the carcass. Scalding
> is similar to blanching. It makes the feathers come out _much_ easier.

But what a smell, huh? Not much captures nasal passages like a freshly
killed chicken being raised and lowered into boiling water.

My grandmother raised chickens and it was my job to pluck them. One
time she asked my grandfather to kill and clean a chicken. He didn't
want to and said so. She insisted and insisted again. So he finally
did. He took his shotgun out to the chicken yard and shot one.
Literally blew its head off. Cut it open from neck to tail and let
everything fall out. Cut the neck more cleanly and cut off the feet.
Then to finish elegantly, he simply skinned it and discarded skin,
feathers and all. He brought this sorry-looking chicken back in and
announced that he would be happy to kill and clean chickens, and this
is how they would be done. It continued to be my job to pluck the
chickens.

> I
> had a HELL of a time plucking ducks until someone from the poultry list
> told me to add a little dish soap to the scalding water! Worked like a
> charm. :-) Same goes for geese.

I wish we had known about that.

> If you have just the feet, wash them well then dunk them in boiling
> water for around 15 seconds. Not too long or they will break up when you
> try to peel them!
>
> The scales/skin and toenails peel off easily if you do it right and you
> end up with nice clean feet. I've done chicken, guinea, duck and turkey
> feet the same way. There is not much difference.

When we had chicken stew back in the late 40's and early 50's, the
head and feet were in the pot along with comb and wattles (which feel
like earlobes).

> Emu feet are gross. I only did those once. Never, EVER again! :-P Those
> get dried and given to the dogs as chews now.
>
> I normally cook about 1 lb. of feet by themselves at a time. The stock
> made from feet is so rich and delicious, I don't normally mix it with
> other bones, but I don't see why you could not. :-)
>
> The gel that comes from the cooked feet is yummy on it's own. <G>
>
> I always add onions, garlic and celery to my initial stock before it is
> cooked to add more flavor. And it smells better too. Cooking bones by
> themselves with no other additions smells kinda funny.

I like celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Sometimes a bit of turnip for
a nice, distant bite to it.

Pastorio

Bob Pastorio wrote:
>
> Katra wrote:
> >
> >
> > Feet purchased from the store are already peeled and cleaned, and ready
> > for cooking. :-)
> >
> > If you have "fresh" feet, (and I do if I am processing my own birds),
> > you need to peel them first.
> >
> > Generally, when I am plucking a bird, it needs to be scalded, so I just
> > scald the feet at the same time by leaving them ON the carcass. Scalding
> > is similar to blanching. It makes the feathers come out _much_ easier.
>
> But what a smell, huh? Not much captures nasal passages like a freshly
> killed chicken being raised and lowered into boiling water.

I won't argue with that. ;-D
When mom used to help Erva do a large number of birds, we kids were
recruited for the plucking job, and since our hands were smaller,
gutting squabs...

Erva had an outdoor gas cooker and we did it outdoors so that relieved
the smell somewhat, but I know what you mean!

>
> My grandmother raised chickens and it was my job to pluck them. One
> time she asked my grandfather to kill and clean a chicken. He didn't
> want to and said so. She insisted and insisted again. So he finally
> did. He took his shotgun out to the chicken yard and shot one.
> Literally blew its head off. Cut it open from neck to tail and let
> everything fall out. Cut the neck more cleanly and cut off the feet.
> Then to finish elegantly, he simply skinned it and discarded skin,
> feathers and all. He brought this sorry-looking chicken back in and
> announced that he would be happy to kill and clean chickens, and this
> is how they would be done. It continued to be my job to pluck the
> chickens.

LOL! There are some folks on the poultry lists that still skin some of
the older stewing birds. ;-)

Actually, a properly salt cured rooster skin with intact feathers is
worth a small amount on ebay as a fly tying feather supply!

Scalding reduces the plucking job to literally just a few minutes,
including pin feathers. I know folks on the poultry lists that raise a
few dozen fresh meat birds per year for resale and personal use, and the
guy that passed on the dish soap hint for goose and duck does 20 or 30
geese in one day for resale! They must be processed at a set age for
maximum eatability. (new word there <G>)

>
> > I
> > had a HELL of a time plucking ducks until someone from the poultry list
> > told me to add a little dish soap to the scalding water! Worked like a
> > charm. :-) Same goes for geese.
>
> I wish we had known about that.

I was happy to learn about it. <G> At first, it took me up to 2 hours to
clean just one duck!!! :-P The damned things float in the scalding water
and the oil in the feathers prevented the feathers from absorbing the
boiling water to the skin! "Dawn" or "Joy" dish soap totally eliminated
the problem. Now they are worth the effort again. :-)

>
> > If you have just the feet, wash them well then dunk them in boiling
> > water for around 15 seconds. Not too long or they will break up when you
> > try to peel them!
> >
> > The scales/skin and toenails peel off easily if you do it right and you
> > end up with nice clean feet. I've done chicken, guinea, duck and turkey
> > feet the same way. There is not much difference.
>
> When we had chicken stew back in the late 40's and early 50's, the
> head and feet were in the pot along with comb and wattles (which feel
> like earlobes).

<snicker> Yeah, they do, but I remove the heads after scalding and
discard them. I just can't handle that.

>
> > I normally cook about 1 lb. of feet by themselves at a time. The stock
> > made from feet is so rich and delicious, I don't normally mix it with
> > other bones, but I don't see why you could not. :-)
> >
> > The gel that comes from the cooked feet is yummy on it's own. <G>
> >
> > I always add onions, garlic and celery to my initial stock before it is
> > cooked to add more flavor. And it smells better too. Cooking bones by
> > themselves with no other additions smells kinda funny.
>
> I like celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Sometimes a bit of turnip for
> a nice, distant bite to it.
>
> Pastorio

I've not experimented much with turnips...
For a similar flavor, I often use steamed radishes. I also add sliced
radishes to stir fry.

Thanks for the suggestion! I might try adding those to stock?

I am cautious with carrots. It's easy for them to overwhelm other
flavors if you use too much.

K.

--
>^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< >^,,^<

"There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are
all owned by cats" -- Asimov

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

"Warren H. Prince" wrote:
>
> In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
> chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
> Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
> me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
> peeling them would be more work than they're worth. Also, what ratio of
> bones (backs/necks/breast trimmings) to feet would you use? Just throw
> a few in a pot or a pound of feet to say five pounds of assorted bones?

Dip them in boiling water for a few seconds. The skin can then be peeled off.

Two chicken feet (actually the feet and shin up to the knee) for the
equivalent weight of a chicken. Taht is the natural amount in a
chicken-equivalent.

Hmmmm... don't forget to remove the toenails. Hopefully you will not get feet
with spurs. If you do, remove them too.

Bert (who still remembers twisting chicken necks and the smell of burning pin
feathers)

Bob Pastorio wrote:
>
> Katra wrote:
>
> >
> > "Warren H. Prince" wrote:
> >
> >>In a recent thread, several of you mentioned using chicken feet in
> >>chicken stock. I was wondering how you prep the feet before use.
> >>Obviously, they have to be cleaned well, but I remember someone telling
> >>me they have to be peeled or skinned before use. Seems to me that
> >>peeling them would be more work than they're worth. Also, what ratio of
> >>bones (backs/necks/breast trimmings) to feet would you use? Just throw
> >>a few in a pot or a pound of feet to say five pounds of assorted bones?
> >
> >
> >
> > Feet purchased from the store are already peeled and cleaned, and ready
> > for cooking. :-)
> >
> > If you have "fresh" feet, (and I do if I am processing my own birds),
> > you need to peel them first.
> >
> > Generally, when I am plucking a bird, it needs to be scalded, so I just
> > scald the feet at the same time by leaving them ON the carcass. Scalding
> > is similar to blanching. It makes the feathers come out _much_ easier.
>
> But what a smell, huh? Not much captures nasal passages like a freshly
> killed chicken being raised and lowered into boiling water.
>
> My grandmother raised chickens and it was my job to pluck them. One
> time she asked my grandfather to kill and clean a chicken. He didn't
> want to and said so. She insisted and insisted again. So he finally
> did. He took his shotgun out to the chicken yard and shot one.
> Literally blew its head off. Cut it open from neck to tail and let
> everything fall out. Cut the neck more cleanly and cut off the feet.
> Then to finish elegantly, he simply skinned it and discarded skin,
> feathers and all. He brought this sorry-looking chicken back in and
> announced that he would be happy to kill and clean chickens, and this
> is how they would be done. It continued to be my job to pluck the
> chickens.
>

ROFL!

I preferred killing them than cleaning them. I would take the chicken head
between thumb and index fingers, head towards the palm, and give one smart
shake/twist. Did it to chickens and Guinea hens. I tried to do it to a turkey
once... only once... nasty, mean tempered birds. Spurs hurt even in hens.