Learning Outcome 1 Perform Mise’en Place

Selecting and Purchasing Poultry and Game

Poultry consumption in the Philippines has increased remarkably in the last

decade. This is evident in the popularity of chicken dishes in restaurants all over the
country.

Poultry refers to several kinds of fowl that are used as food and the term includes
chicken, turkey, duck, pigeon, and quail. These are usually domesticated raised mainly
for meat and/or eggs. Birds such as smites that are hunted for food are games.

Classification of Poultry and Games

Bird Uses

Chicken Meat, eggs

Duck Meat, eggs feathers

Turkey Meat

Goose Meat, feather, eggs

Quail Meat, eggs

Pigeon Meat

Guinea fowl Meat

Wild duck Meat, feather

Pheasant Meat

Chickens and other poultry may be divided into classes which are essentially of the
same physical characteristics associated with age, sex, live weight and/or breed.

Broiler or Fryer. A broiler or fryer is young chicken, usually 9 to 12 weeks of age, of either
sex, is tender-meat with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin.
Roaster. A roaster is usually 5 to 6 months of age.
Capon. A capon is a surgically desexed male chicken usually under 8 months
of age.
Stag. A stag is a male chicken, usually under 10 months of age, with coarse
skin, with somewhat toughened and darkened flesh.
Hen or Stewing Chicken. It is a mature female chicken which is usually more
than 10 months of age. It can also be a culled layer.
 Cock or Rooster. It is a mature male chicken with coarse skin, toughened and
darkened meat and hardened breastbone tip.
Jumbo Broiler. This is a large chicken about 4 kg. dressed weight which are on
sale especially during the Christmas holiday.

Other Poultry

Peking duck. This is a breed of duck that originated from China and is noted for its
tender and flavorful meat.
Duck or Itik is available and popular in many towns of Rizal as fried itik.
Squab. This is a young immature pigeon of either sex and has extra tender meat.

Selecting Good Quality Poultry and Game

Live Poultry
It has clear eyes.
A young chicken has fine and soft feet. If it is old, the feet are thick and scaly.
The bone at the tip of the breast is soft in younger chicken and thick in older one.
Small feathers indicate that the chicken is young.

Whole Poultry. These are slaughtered birds that have been bled and de-feathered.
Their head, feet and viscera are still intact.
They are clean, well fleshed.
They have moderate fat coverings.
They are free from pin feathers and show no cuts, scars or missing skin.
Dressed Poultry. These are slaughtered birds that have been bled, de-feathered, and
the visceral organs are removed.
The skin is smooth and yellow in color
The breast is plump
The thighs are well-developed
It has no objectionable odor
It is heavy and the skin is not watery
Ready-to-Cook. The dressed birds may be cut up and marinated or seasoned.
Poultry Parts. Several pieces of a single poultry part are usually packed in one carton,
wrapped and chilled or frozen. The various poultry parts are divided into any of the
following:
dark meat – drumsticks, thighs, wings, neck, backs, and rib cage
white meat – breasts
giblets – gizzard and heart

Nutritional Value/Components of Poultry and Game

 Like meat, poultry contains high quality proteins. Chicken, the most consumed
among the fowls, has 22.6% protein, 76.3% water and traces of fat, vitamins and
minerals.

Poultry meat consists of dark and white muscles. Dark muscles are those found
in parts of fowl’s body which are always used. These are the legs, thigh, wings, neck
and rib cage. These are richer in fat, have more connective tissues, and have higher
riboflavin and myoglobin content. Most people prefer the dark meat than white meat
(from the breast) because of its juiciness and flavor. Variety meats refer to the meat of
such organs as the gizzard, heart, kidneys and liver.

Preparation of poultry for cooking

Slaughter and bleeding

Scaldding

Defeathering

Evisceration

Deboning

Market forms of poultry

Live poultry

Live poultry should be healthy, alert, and well-feathered. Avoid poultry

which have bruises, blisters and broken bones.

Whole poultry

Though not alive, the criteria for selecting live poultry also apply to whole
poultry.

Dressed poultry

This is the most available poultry form in the market. Dressed poultry are
actually slaughtered poultry with the head, feet, blood, feathers and internal
organs removed. Good quality dressed poultry should be free from slime, off-
odors and discoloration.

Drawn poultry
 These are dressed poultry that have been chilled or frozen. They are
usually available in groceries.

Ready-to cook

These are poultry parts such as wings, breast, thighs, or drumsticks which
have been separately packed in a single container and frozen or chilled.

Different Cuts of Poultry

Whole Chicken
Whole Chickens are marketed either fresh or frozen.

Halves
The bird is split from front to back through the
backbone and keel to produce 2 halves of
approximately equal weight.

Breast Quarters
Halves may be further cut into which include the
wing. A breast quarter, including portions of the back,
is all white meat.
Whole Chicken
Whole Chickens are marketed either fresh or frozen.

Split Breast
A breast quarter with the wing removed.

Split Breast without Back

A breast quarter with wing and back portion removed.

Boneless, Skinless Breast

Split breast that has been skinned and deboned.

8-Piece Cut
The whole bird is cut into 2 breast halves with ribs
and back portion, 2 wings, 2 thighs with back portion
and 2 drumsticks. The parts may be packaged
together and labelled as whole cut-up chicken. These
are usually sold without giblets.
Whole Chicken
Whole Chickens are marketed either fresh or frozen.

Whole Chicken Wing

The whole chicken wing is an all-white meat portion
composed of three sections; the drumette, mid-
section, and tip.

Wing Drummettes
The first section between the shoulder and the elbow.

Wing Mid-Section with Tip

The flat center section and the flipper (wing tip).
Wing Mid-Section
The section between the elbow and the tip,
sometimes called the wing flat or mid-joint.

Whole Chicken Leg Whole Chicken Leg

The whole chicken leg is the drumstick-thigh
combination. The whole leg differs from the leg
quarter and does not contain a portion of the back.

Boneless, Skinless Leg

Whole chicken leg with skin and bone removed.

Thigh
The thigh is the portion of the leg above the knee
joint.

Boneless, Skinless Thigh

Thigh with skin and bone removed.

Drumsticks
Drumsticks include the lower portion of the leg
quarter (the portion between the knee joint and the
hock).
Wing Mid-Section
The section between the elbow and the tip,
sometimes called the wing flat or mid-joint.

Giblets
Includes heart, liver, and neck.