You threw the best part away on the 5 lb cockrel the gizzard is the best part of the chicken or ducks put gizzards into a pressure cooker get it up to pressure then batter and fry i do the hearts same way as well .
Brilliant video Steven is a talented butcher and explains everything as he goes along. I must admit when he was using the torch on his knees I was worried he was going to set fire to his trousers 😅
This made me smile as Steven and I are worlds apart in the H&S aspect of life LOL - he wouldn't have battered an eye lid whereas I would have had mine closed ;)
Hi. I really enjoyed your video. We raise and butcher our own food as well. I don’t know if you’ve tried dipping ducks into wax after plucking and then plunging into ice water. You then pull off the hard wax and all pins and down come with it. You can remedy the wax and filter it and use again. Thanks
Hi there, thank you for commenting, we appreciate it. We have heard of that tip before but never got round to using it - we should try to remember for next year!! Thank you
Excellent educational video once again. Steven is so skilled at his trade it’s a joy to watch. It’s obvious that the care you give all your animals follows all the way through to their end. Respect to you both. Xx
Thank you for sharing. I'd forgotten about the torch tightening the skin, always use it on the game birds and when we used raise and sell geese dor Christmas when i was a kid. I wish i was better at butchery Steve is one of the easiest to follow along with as others have said he explains as he goes in logical way and using layman's terms not the butchery terms. Thanks.
I prefer poached chicken especially with larger carcass it keeps the meat tender and moist. We use a thumb size piece of root ginger bruised with a bunch of spring onion and salt in the water. Being careful not to over cook then paint the skin with sesame oil when semi cool . It’s the Chinese home cooking style and the broth we use for noodle soup or rice porridge.
Could you provide some guidance on equipment used for stunning and the cone etc. I am struggling to find uk stunning equipment which is not unbelievably expensive (probably because it’s for larger animals and commercial ventures).
We find the cheapest to be on marketplace (facebook) when another smallholder is retiring from it, or local businesses closing down. Ours are all second hand so we don't have a recommended one, sorry. The cone is a traffic cone with the bottom cut off :)
Excellent, fantastic and very educational . Steven is a master butcher and it shows throughout the video . I really enjoyed this one , in fact I'll save it for my next road killed pheasant 😂😂.
Excellent video guys. Isn’t Steve a fantastic butcher?!!! I used to pluck and prepare pheasant whole for a roast after hanging. Then gave up and just drew and skinned and criss crossed with bacon. My friend used to pluck on a breezy Bournemouth beach when given a brace as a student! 😁 I found it easier to use kitchen roll in my hands when pulling the skin off the legs. My absolute favourite stock for borscht is duck stock after skimming off the duck stock fat to use for roast potatoes. What a marvellous smallholding bounty of food you’re raising. Rabbit and game birds too. I’m sure Steve knows how to tickle a few brownies for the smoker …. 😎. Really do enjoy your videos.
You always have some lovely information to share Amanda, I'm truly pleased you are here. Thanks for the kitchen roll tip - that will help and for others too. I'll remember about the stock too! Thank you lovely
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure Aww. Thank you. I guess it’s a feeling of reciprocating for what you share and what your viewers share in their comments. It’s a lovely UA-cam genre; homesteading/smallholding. I am however mindful that I can easily rattle on! 😄
That was absolutely fascinating... I've said it before but watching Steven's butchery skills is hypnotic... time for a butchery channel? I'll bet you noticed the difference buying a chicken... how did the taste compare with your own birds?
I soooooo wanted to see the crop that was removed from the chicken in more detail! I’m one of those weirdo’s 😂 perhaps Steven could start his own butchery classes!
You know your meat has had a good life. Just a note , I live in a flat, but would love a small holding. I don’t know if this is of any use to you but I by M & S chicken legs, for £1.50 600 grams .
Love watching Steven being a butcher. I have a question for Steven I watch homestead viedo from america and they seem to take the insides out straight from dispatching. My question is why do you leave the insides in untill you butcher them.
Thank you for the question! Basically to fit in with our schedule. We do it both ways depending on time, it's for no other reason (though can be easier to work with when cold and "set up".
Plucking ducks is an absolute nightmare!!! OH nearly cried when she saw a duck in amongst the Partridges 😂 You are right, it never gets easier...we'll be processing chickens next week...6 months old. But they have had a great life & will be delicious. That's reality. All the best from Rural Portugal.
Really great video, thankyou that was super helpful. Are all your chickens on the same feed or do you give the meat birds and layers different? Our first lot are 4 weeks at the moment so it’s great to have this to look forwards to.
Do you rinse the cavity of the birds with water before freezing ? And do you remove all the air from the plastic bags you put the birds in to freeze them ? Good video 😊
Great questions and the answer is no to both - the reason being is I will rinse before cooking (to avoid the ice crystals forming and changing the texture when freeing) and these birds won't be for long term freezing otherwise I would vac pack and remove the air. They will be used within 2/3 months max. Thank you!
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure ah yes gotcha I understand why it wouldn't work it was honestly just curious 😃 I seen people boil chickens and use plucker machines was trying to help you make things easier but forget duck feather are different then chickens makes sense to why it wouldn't work
Sorry for just getting to this now but finally some time on the weekend. Steven is a trained butcher as Mick kindly said. He hasn't done a course or anything like that though. He's old school in that he was trained by a butcher when he left school and continued on. So yes, a butcher for a living :)
Ahh no, sorry for any confusion. I'd managed to publish it when it wasn't ready. I still had some final edits to make and youtube was still running its checks to make sure nothing on it was copyright - I'm not too sure how it happened as it isn't normally allowed. Anyway, it should be back soon as the checks are almost complete it says.
7:42 “ we’ve got no way of raising our own fish here and I’m okay with that”…………. hi there, I’d highly recommend you digging out a pond and raising your own trout or carp or even perch. You can race around organic trout and I have the highest level of omega three fatty acids. Have any fish and great for vitamin D throughout the winter. If you want a table fish per week, then dig out upon big enough to hold 300 trial will definitely give you enough on rotation will probably take about 18 months if you buy cheap small Fry but once you’re there it’s sustainable food forever. If you’ve got the land digging out a pond is easy assuming you have some clay in your ground. If you don’t have clay you can buy a liner, either synthetic or events bentonite , Clay liner… also in the UK American crayfish are taking over and you can collect these free of charge from ponds or streams near you. You have to get a license from Environment Agency, but it’s free and easy to get. they are basically like small lobsters, very tasty, indeed you don’t need to feed them they will just breed and proliferate on their own. I love what you guys are doing. Keep up the great work, but I really urge you to look at getting fishponds just like the old monasteries in days gone by
Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice! We really appreciate your support and love hearing your ideas for sustainable living - fascinating to read!
Hi there, love your videos, can I ask how you stun the ducks/ chicken i would like to be this self sufficient and any info for humane dispatch is much appreciated 👍🏼
@@OtterwoodCottage My husband said probably a quick bang on the head with a block of wood I said I hope not that sounds brutal 🫣😲 hopefully they will tell us they are very professional in their set up and very good stewards of their livestock.
Hi lovely, thank you for the question and commenting. It's lovely to see people are interested and care. I have just read what you said your husband said and although that's not what we do here, people do use that method as it is effective and the animal doesn't know it's happening so thankfully oblivious (obviously assuming there's no waiting time or stress to the animal being held beforehand. We have tried many methods here and find the one that causes the least stress is a bullet for ducks. There's also a broom method to break their necks but this can be tricky and introduces stress (for all of us, not good). for the chickens it is a really quick neck break which is recommended and again, least stress as they don't know it is coming if they are used to being handled. Please note, I also put curtains up so our other birds don't see what is happening (yes, really). I hope this helps and please do share any other methods you would like us to consider if you have heard of something more humane. We believe this way is right for us at the moment :)
👋🏼 thank you so much for your reply, and the curtains 👍🏼 that's a brilliant idea, and I will definitely do this or make sure i move them the night before away from the others to where i intend to do the deed, some may think it's odd but I think it's fantastic, the block of wood 🤔 I'm sure is effective, if... unlike me, you have good aim! however I just know I would smack my hand instead of the head🫣 and that would be distressing for the bird to hear my language! 😆 Your channel is fantastic! it's so nice to find a proper English homestead to learn from, and you guys are soooo knowledgeable and dedicated considering you both have other jobs and a family, 👏🏼👏🏼 keep up the good work guys. ♥️
Wouldn't it be worth it to invest in one of those plucker machines, like the Yardbird or what have you? EDIT: nvm, I just saw a more recent vid and I see that you do have a plucker now.
Yes thank you for that. Unfortunately the traditional chicken pluckers don’t work for ducks as the feathers need to be soaked and of course, duck feathers repel the water so we’re still hand plucking them. Thanks for stopping by.
Yes, linked here if that helps: www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption#:~:text=Stunning%20by%20penetrative%20captive%20bolt,the%20device%20until%20it's%20fixed
Try this with your chicken feet - a South African delicacy. We call it "Run aways". It is gelatinous as oxtail and just as tasty. ua-cam.com/video/296J937BMoA/v-deo.html Your dogs will be unimpressed, "my human is eating my food". Thank me later.... there are variations on the recipe. I enjoy your videos...
@@oliverhood7856 we didn’t see that and if we did there’s no reason we would have deleted it. My preference is now to see the head on so ste removes it. Nothing more complicated than that and thanks for sharing the plucking tip
You threw the best part away on the 5 lb cockrel the gizzard is the best part of the chicken or ducks put gizzards into a pressure cooker get it up to pressure then batter and fry i do the hearts same way as well .
Very nice !
Stumbled on you in my feed, love your informative videos! We are planning and off grid life. Keep up the great content guy’s.
Awesome! Thank you!
Brilliant video Steven is a talented butcher and explains everything as he goes along. I must admit when he was using the torch on his knees I was worried he was going to set fire to his trousers 😅
Same😅
My Health and Safety head kicked in 🙃
This made me smile as Steven and I are worlds apart in the H&S aspect of life LOL - he wouldn't have battered an eye lid whereas I would have had mine closed ;)
Love the respect that Steven shows for your animals.
Great to watch. Never an easy subject but care and respect from start to finish.
So true. We really appreciate that, thank you.
Indeed the de feather is a most time taking process to get it wright, the rest is easy
Finally found a great british homesteading/small holding that do their own meat ❤
Hope you find some helpful videos here :)
Hi. I really enjoyed your video. We raise and butcher our own food as well. I don’t know if you’ve tried dipping ducks into wax after plucking and then plunging into ice water. You then pull off the hard wax and all pins and down come with it. You can remedy the wax and filter it and use again. Thanks
Hi there, thank you for commenting, we appreciate it. We have heard of that tip before but never got round to using it - we should try to remember for next year!! Thank you
Excellent educational video once again. Steven is so skilled at his trade it’s a joy to watch. It’s obvious that the care you give all your animals follows all the way through to their end. Respect to you both. Xx
Thank you Deb :) xx
Clean the ducks dawn with melted bees wax. Fast and efficient method.
Thank you :)
Great video and some very tidy knife-work. Plus 2 tickets to the guns show ha ha!
thank you - made me laugh out loud :)
Really interesting to see the process and the care taken.
Thank you Lorriaine!
Fab video, chic, well done Ste, and look forward to recipes from it all.x
Thanks so much! 😊xx
Wow, Steve. I didn't know you did these videos until Neil sent a link. Awesome buddy. Dave Dabs
Thank you Dave!
Thank you for sharing.
I'd forgotten about the torch tightening the skin, always use it on the game birds and when we used raise and sell geese dor Christmas when i was a kid.
I wish i was better at butchery Steve is one of the easiest to follow along with as others have said he explains as he goes in logical way and using layman's terms not the butchery terms. Thanks.
What fab memories! Thank you so much, great to hear.
Love your meat processing videos and amazing butchery skills as always 😊
Thanks so much 😊
I prefer poached chicken especially with larger carcass it keeps the meat tender and moist. We use a thumb size piece of root ginger bruised with a bunch of spring onion and salt in the water. Being careful not to over cook then paint the skin with sesame oil when semi cool . It’s the Chinese home cooking style and the broth we use for noodle soup or rice porridge.
Thank you for sharing this, that’s fascinating!
Could you provide some guidance on equipment used for stunning and the cone etc. I am struggling to find uk stunning equipment which is not unbelievably expensive (probably because it’s for larger animals and commercial ventures).
We find the cheapest to be on marketplace (facebook) when another smallholder is retiring from it, or local businesses closing down. Ours are all second hand so we don't have a recommended one, sorry. The cone is a traffic cone with the bottom cut off :)
brilliant and inspiring thanks
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you.
Excellent, fantastic and very educational . Steven is a master butcher and it shows throughout the video . I really enjoyed this one , in fact I'll save it for my next road killed pheasant 😂😂.
Love that Mick! Thank you!
Excellent video guys. Isn’t Steve a fantastic butcher?!!!
I used to pluck and prepare pheasant whole for a roast after hanging. Then gave up and just drew and skinned and criss crossed with bacon.
My friend used to pluck on a breezy Bournemouth beach when given a brace as a student! 😁
I found it easier to use kitchen roll in my hands when pulling the skin off the legs.
My absolute favourite stock for borscht is duck stock after skimming off the duck stock fat to use for roast potatoes.
What a marvellous smallholding bounty of food you’re raising. Rabbit and game birds too. I’m sure Steve knows how to tickle a few brownies for the smoker …. 😎.
Really do enjoy your videos.
You always have some lovely information to share Amanda, I'm truly pleased you are here. Thanks for the kitchen roll tip - that will help and for others too. I'll remember about the stock too! Thank you lovely
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure Aww. Thank you. I guess it’s a feeling of reciprocating for what you share and what your viewers share in their comments. It’s a lovely UA-cam genre; homesteading/smallholding. I am however mindful that I can easily rattle on! 😄
Great video, very helpful 👍🏻
Glad it was helpful! Thank you.
nice one thanks for the info
Any time!
That was absolutely fascinating... I've said it before but watching Steven's butchery skills is hypnotic... time for a butchery channel?
I'll bet you noticed the difference buying a chicken... how did the taste compare with your own birds?
I keep saying he should do a second channel Sean ;) maybe one day. Indeed on the taste of chicken, so much blander that home raised.
I soooooo wanted to see the crop that was removed from the chicken in more detail! I’m one of those weirdo’s 😂 perhaps Steven could start his own butchery classes!
haha maybe there is need for a second channel!
You know your meat has had a good life. Just a note , I live in a flat, but would love a small holding. I don’t know if this is of any use to you but I by M & S chicken legs, for £1.50 600 grams .
Thank you for sharing that - I'll check them ot next time I am near one! Take care.
Another great video, guys 👍 Wished we'd seen it before dispatching our first lot of ducks last year, nightmare to pluck, put us right off 😅
Thank you Julie! Always great to hear your feedback. Love what you do!
Love watching Steven being a butcher. I have a question for Steven I watch homestead viedo from america and they seem to take the insides out straight from dispatching. My question is why do you leave the insides in untill you butcher them.
Thank you for the question! Basically to fit in with our schedule. We do it both ways depending on time, it's for no other reason (though can be easier to work with when cold and "set up".
I never found plucking ducks very hard... I was so worried as everyone said it was so much harder
Which breed did you do and what age? That definitely makes a difference we found 👍
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure we have cherry valley, pekin, and Aylesbury and between 1-2 years
Plucking ducks is an absolute nightmare!!! OH nearly cried when she saw a duck in amongst the Partridges 😂
You are right, it never gets easier...we'll be processing chickens next week...6 months old. But they have had a great life & will be delicious.
That's reality.
All the best from Rural Portugal.
Thank you guys! I completely get that re the ducks 😂
Really great video, thankyou that was super helpful. Are all your chickens on the same feed or do you give the meat birds and layers different? Our first lot are 4 weeks at the moment so it’s great to have this to look forwards to.
Thank you. The chicken are all on the same feed.
Do you rinse the cavity of the birds with water before freezing ? And do you remove all the air from the plastic bags you put the birds in to freeze them ? Good video 😊
Great questions and the answer is no to both - the reason being is I will rinse before cooking (to avoid the ice crystals forming and changing the texture when freeing) and these birds won't be for long term freezing otherwise I would vac pack and remove the air. They will be used within 2/3 months max. Thank you!
Could you use a plucking machine for them might help make things easier I see people use them for cickens I bet it would work for ducks too
Ah thank you, sadly it doesn't work as the plucker needs wet feather which the ducks obviously don't soak up the water
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure ah yes gotcha I understand why it wouldn't work it was honestly just curious 😃 I seen people boil chickens and use plucker machines was trying to help you make things easier but forget duck feather are different then chickens makes sense to why it wouldn't work
Interesting, why you leaving The giblets for so long inside, thx ?!
Just what works for us time wise :)
That’s a messy business, I use a broom, there’s no stress, no mess. For either participant.
Is Steven a trained butcher or self taught? Really ineresting and satisfying, saving as much as you can out of the birds.
We would like to know this too. It's a debate in our house what Steven's day time job is. My husband is convinced he's a butcher for a living!
Yes , he is a full time professional butcher .
Sorry for just getting to this now but finally some time on the weekend. Steven is a trained butcher as Mick kindly said. He hasn't done a course or anything like that though. He's old school in that he was trained by a butcher when he left school and continued on. So yes, a butcher for a living :)
@@OurSmallholdingAdventure Hi Tracy, I was just about to comment on your latest video when it was taken down , Is it down to UA-cam ?
Ahh no, sorry for any confusion. I'd managed to publish it when it wasn't ready. I still had some final edits to make and youtube was still running its checks to make sure nothing on it was copyright - I'm not too sure how it happened as it isn't normally allowed. Anyway, it should be back soon as the checks are almost complete it says.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤great to watch thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
7:42 “ we’ve got no way of raising our own fish here and I’m okay with that”…………. hi there, I’d highly recommend you digging out a pond and raising your own trout or carp or even perch. You can race around organic trout and I have the highest level of omega three fatty acids. Have any fish and great for vitamin D throughout the winter. If you want a table fish per week, then dig out upon big enough to hold 300 trial will definitely give you enough on rotation will probably take about 18 months if you buy cheap small Fry but once you’re there it’s sustainable food forever. If you’ve got the land digging out a pond is easy assuming you have some clay in your ground. If you don’t have clay you can buy a liner, either synthetic or events bentonite , Clay liner… also in the UK American crayfish are taking over and you can collect these free of charge from ponds or streams near you. You have to get a license from Environment Agency, but it’s free and easy to get. they are basically like small lobsters, very tasty, indeed you don’t need to feed them they will just breed and proliferate on their own. I love what you guys are doing. Keep up the great work, but I really urge you to look at getting fishponds just like the old monasteries in days gone by
Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice! We really appreciate your support and love hearing your ideas for sustainable living - fascinating to read!
❤
I wish I was that chicken 😜
Hi there, love your videos, can I ask how you stun the ducks/ chicken i would like to be this self sufficient and any info for humane dispatch is much appreciated 👍🏼
I wanted to ask this too. 😊
@@OtterwoodCottage
My husband said probably a quick bang on the head with a block of wood I said I hope not that sounds brutal 🫣😲 hopefully they will tell us they are very professional in their set up and very good stewards of their livestock.
Hi lovely, thank you for the question and commenting. It's lovely to see people are interested and care. I have just read what you said your husband said and although that's not what we do here, people do use that method as it is effective and the animal doesn't know it's happening so thankfully oblivious (obviously assuming there's no waiting time or stress to the animal being held beforehand. We have tried many methods here and find the one that causes the least stress is a bullet for ducks. There's also a broom method to break their necks but this can be tricky and introduces stress (for all of us, not good). for the chickens it is a really quick neck break which is recommended and again, least stress as they don't know it is coming if they are used to being handled. Please note, I also put curtains up so our other birds don't see what is happening (yes, really). I hope this helps and please do share any other methods you would like us to consider if you have heard of something more humane. We believe this way is right for us at the moment :)
👋🏼 thank you so much for your reply, and the curtains 👍🏼 that's a brilliant idea, and I will definitely do this or make sure i move them the night before away from the others to where i intend to do the deed, some may think it's odd but I think it's fantastic, the block of wood 🤔 I'm sure is effective, if... unlike me, you have good aim! however I just know I would smack my hand instead of the head🫣 and that would be distressing for the bird to hear my language! 😆 Your channel is fantastic! it's so nice to find a proper English homestead to learn from, and you guys are soooo knowledgeable and dedicated considering you both have other jobs and a family, 👏🏼👏🏼 keep up the good work guys. ♥️
Wouldn't it be worth it to invest in one of those plucker machines, like the Yardbird or what have you?
EDIT: nvm, I just saw a more recent vid and I see that you do have a plucker now.
Yes thank you for that. Unfortunately the traditional chicken pluckers don’t work for ducks as the feathers need to be soaked and of course, duck feathers repel the water so we’re still hand plucking them. Thanks for stopping by.
Why do you hang the ducks for that long before dressing them out?
Just until we’re ready to get to them plus tenderises them people say
Are there rules for despatching your own birds at home?
Yes, linked here if that helps: www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption#:~:text=Stunning%20by%20penetrative%20captive%20bolt,the%20device%20until%20it's%20fixed
Was nobody else trying to work out what it said on the hoodie behind Tracey in the kitchen?
haha a teenagers hoody, makes no sense to me ;)
Try this with your chicken feet - a South African delicacy. We call it "Run aways". It is gelatinous as oxtail and just as tasty. ua-cam.com/video/296J937BMoA/v-deo.html
Your dogs will be unimpressed, "my human is eating my food". Thank me later.... there are variations on the recipe. I enjoy your videos...
hahaha thank you Colin, really appreciate sharing the tips
Why are you deleting my message??
What message is that Oliver? The one calling us pretend farmers or does another delight await us?
I did one before these two. It said, "Why do you cut the head off?" and if you pluck them as soon as you kill them , then they are easier to pluck.
@@oliverhood7856 we didn’t see that and if we did there’s no reason we would have deleted it. My preference is now to see the head on so ste removes it. Nothing more complicated than that and thanks for sharing the plucking tip
You can show them with no head's, but I can't ask a question about it. Keeps disappearing.
@@oliverhood7856 that’s UA-cam for you. We aren’t getting a notification about your other comments, only the ones we reply to.