FAQ: Why does kosher poultry have so many feathers?
I recall the first time my mother brought home a kosher chicken, at my request, from our local butcher in Randolph, MA. I could hear her shriek from the other end of the house. Compared to our family’s usual Purdues, this thing was riddled with feathers. I’ve heard plenty of anecdotal reasons why kosher birds have so many feathers, but an e-mail to the blog prompted me to do a thorough investigation.
Non-kosher feather removal methods involve “scalding” — submerging a freshly-slaughtered poultry carcass in hot water (125-150°F) to relax the skin, making it possible for mechanical “pickers” to pull the feathers automatically. In a kosher setting, scalding cannot be done because we are forbidden from cooking an animal before it has been soaked and salted (see Yorah Deah 68:10 for details). Kosher processors must use mechanical pickers that work with cold water, which is less efficient and more time consuming, especially since cold water actually toughens the skin. At Empire, for example, birds progress through eight different pickers, and then 70 workers at the end of the production cycle try to remove residual feathers. (In my experience, their birds generally have fewer feathers than Rubashkin’s.)
An interesting fact remains: kosher birds imported from Canada (like Marvid brand) are always completely free of feathers. Canadian poultry regulations state:
All hair, feathers, dirt, scurf, etc., must be completely removed and the carcass thoroughly washed prior to any further incision being made.
In Canada, it seems, they mean it with no exceptions. By contrast, the US regulations (7 CFR 70.1) sound more lenient:
Free from protruding feathers or hairs means that a poultry carcass, part, or poultry product with the skin on is free from protruding feathers or hairs which are visible to a grader during an examination at normal operating speeds. However, a poultry carcass, part, or poultry product may be considered as being free from protruding feathers or hairs if it has a generally clean appearance and if not more than an occasional protruding feather or hair is evidenced during a more careful examination.
“An occasional protruding feather,” is, I believe, defined by the Agricultural Marketing Service. With regard to turkeys and chickens, feathers must be less than or equal to 1/2 inch long, and the total number varies by grade:
Grade A: 4 feathers per carcass, or 2 per cut part
Grade B: 6 feathers per carcass, or 3 per cut part
Grace C: 8 feathers per carcass, or 4 per cut part
A friend in the meat business, however, suggests that the USDA may simply have an unwritten rule to be more lenient when it comes to kosher poultry, no matter the grade, staying very narrowly within the definition of “generally clean appearance” at “normal operating speeds.” (Of course, around holiday time, normal operating speeds are very fast in order to satisfy demand — meaning more feathers.)
Moral of the story: buy Canadian kosher poultry.
SOURCES
- Home Processing of Poultry (Oklahoma State University) Link
- Like Mountains Hanging By a Hair (Montreal Kosher / Rabbi Zushe Blech) Link
- Keeping the Faith (Food Processing Magazine) Link
- Kosher Chicken from Canada (US International Trade Commission) Link
- National Meat and Poultry Code, Second Edition (Canadian Food Inspection System Implementation Group) Link
- US Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, Part 70.1 Link
- United States Classes, Standards, and Grades for Poultry (USDA / AMS) Link
I’m still not sure I understand. Why can’t the poultry be soaked and salted before it is de-feathered?
BS”D
Poultry can indeed be soaked and salted before it is defeathered, but there are health and operational reason for doing it afterwards. The soaking and salting must be done in with carcasses where the interior surfaces are accessible. But the defeathering equipment is made specifically for intact birds. When I approached a shochet about shechting some geese, and we discussed how difficult and time consuming it is to pluck them, he suggested that we dress birds with feathers intact, soak and salt them that way (where the salt on the exterior is on the feathers, not on the skin), and then pluck them later at our leisure, or dress and skin them, then soak and salt them. So it can be done, but it defeats the purpose of ease of plucking if one can’t use the plucking equipment.
Is there something wrong with a few feathers?
Craig,
That’s a good explanation but it doesn’t explain why our European friends can have kosher geese so (relatively) easily while we’re stuck with the pedestrian turkey. :-)
BS”D
DeisCane, I think that not many people like waterfowl in the USA, at least those who keep kosher. I remember my mom would rarely make even a duck, because of the smell, which she didn’t like. And waterfowl are relatively scrawny birds with a low meat to bone ratio. I love both ducks and geese, but I’ve only had goose 4 times in the USA because it was so difficult to come by. I could have a kosher waterfowl farm with shechita right now, but where would I sell the birds? I used to have 12 Tolouse geese, but couldn’t find a shochet at the time, the fellow from my above post haveing moved back to Israel, and there being no other reliable shochet in northern CA at the time (or now, for that matter). And getting back to ducks and geese, they’re so expensive because demand is low, and since shechita is somewhat different than chickens (different kabala entirely for waterfowl, and the tough neck feathers must be plucked before shechting, so that they don’t obstruct the path of the blade), that each bird shechted is really a one-off situation rather than a nice, smooth running line like chickens. Anyway, let’s have greater demand, and both the price and the availability will be better.
As to Dan’s comment, I can only say that for me, the birds have many more feathers than they used to. Even so, my mom used to spend hours plucking pinfeathers from chickens and turkeys to be certain that everything was “just so”. We spend no time. So since the birds are less well plucked now from the factory, because we don’t take the time to do it ourselves (don’t have the time), the birds are unappetizing and unappealing when raw, and the skin is unattractive when cooked, if you look closely. In this day and age where so many people don’t eat the skin, I suppose that to them, it doesn’t much matter, but skin-eaters can tell the difference. And it used to be just pinfeathers, but now I find long feathers. Gross!
I agree that Empire seems to do a better job of plucking than Rubashkin. They’re not nearly as available fresh, though.
Goose necks are plucked before they are killed? Wouldnt that cause injury to the birds?
As to Fowl preference, 1) Empire 2) Rabushkin Organic 3) Regular Rabushkin and 3)Vineland
And I would add that from past experiecne, I prefer Empire to non kosher brands typically held in high regard, Bell and Evans in particular
BS”D
Injury? Geese and ducks are constantly shedding feathers, especially when molting. They pull them out when they preen themselves. And even if they didn’t like people manhandling them (which they don’t) the plucking of feathers, in and of itself, should not effect an injury, and even if it did, it probably wouldn’t be enough to cause halachic difficulties with the meat. Probably more likely that the geese will break the handler’s arm (they’re powerful animals and not easy to deal with). And yes, with all animals with tough feathers or tough hair (such as lambs), the obstruction to the blade must be removed prior to shechita. When we shechted lambs, we clipped the wool on their necks where the cut was to be made.
Thanks for the prompt reply. Interesting.
Yes, I realize it’s a supply and demand issue. I guess I just don’t understand the lack of interest. I have always loved duck and since I met my Hungarian wife, I’ve been exposed to the wonderful world of goose, which is like the happy offspring of a turkey and a duck in its richness/meatiness ratio. Our wedding was a goosefest, with goose in every course (and 4 different ways!) except the fish course and the dessert! To this day, it’s still the best meal I’ve ever eaten.
BS”D
I don’t know why these birds, which were a staple in Europe and the world over, especially for the impoverished, became relegated to relative obscurity in our food supply. Perhaps because of the current preference for lean meat, perhaps because of the distinctive aroma, perhaps because they provide a greater income to farmers when sold as specialty meat. The advantage of geese from a farmer’s perspective is that they graze on grass, and don’t really require supplemental feed. They lay far fewer eggs than chickens, but with each goose having 4-6 or more viable offspring, the gaggle has the potential for multiplying faster than many grazing animals. The males don’t require castration in order to grow quickly and they’re no less tender than the females. And for a Jew, the advantage is that the whole bird can be eaten, unlike ruminants, from which we normally eat only the front half. Cost of production should be far less than lamb or cattle. It should be touted as the best value in premium meat, but instead is nonxistent in the marketplace and far more expensive when found than is warranted by its farming practices. Oh well.
I love goose liver, it would be great to have more goose in the states,I do get it in Israel
I have only seen it sold occassionally in Glatt Mart in Brooklyn before chanukah
By the Way Marvid chicken in my opinion is a far superior chicken then Empire or Rubashkin
joe,
I once talked to the Fischer Bros butcher once who said he usually gets in a bunch of geese (6-8) right before Thanksgiving. The problem is that you have to buy the whole bird, which at like 8 dollars a pound, is like a 60-80 dollar investment, and with NYC kitchens being the size they are, storage can be a bit difficult. I bought duck instead. :-)
In the old days a goose was one of the most useful birds to be eaten, because practically every part of the goose could be used in some way as food or around the house:
1. The meat – (not a whole lot compared to the size of the goose but still a decent amount).
2. Liver- more liver than you’ll get out of a chicken.
3. Feathers – for filling pillows or blankets
4. Bones – For making soup, just look at the size of that neck bone.
5. Veins, sinews – for sewing.
6. Fat – Literally a bucket of fat will drain out of cooking a goose. It can be used as schmaltz or as cooking oil.
I am 58 years old and-my parents ran a chicken farm with over 2000 of them….in Everett, Wa. I did NOT know in 2007, they would be considered “Kosher”, they never gave them any antibiotics then….my parents are both gone now, I believe they would think it “neat”….you have a GREAT site….
Oh by the way, the question came up because I am having Kosher chicken for dinner…
GRINS,
Cathie
Antibiotics of their lack has nothing to do with chickens being kosher. If your parents didn’t know their chickens were kosher, then I can guarantee that they weren’t. It’s not the sort of thing you can not notice. The shochet kind of gives it away…
I have tried to obtain Kosher goose in NYC but to not avail, not even GLatt Mart in Brooklyn. Anyone know where I can get it? I tried some online searching, but also no luck.
As I posted above, RachelMolly, if you ask Fischer Bros, they can usually track it down, especially in the fall.