Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1819

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Hold the bird by the neck with the left hand, and with the right hand singe off the down with a lighted paper, moving it quickly so as not to scorch the bird; those parts that will be hidden after the bird is trussed must be most carefully gone over, but it is usual to again singe after trussing. In large kitchens there is sometimes a gas-tube, which is very convenient for singeing poultry, and avoids to some extent any chance of burning or scorching during the operation; but a lighted paper carefully used is all that is actually necessary.

It is useless to expect singeing to take away the feathers that have been left in through careless plucking; if any should appear, they must be pulled out, not singed off, otherwise they will impart a disagreeable odour of burnt feathers to the bird.

Birds are invariably plucked and singed before boning, but not drawn. The crop, however, should be removed, the wings and legs cut off at the first joint, and the tendons of the legs carefully drawn at the same time. To bone the bird, use a small sharp knife, and first remove the merry-thought at the—neck a very simple matter. This done, cut the skin down the centre of the back and raise the flesh carefully on either side, sever the wing joints, and continue to detach the flesh, keeping the blade of the knife close to the bone. When the legs are reached, dislocate the joints, cut the connecting tendons, but both wings and legs intact until the breast and back bones have been removed, together with the viscera. Turn the body completely inside out; take the thigh bones of one of the legs in the left hand and strip the flesh downwards. Repeat this until all the small bones are removed. The bird may then be turned right side out again, when it will be found completely boned and should be quite whole.

Both large and small birds may be boned in this way. They are then stuffed, re-shaped and trussed, or rolled into galantines.

In order to draw a bird properly, it is well to know where to find the different parts of the inside. Trussing Illustration No. 1, Fig. 1, shows a fowl cut in half. The different organs can be seen in the positions they occupy. Fig. 2 shows the inside of the bird when drawn. the bird back downwards upon the table, and cut off the ends of the pinions. Then turn the bird breast downwards, and cut a long slit in the back of the neck, in the manner shown in Trussing Illustration. 2, Fig. 1; pass the knife under the skin, cut off the neck at its junction with the body, taking care not to cut through the