Poultry Shears Recommendation

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

So I've never harvested and deboned a chicken or bird before. However, given my recent post in What did you do in the garden today? the time is nigh for me to be bagging up some guineas.

I know I'm going to need some deboning shears, so what's your goto one for your kitchen and poultry cleaning needs?

 

[tortoise]

I'll also chime in and say a knife is easiest for everything except for cutting the spine or ribs. I like Fiskars poultry shears. They are spring loaded which makes them easier on my hands.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Yes, a good knife that will hold an edge and a stone to resharpen as you go. Knife needs to be easy to grip when wet also.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I use the kitchen shears that came in the knife set for cleaning chickens. Most is done with a sharp knife - I part them out (bone-in/skin on), cut in half, or cut off the breast meat for boneless skinless. wing tips, backs, necks, etc. I use for broth. I only use the shears for cutting in half - I cut the ribs to get back-bone out to split in half.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I have a good sharp knife. That does the bleeding, gutting, and disjointing. Needs frequent sharpening. I have a pair of kitchen shears. (sadly no name brand written or engraved on them) They have a hingy doo-hicky thing that allows them to be completely taken apart at the pivot, so you could use one blade as a knife if wanted, though I never do. I love those shears and use them on almost a daily basis. Then, for heavy duty stuff, I use a new pair of stainless garden nippers.

 

[Hinotori]

I have no brand name for the ones I picked up at the Costco Business Center. Just affordable spring loaded poulty shears.

I use a pair of hand pruners when taking off the lower legs and wing tips when I butcher. I rarely deal with the effort to remove the feathers at the tip. Just have to keep the pruners separate and oil them with food grade oil after cleaning.

 

[Hinotori]

Knife is easiest for dividing up birds. I don't often use anything else except when I'm spatchcocking.

 

[Britesea]

I like a carbon steel knife for that job; it seems to take and hold a sharper edge. I save my stainless knives for regular kitchen work.
For the turkeys, we had to resort to a cleaver and mallet for some parts.

 

[Hinotori]

Normally I only do turkeys because I rarely cook whole chickens. Even Mom was won over on spatchcocking turkeys because it saves so much cooking time. Just cut out the spine, dislocate any joints needed, and push flat. I usually just start at the tail and start cutting up each side. Use a cleaver and mallet if you're not strong enough to squeeze sheers. That's what Mom does now.

We toss the spine and neck into a pot to make gravy stock. Means the gravy is done early for dinner.

 

[Hinotori]

I just realized how brutal it sounds when you describe spatchcocking a bird. I now feel like they are going to put me in a suit and no-bite mask and restrict my access to fava beans and chianti.