by Sheila Rae Watson

Created on: January 22, 2009   Last Updated: April 02, 2011

My culinary training started when I was 22 years old, and the newest member of the kitchen staff at a local hospital. My boss was an indomitable old bird with many years of culinary, sanitation and food safety regulations under her ample belt. She inducted me into the safe handling of these "dirty birds" from day one.

Ethel had a routine. When the delivery truck pulled away from our kitchen backdoor, the supplies were immediately stocked; some went into dry stock, some into refrigeration. The rest went right to the "boot camp" prep area to be sorted, graded, and dutifully sanitized. I cannot tell you how many raw chickens and turkeys we processed in the days of my sojourn there, but there were many.

These chickens and turkeys arrived wrapped in brown paper and each surrounded with ice.

The routine:

-Fill the deep meat prep sink with cold water; add a 3-gallon bucket of ice cubes.

-Place chickens on sanitized sink sideboard to drain. Allow chickens to drain for 5 minutes while preparations were made for their induction into service.

-Pour a 5 lb. bag of salt into a large mixing bowl.

-Slip on a pair of rubber gloves

-Rub each chicken inside and out with the salt

-Run said chicken under cold water, making sure to get the body cavity completely washed and rinsed.

-Place each in ice water. "Work fast, that ice is melting!"

-Prepare chickens for cooking, bag and freeze.

-Clean and sanitize (with salt first), side board, sink and all equipment used in the process.

This was done for the 2 to 3 cases of chickens or turkeys we received twice a week. It was a lot of work, but I learned a lot from it.

I had no idea then why she insisted on using salt in, on and after the whole poultry cleansing ritual. I soon learned.

Salt is a natural cleanser and sanitizer. Rubbing salt over the skin of the poultry created a mild abrasive action on the skin, exfoliating the bird as we worked. This removed any leftover pinfeathers, dirt, and the outer layer of yellowish oil that is just under the birds'  feathers.

Rubbing salt inside the bird dislodges inedible bits left after slaughtering. Sometimes there are parts of the esophagus, windpipe, lungs, or blood left in there, the salt helps your hands get it all out.

After this salt cleansing and ice bath, the poultry was drained for a few minutes.

The final step in this indoctrination into Ethel's sterile kitchen was prepping them all for cooking. Some went into freezer bags; wings tucked under in uniform fashion and then slipped

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