The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-01-06
SELECTING POULTRY
FOR THE TABLE
Methods of Determining Food Value of
Fowls Discussed by Home Economics
Specialists of the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture.

j
partment Of Agriculture.
The Importance of age, sex, exercise
food and care as influencing tenderness
and flavor in poultry is pointed out by
home economies specialists of the U. S.
department of agriculture in profess
sional paper, bulletin 467, just published.
| There is much less difference, the bull
letin states, in the digestibility or health.
fulness of the meat of different kinds of
fowls than is commonly supposed. Near
ly all the nutrients and energy of poul-
try, as of other meats, it is pointed out,
lis utilized by the healthy normal body.
In all kinds of poultry table quality de-
ponds primarily on tenderness and flavor,
and these, in turn, are influenced by age,
sex, exercise, food, and care. Freshness
is also an important factor, but this is
not merely question of how long bird
has been dead, but rather of how far
developed are the chemical and bacteria
logical changes which, when they are
carried too far, cause what we call spoil
ing or decomposition in the meat. The
micro.organism which cause dangerous
changes are likely to be introduced by
careless and dirty handling, and for this
reason cleanliness should be insisted on.
The changes take place most rapidly in
the presence of warmth and moisture.
Hence cleanliness, cold, and dryness are
at the bottom of all the methods of car
ing for poultry on the farm, in the ware
house, at the market, and in the home
The methods of cooking poultry are,
in general, the same as those for other
kinds of meat. The tougher the bird, the
more cooking will be needed to make
it tender and easily digested, and the
larger it is, the more heat will be re-
quired to cook it thoroughly. Canned
and potted poultry are prepared in much
the same way as freshly cooked dishes,
then sterilized and sealed, and when
put up do not differ essentially
in food value from similar fresh foods.
In regard to the general considerations
to be observed in choosing poultry, the
bulletin calls attention to the fact that
while the relative cost of different kinds
Of poultry depends primarily on the price, j
the proportion of edible to inedible mate !
rial and the thoroughness with which the !
edible portions can be utilized should also
be kept in mind. Well-grown birds with /
good sized masses of moderately fat flesh |
are more economical than either young !
)r over fattened ones. At ordinary retail /
prices, full grown chicken is the only |
poultry which compares in real economy |
IL - l.
1ut young chicken, medium sized turkey, |
goose, and guinea fowl are often as eco
lomical as the more expensive grades OF
,ther meats.
Use of Cold Storage Poultry.
In discussing the use of cold storage
owls, the bulletin says:
"The way in which frozen birds are
hawed makes a great difference in the
ength of time they keep in condition.
t used to be customary to thaw them
" soaking in cold water, but this has
,een proved undesirable not only because
he water is very likely not to be clean,
nut also because soaked birds go of in
uality very rapidly Soaking in hot
fater as is sometimes done in market
y
etter way is to keep the birds for "a
ours at ordinary ice box temperature
As to so degrees FL. As has been al
eady stated, the sooner the birds are
sed after thawing, the better, and when
VT possible should be bought stiff and
hawed at home. This means buying
oultry day before it is needed, but it
the surest way of having it properly
lawed In warm weather it should be
ut in the refrigerator to thaw, but in
I'D weather a moderately cool room will
, as WE'LL If it is impossible to do the
having at home, the marketman should
Dt be allowed to do it until a short
me before delivery.
although frozen poultry is hardly to
chosen when fresh birds are in the
arket, it undoubtedly has the adyan-
ge of furnishing chickens, turkeys, and
her birds when the natural supply is
cking and thus increasing the variety
the meat list"
How to Recognize Good Table Poultry.
The following statement of the meth
IS by which good table poultry can be
by the purchaser is made in
Q bulletin:
Freshness.
'1n freshly killed bird the feet feel
DIST, soft, and liber, and if it was
essed with the head on, the eyes look
ight and full As it becomes stale the
es shrink and the feet dry and harden;