The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-02
SELECTING
POULTRY FOR
The TABLE
Methods of Determining the
Food Value of Fowls Dis
cussed by Home Econom-
les Specialists of the U. S.
Department of Agricul-
ture.

Washington, D. c., Jan. 2-The i'm
portance of age, sex, exercise, food and
care as influencing tenderness and
flavor in poultry is pointed out by
home economics specialists of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture In pro-
fessional paper, Bulletin 467, just
published.
There is much less difference, the
bulletin states, in the digestlblllty or
healthfulness of the meat of differ
ent kinds of fowls than is common
ly supposed Nearly all the nutri-
ents and energy Of poultry, as of other
meats, it is pointed out, are utilized
by the healthy normal body. In all
kinds of poultry table quality depends
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 a question of
how long a bird has been dead, but
rather of how far developed are the
chemical and bacteriO illogical changes
which, when they are carried too far,
cause what we call spelling or decom-
position in the meat. The micro-or-
ganisms which cause dangerous
changes are likely to be introduced by
careless and dirty handling, and for
this reason cleanliness should be in
sisted on. The changes take place
most rapidly in the presence of
warmth and moisture. Hence clean
illness, cold and dryness are at the
bottom Of all the methods of Naring
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 required to cook -
thoroughly. Canned and potted poul-
try are prepared in much the same
way as freshly cooked dishes, then
sterilized and sealed, and when prop
erly put up do not differ essentially
in food value from similar fresh foods.
General Considerations.
In regard to the general considera-
tons to be observed in choosing poul-
try, the bulletin calls attention to the
fact that while the relative cost of
different kinds of poultry depends pri-
marily on the price, the proportion of
edible to inedible material and the
thoroughness with which the edible
portions can be utilized should also be
kept in mind Wef-grown birds
with good-sized masses of moderately
fat flesh are more economical than
either young or overwhelmed ones. At
ordinary retail prices full-grown
chicken is the only poultry which
compares in real economy with the
cheaper cuts of beef and pork, but
young chicken, mediums sized turkey
goose and guinea fowl are often as
economical as the more expensive
grades of other meats.
In discussing the use of cold-storage
fowls, the bulletin says:
1.-THE way in which frozen birds are
thawed makes a great difference in
the length Of time they keep in condi-
ton. 1t used to be customary to
thaw them /by soaking in cold water,
but this has been provel undesirable
not only because the water is very
likely not to be clean, but also be-
cause soaked birds go Off in quality
very rapidly. Soaking in hot water,
rush ORDER is even worse. A much
better way is to keep the birds for
"a hours at ordinary ice-box tempera-
ture (45o to 500 F.). AS has been
already stated, the sooner the birds
are used after thawing, the better, and
whenever possible should be bought
stiff and thawed at home. This
means buying poultry a day before it
is needed, but it is the surest way C.
having it properly thawed. In warm
weather it shouldbe put in the refrig-
orator to thaw, but In cold weather q
moderately cool room will do as we'll.
If it is impossible to do theN thawing
at home, the marketman should not be
allowed to do it Until short time be-
fore delivery.
ALTHOUGH frozen poultry is hardly
to be chosen when fresh birds are in
the market. it undoubtedly has the
advantage of furnishing chickens, tur-
keys and other birds when the natur-
al supply is lacking and thus increas-
ing the variety of the meat list
The following statement of the
methods by which good table poultry
can be recognized by the purchaser is
made in the bulletin: /
Gin a freshly killed bird the feet
feel moist, soft and Timber, and if it
was dressed with the head on, the eyes
look bright and full. AS it becomes
stale the eyes shrink and the feet
dry and harden; when too stale, i. e., !
when decomposition is we'll under
way, the body turns dark and green
ish or becomes Shiny The flesh
should be neither f1abby nor stiff, but
should give evenly and gently when
pressed by the finger. 1t is very diff
ficult to distinguish good cold storage
and freshly killed poultry.
Zone of the commonest ways of
testing the age of dressed poultry is
to take the end of the breastbone
farthest. from the head between thumb
and finger and attempt to bend it to /
one side. In a very young bird, say
.broiler' chicken or a green goose, |
it will be easily bent, like the cartil- !
age in the human ear lin bird a year
or so old it will be brittle, and in |
an old bird, tough and hard to bend |
or break. Unfortunately there are
sometimes tricky dealers who break
the> end of the breastbone before |
showing the bird, and thus render the |
test worthless. If the feet are. left on
the carcass they furnish mark of |
age. In a young bird they are soft