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The secret to keeping your poultry
neat and attractive when cooking, is knowing how to tie or truss the bird properly. If the bird
has filling inside, trussing prevents the stuffing from falling out. You can
truss with strong string or with poultry skewers.
An alternative to the method shown below is to use a
long trussing needle and fine cotton string: make two passes, in alternate
directions, through the body at the open end, from wing to wing, and tie. Then
pass the needle through the bishop's nose and tie the string around the end of
the drumsticks.
Remember to remove all trussing before serving!
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UNSTUFFED BIRD:
Set the breast down and pull the
flap of neck skin over the neck opening. Turn the bird breast up and fold each
wing tip back, over the neck skin, to secure firmly behind the shoulder. |
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Press the legs firmly down and into
the breast. If there is a band of skin across the bishop's nose, fold back the
ends of the drumsticks and tuck them under the skin. |
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Otherwise, cross the knuckle ends of
the drumsticks or bring them tightly together. Loop a length of string several
times around the drumstick ends, then tie a knot and trim off excess string. |
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STUFFED BIRD:
Fold the wing tips back as above.
After stuffing the neck end, fold the flap of skin over the opening and secure
it with a skewer, then fold over the wing tips. |
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Put any stuffing or flavorings and
aromatics (herbs, lemon slices, apple quarters etc) in the body cavity, then
secure the ends of the drumsticks as above, tying in the bishop's nose, too. |
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Alternatively, the cavity opening
can be closed with skewers - insert two or more skewers across the opening,
threading them through the skin several times. |
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Lace the skewers together with a
string. Tie the drumsticks together over the skewers. |
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TIPS:
When stuffing poultry, the stuffing
should be cool, not hot or chilled. Pack it loosely into the bird because it
will expand during cooking, Cook any leftover stuffing separately in a baking
dish is necessary. Do not stuff poultry until just before delivering it into the
oven or pot. It is not a good idea to stuff the body cavity of a large bird
because the stuffing could inhibit heat penetration, and thus not kill all
harmful bacteria.
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