Pheasant- kill, cook eat.

[pits]

Pheasants have started turning up now around the farm, am thinking of having a pop and shooting one to eat, but the prep I don't get.
I get that you can hang them for 14 days if you wish, but you don't have to.
Either way, pluck feathers off, but do you have to gut them before hanging or cooking?
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[The Artist]

Yeh you can do the hard way or you can hang them for a couple of weeks in the shed, then skin them and just take the meat off for whatever you want. Don't need to gut before hanging but you do need to before cooking. Unless you want intestines and shit on your plate.

If you want the rest then remove guts and make pheasant soup which is sooo tasty. Anything gamey in a soup is lovely.

Pheasant is very dry though so don't just roast it open, otherwise it will be like chewing really really dry chicken.

[pits]

was thinking of roasting the bird, so guessing, gut and cook then? Not the biggest soup lover.

So eat fresh gut.
Hang, just skin and take off what I want, don't gut?
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[The Artist]

What?

Do it like this.
Shoot it.
Hang it by its neck outside for 2 weeks.
When you want to cook it, cut its head off and skin it so you are left with something resembling a chicken from tescos.
Pull the guts out, there are guides all over the interwebs.
Roast it if you want but it will be dry most likely. It is well known that pheasant is better if it is done as part of something rather than a roast bird.

I don't particularly like soup but pheasant soup is amazing. I remember going to a party and waking up the next day and this polish dude was making some soup and it was amazing.

[Ariel Badger]

Pigeon tastes better.
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[The Artist]

Pretty much anything does...unless you make pheasant soup.

[pits]

Not really seen any pigeons here really, just crows and pheasants
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[Ichy]

I've always gutted kills there and then. I know you are supposed to leave them in but it just seems wrong leaving the entrails in to rot for a couple of weeks.

If you want to roast it then cover it in bacon. The fat helps moisturise it
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[kramdra]

[Ariel Badger]

Draining blood takes moments, it needs to hang to break the meat down with the enzymes that come from decay, leaving the guts in to rot will help this process.
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[Walloper]

[The Artist]

[Im-a-Ridah]

[Charlie]

This is what we do at home with pheasants. I've only done it myself a couple of times, normal with my Dad instructing me over my shoulder.

Potentially leave it to hang for a week at the most, even when near freezing in the garage. Often the birds will get done before a week.

Lie the bird on it's back, and pull a few feathers out of it's stomach. With a sharp knife make a small cut about 2-3cm long in the plucked area. Be careful not to cut the meat, you just want to cut the skin.

Now you're going to peal the skin off the bird, you want to get the skin off all in one and disrupt the feathers as least as possible (it gets every where). Try not to let the skin break apart and if it rips you'll need to use a sharp knife to get it separating from the meat again.

Using your fingers carefully peal the skin from the cut you made down the length of the bird, try to get it pealing under the bird to. When you get to the legs, carefully pull the skin back along the legs until there is little meat left. Use a good pair of scissors to cut through the leg bone. Repeat for the other leg. Next will be the tail, here you want to pull it back slightly but cut far enough away from the bird to ensure that the guts don't spill out yet. Again use scissors to cut it off.

You should now be able to peal the skin right under the back off and up to the wings. These can be quite tricky, and should be done similar to the legs. Probably won't be much meat on them and wont be able to peal them back like the legs so just cut them off. Finally peal the skin up the neck a little way and cut this off with scissors.

Put the skin in a plastic bag and clear your chopping board of any feathers (hopefully there will be little). It's probably best doing this over a sink. Now make a small incision from its arse up towards its breasts. This needs to be just big enough for a couple of fingers. Insert your fingers and pull out everything up there. The intestines will come out all in ones along with the stomach and you'll probably need to go up again to get its heart. The lungs sometimes come out easy, other times just disintegrate.

Once you're confident that you've removed all the guts give it a good rinse with water, flush the water right down its bodies cavity and remove any feathers that may have gotten on the meat. Once it looks clean you're done. A bird skinned like this will dry out quickly if left uncovered when cooking or in the fridge.

Also I've released I've missed out removing the crop, but I can't think when is best to do this. Either when removing the head or removing the guts. I am sure you'll figure something out.

Pheasant tastes lovely
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[Spudly]

As Charlie said above, but remember that removing the guts is a process which will stink, so be prepared for it.

I've never hung one for more than a week, but when hanging it, don't cut anything off it, tie some string around its neck and hang it by the neck. Minimum three days, max of about a week. Further hanging increases the gamey taste, so its a matter of preference really.

If you don't want to skin the bird, plucking it is a process which can be quite cathartic and is best done after the bird has been hung.

Once you have plucked it, you can give it a rub with some garlic butter, then cover it with farmhouse bacon (the kind which has loads of fat on it), although my wife says plain butter is best. She's a better cook than I am, but I think the garlic makes it good.

If you casserole the bird, consider using a bouquet garni, a bay leaf and some juniper berries in the pot. I've never done it with half a bottle of gin, but I've heard that can work too.

Pheasant is lovely, but be sure you keep in mind that while the birds are much the same size as chickens, sound like chickens and are marginally more stupid than chickens, they taste different and have a different texture to chickens. Tasty, but different.
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[The Artist]

If you do want to roast, plucking is the way to go as the skin will keep moisture in.