Weight Increase During Chilling of Broilers as Influenced by Method of Opening the Abdominal Cavity During Evisceration

It has been shown (Bailey et al., 1948) that cut up parts absorbed more moisture during slush-ice chilling than did eviscerated whole chickens. Therefore, the greater the amount of surface exposed to the chill water, the greater will be the moisture absorption by the carcass. The present work was carried out to determine the amount of moisture pickup during chilling of poultry as influenced by the type, extent, and location of cuts used when opening the abdominal cavity during evisceration. METHOD A total of 72 Arbor Acre White Rock broilers, averaging approximately 2 lbs. were used in this study. The birds were killed by the standard outside cut, allowed to bleed for 90 seconds, scalded in 125–128°F. water for 90 seconds, and hand picked. They were then eviscerated and the head, oil sac, feet and crop were removed. The crop was removed through a rear-of-neck slit. The control eviscerating…