How to Truss Poultry
Trussing Poultry is an essential kitchen skill that every aspiring home chef should learn and master. If you've never trussed a bird then you are missing out. The improvement to your poultry is going to be apparent from the first time you tie that first chicken or turkey.
Trussing Poultry?
So what is Trussing and why do I need to learn this supposed invaluable skill? Trussing is essentially tieing up your poultry so it cooks evenly. As everyone knows the different parts of the bird cook at a different speed.
The trussing technique I'm going to show you will work for all types of poultry. Chicken, Turkey, cornish hens, capons, ducks, goose, etc. If it's got wings I can show you how to truss it.
Say no to dry birds
How many times have you cooked that chicken or turkey and by the time the dark meat is up to a safe serving temperature the breast is dry as sawdust? Well, trussing can help with that. Keeping the bird tied up nice and tight helps protect the breast, retains juices, and keeps the different pieces of the bird on track to finish at relatively the same time.
In addition to the inherent benefits of cooking the bird evenly, the appearance and presentation is greatly improved. In my opinion, a nice plump, compact bird on the serving platter looks a great deal better than a spindly piece of poultry. Snipping off the butcher's twine is like unwrapping a delicious poultry present.
Choose Carefully
Speaking of presents and butcher's twine, make sure you get the correct type of butcher's twine. If it's not labeled safe to cook with find something else. It's very trendy to wrap presents and packages with "butchers twine." There are tons and tons of different twines on the market but many are strictly for show. They may look good under the Christmas Tree but they are not safe to cook with. Many have coatings like wax and plastic that enhance their appearance. You want plain old simple cotton butcher's twine.
Showing step by step instructions on how to truss poultry with pictures is a bit tricky. Because of that, I've created the video below to walk you through the process. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a video worth? It's a simple and easy process. You'll be tying up your birds in no time. Friends and family will surely notice the change in the final product immediately. Enjoy.
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