DRAWING A CHICKEN.--By drawing a chicken is meant the taking out of the entrails and removing all parts that are not edible. Although this work will be done by some butchers, the better plan is to do it at home, for, as has been stated, chicken or any other poultry must be cooked very soon after the entrails are removed. Chicken that is to be roasted is always prepared in this way, as the cavity that remains may be filled with stuffing. Drawing is also necessary when chicken is to be cooked in any other way, as by stewing or frying, but in addition it must be cut up. The procedure in drawing a chicken is simple, but some practice is required before deftness will result.



In order to draw a chicken, carefully cut a lengthwise slit through the skin on the neck, and slip the fingers down around the crop, which is a small sack that holds the food eaten by the chicken. Then pull the crop out, and with it the windpipe, taking pains not to tear the skin nor to break the crop.

Next, remove the tendons, or thick white cords, from the legs, so as to improve the meat. These may be easily removed, especially from a chicken that is freshly killed; that is, one in which the flesh is still moist. Simply cut through the skin, just above the foot, being careful not to cut the tendons that lie just beneath the skin; then slip a skewer or some other small, dull implement, as a fork, under the tendons, pull down toward the foot until they loosen at the second joint, and pull them out. With the tendons removed, the feet may be cut off. To do this, cut through the skin where the two bones join. As the joint separates, cut through the remaining tendons and skin on the back of the legs. 37. Proceed, next, to cut a crosswise slit through the skin between the legs at a point above the vent, so that the entrails may be removed. This slit should be just large enough to admit the hand and no larger. Insert the fingers of one hand in this slit and gently move them around the mass of the internal organs, keeping them close to the framework of the bird. This will loosen the entrails at the points where they are attached to the body. Then, inserting the hand, slip the fingers around the mass at the top, near the neck, and with one pull remove the entire internal contents. The lungs, or lights, as they are sometimes called, do not come out with this mass. They will be found covered with a membrane and tightly fastened inside the breast bone, and must be removed by pulling them out with the tips of the fingers. After the entrails are removed, pour clean cold water into the cavity, rinse it well several times, and pour the water out.

Among the contents drawn from the chicken will be found the heart, the liver, and the gizzard. These are called the giblets. They are the only edible internal organs, and must be separated from the rest. To do this, squeeze the blood from the heart, and then cut the large vessels off close to the top of it. Then cut the liver away. In handling this part of the giblets extreme care must be taken, for tightly attached to it, is the gall bladder, which is a tiny sack filled with green fluid, called bile. If this sack breaks, anything that its contents touches will become very bitter and therefore unfit to eat. The gall bag should be cut out of the liver above the place where it is attached, so as to be certain that it does not break nor lose any of the bile. Next, remove the gizzard, which consists of a fleshy part surrounding a sack containing partly digested food eaten by the chicken. First trim off any surplus fat, and carefully cut through the fleshy part just to the surface of the inside sack. Then pull the outside fleshy part away from the sack without breaking it, an operation that can be done if the work is performed carefully. After removing the giblets and preparing them as explained, wash them well, so that they may be used with the rest of the chicken. As a final step, cut out the oil sack, which lies just above the tail.