The flesh of poultry and game has less red blood than the flesh of animals and is dryer and not marbled with fat. Game has a strong odor and flavor that is mistaken by many to be an indication that the meat is tainted. Whitefleshed game should be well cooked, while that which has dark flesh should be served rare.

To Choose Poultry And Game

The best chickens have soft, yellow feet, short, thick legs, smooth skin and a plump breast, the cartilage on the end of the breast-bone being soft and easy to bend.

This is sometimes broken in old fowls to deceive purchasers, but this fact may easily be detected. Pin-feathers, as the short, young feathers are called, always indicate a young bird; while long hairs invariably belong to the older ones.

The bodies of capons are very plump and are larger in proportion than those of fowls or chickens ; and the meat is of fine flavor. Old fowls have long, thin necks, the feet have sharp scales, and the flesh is of a purplish hue.

The best turkeys have smooth, black legs, soft spurs and white flesh.

Geese and ducks should not be more than a year old; they should have soft, yellow feet and tender wings and be thick and hard on the breast, and the wind-pipe should break easily when pressed with thumb and finger. Wild ducks have feet of a reddish hue.

Young pigeons have light-red flesh on the breast and full, flesh-colored legs. Old pigeons are thin and very dark on the breast. Wild pigeons are cheap, but are apt to be very dry. Squabs are the young of the tame pigeon.

Grouse, partridge and quail should have full, heavy breasts, dark bills and yellowish legs.

Young rabbits have smooth, sharp claws, tender ears and paws and short necks.

Venison should be dark-red, with some white fat.

To Dress Poultry

In some markets poultry is sold ready dressed, in others it is picked but not drawn, while in still other places the poultry may be bought alive. The best and quickest way of killing poultry is by cutting the throat, but some cut the head entirely off. In either case, the fowl should at once be hung by the feet, as death then follows more quickly and the body is more perfectly emptied of blood. Begin at once to strip off the feathers. Do not make the mistake of scalding any bird. If all country women knew that they would receive at least twenty-five per cent. more for "dry picked" poultry (as that picked unscalded is called), the reckless and indiscriminate use of hot water for this purpose would cease. Young chickens are completely spoiled by being thus parboiled ; and while the injury to the meat is not so great in older birds, the flavor is much changed. In picking, take a few feathers in the hand and give them a quick jerk toward the tail. Do not pull the feathers toward the head, as the skin is much more easily torn by drawing them in this direction. When all feathers and pin feathers have been removed, singe the bird by holding the head and passing the body backward and forward over a blazing paper, turning both sides to the blaze, and taking care not to scorch the skin.