Linnutöötlemine

Linnutöötlemine refers to the processing of poultry meat for consumption. This encompasses a series of steps that begin with the live bird and conclude with the packaged meat product ready for sale. The primary stages typically involve stunning, slaughter, bleeding, scalding, defeathering, evisceration, and chilling. Each stage is crucial for ensuring food safety, quality, and maximizing the yield of usable meat.

Stunning is a humane process designed to render the bird unconscious before slaughter, minimizing stress and pain. Following stunning, the bird is slaughtered, usually by severing the jugular veins to allow for thorough bleeding. Scalding, the immersion of the carcass in hot water, loosens the feathers, making defeathering more efficient. Mechanical defeathering machines then remove the majority of the feathers.

Evisceration involves the removal of internal organs. This step is critical for hygiene and requires careful handling to prevent contamination of the carcass. After evisceration, the carcasses are rapidly chilled, typically through immersion in ice-water or air chilling. Chilling is essential to inhibit bacterial growth and preserve the meat's quality and shelf life.

Further processing can include cutting the whole bird into various parts such as breasts, thighs, and wings, as well as deboning and skinning. Marination, breading, and cooking are also common post-processing treatments depending on the final product. Throughout the entire linnutöötlemine process, strict hygiene protocols and quality control measures are implemented to meet regulatory standards and consumer expectations for safe and high-quality poultry products.