b. Class often denotes the method of preparing chicken to eat based on the age
and size of the chicken and the tenderness of the meat. For troop consumption, the
Armed Forces procures only Grade A broiler-fryers, roasters, and stewing chickens.
(These are Classes 1, 2, and 4. See paragraph 2-6 for verification of grade.) Other
classes may be procured for resale at the commissary. Chicken is divided into five
classes as follows.
(1) Class 1--broilers or fryers. These are young chickens (usually 6 to 9
weeks of age), of either sex, that are tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured
skin and flexible breastbone cartilage.
(2) Class 2--roaster. These are young chickens (usually 3 to 5 months of
age), of either sex, that are tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin and
breastbone cartilage that may be somewhat less flexible than that of a broiler or fryer.
(3) Class 3--capons. Capons are surgically unsexed male chickens (usually
under 8 months of age) that are tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin.
(4) Class 4--fowl (hens). Birds of this class are mature female chickens
(usually more then 10 months of age) with meat less tender than that of a roaster and
non-flexible breastbone tip. It is usually used for stewing.
(5) Class 5--Rock Cornish game hens (Cornish game hens). Rock Cornish
game hens or Cornish game hens are young, immature chickens (usually 5-6 weeks of
age) weighing not more than two pounds ready-to-cook weight, which were prepared
from a Cornish chicken or the progeny of a Cornish chicken crossed with another breed
of chicken.
2-4.
STYLE REQUIREMENTS
There are eight styles of cutting and packaging chicken.
a. Cutting. All cuts are made in a neat manner without mutilation of adjacent
muscle and bone and without producing bone splinters. The cuts may be made using
any mechanical means. The neck is separated at its junction with the body. The
separation of the wings and thighs from the carcass and separation of the drumsticks
from the thighs must be accomplished at the joints.
b. Packaging Styles. All styles are considered ready-to-cook (RTC).
(1)
Style 1--whole. The giblets and the neck are inserted in the body cavity.
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