Meat & Poultry

A. Damaged Chicken

The posts in this unit are answers given by Rabbi Sholem Fishbane

to common questions regarding chicken and other poultry

1) I found a broken bone in my chicken, can I eat it?

If there is visible bruise or lots of blood near the break, the chicken is not kosher. If there are none of these then the break likely happened after the shechitah (when the chicken was flapping in the “cones” or being hung on the conveyor belt) and the chicken is kosher.

2) The chicken has a bruise in it which is red (or black). Can I eat it?

If there are no broken bones the chicken itself may be eaten, but the bruise itself is collected blood which in itself is not kosher unless it was either properly salted. The Mashgiach in the plant should have noticed it and made a slit in the bruise to allow the salt to take effect on the dense area. If you notice a slit on the bruise, you can eat it. If there is no slit, then you should cut out the bruise, and can then consume the rest of the chicken.

3) What about a pinkish color at the narrow end of the drumstick?

If it is a light pinkish color – as is common – it is permitted even if the bone is broken, as this likely happened just after shechitah. If, however, the bone is broken and the coloring is a darker red or the color is spread over a large area, the chicken should not be eaten.

4) One piece of chicken in the package was so banged up that the Rabbi said I shouldn’t eat it.

a) What about the other pieces of chicken in that pack?

If they are separate pieces (not attached), they can be eaten since these pieces are unlikely from the same chicken.

b) What if it was a whole chicken; I understand that I cannot eat any part of that chicken but what about the liver which came with it?

If the liver is in a bag it is unlikely to have come from that specific chicken, and it can be eaten.

c) I already cooked the chicken, do I have to kasher my pan and oven?

You may well have to kasher your pan and oven, and should address that question to your Rabbi who will weigh how seriously “not kosher” the chicken actually was.

5) There seems to be red juice coming out of the meat when I broil it. Is that blood

No. That is called “tzir” which is not halachically “dam”, and is permitted.

6) There are brown or pink things on the inside of the chicken (near the ribs) that I don’t usually see. Are those the chicken’s internal organs? Can I eat them?

Those are likely the kidneys (brown) or lungs (pink) that the industrial “vacuum” missed, and they need to be removed. They should have been removed before melichah (salting) so as to allow the salt to have direct contact with the meat. You should remove them yourself, and the rest of the chicken can be eaten.

B. General

The Ashkenazic custom is that we only consume poultry about which we have a Mesorah/tradition that it is kosher. This includes certain – but not all – species of chicken, turkey, duck, goose, and quail. Those bird, and the eggs they lay, are considered kosher, but those about which we have no Mesorah, are not. Some of the opinion that a Mesorah is required to permit animals as well, but the cRc and other American hashgachos accept the approach that any animal which has split hooves and chews its cud, is kosher. For that reason, Bison (a.k.a. American Buffalo) is treated as a kosher species.

Considerable effort and expertise is required in order for a kosher animal or bird to be prepared for kosher consumption. It must undergo shechitah, bedikah for teraifos, nikkur (removal of certain fats and blood vessels), and melichah, plus there are significant requirements regarding seals and control of the slaughtered meat. Accordingly, the cRc only accepts meat and poultry from slaughterhouses which were visited and approved by one of our in-house experts. This is true even when the meat is certified by a hashgachah which is reputable and accepted carte blanche on all other products. For details on whether a specific purveyor is acceptable please be in touch with Rabbi Eisenbach or Rabbi Katz.

C. Nikkur

The posts in this section are based on a seminar given by the OU at Romanian Kosher Sausage in 2007 to teach Mashgichim how to spot “gross” errors where nikkur was not done properly

[Forequarter/Ribs] Most of an animal’s chailev (forbidden fat) is in the part of the animal behind the diaphragm. To avoid the chailev, it is customary to cut the animal between the 12th and 13th ribs and sell the entire hindquarters as non-kosher. The cut should be clean, and none of the fat from the hindquarter should remain attached to the forequarter. Channels of fat and blood vessels must be removed from one end of the meat to the other between the 10th and 11th ribs, 11th and 12th ribs, and 12th rib and the “end”. After seeing a few examples of ribs that were properly menukar, it is easy to tell if nikkur was done. [In this case, as with all of the following examples, only an expert can tell if the nikkur was done perfectly, but anyone with a bit of training can tell if the nikkur was done reasonably well].

The first picture below shows channels. In the second picture, the left picture shows the channels cut into the meat, and the right one has no fat removed.

Unfortunately, there have been cases where the person was menaker the wrong end of the meat (between the 5-8th ribs instead of the 10-13th ribs). To catch such a mistake, one must be able to recognize the different sides of that cut of meat. The large circular piece of meat alongside the 12th rib (i.e. the rib-eye steak) has much less fat running through it than the similar meat on the side of the 5th rib, and someone who has compared a few samples should be able to make this distinction.

[Tenderloin (hanging tender)] The tenderloin is comprised of two halves, which are joined together for most of their length by a layer of fat. The skin/membrane covering the tenderloin should be removed. All fat must be removed from the surfaces on both sides of the tenderloin, but the fat holding the two halves together may remain. At the bottom of the tenderloin, the two halves split apart completely to take on the shape of the letter “V”, and all fat must be removed from the space between the two halves.

In the following picture, the tenderloin on the left does NOT have the fat removed, while the one on the right does.

[Liver] All fat should be removed from the surface of the liver, but fat within the flesh may remain. One side of the liver is naturally free of fat; by comparing the two sides one can tell whether nikkur has been done to the fattier side. [Skirt] The skin/membrane covering the skirt (and the fat on top of it) should be removed. Details of exactly which fat must be removed underneath the membrane are beyond the scope of these posts. [Bloodshot meat] Meat which appears to be bloodshot or has signs of congealed blood, should be brought to the attention of the Rav HaMachshir.