Plucking & Drawing a Pheasant
Hang it four days, pluck it in twenty minutes, roast it that night.
Pheasant is the noblest of the game birds and the cheapest game meat in the UK come November. Hang it, pluck it, draw it, and cook it before the hen goes off. Grouse and partridge follow exactly the same drill.
Watch a demonstration
How To Prepare a Pheasant — Plucking
hosted by YouTube
How to do it
- 01
Hang first, always
Two to seven days at 6-10°C in the feather, head down. The meat matures — texture softens, flavour deepens. Never skip this or the bird eats like leather.
- 02
Start at the legs
Pinch four to five feathers between your thumb and finger. Pull sharply in the direction they grow. Move up the thigh, then the belly.
~5 min - 03
The breast — the important bit
Take only two or three feathers at a time. Rush this and you'll tear the skin, ruining the roast. Work outward from the breastbone.
~8 min - 04
Head and wings
Cut the head off with shears at the neck. Snip the wing tips — the meat there isn't worth plucking.
~2 min - 05
Draw the bird
Small cut at the vent, hook two fingers inside, and pull the whole guts package out in one motion. Save the heart and liver for a devils-on-horseback pâté; discard the rest.
~3 min - 06
Wipe, don't wash
Wipe the cavity out with kitchen paper — never rinse under a tap. Bird is now ready for salt, butter, and a very hot oven.
~2 min