Abstract: A method for eviscerating an avian carcass by severing a scapular or its articulation. A coracoid associated with the severed scapula is separated from the vertebral column so that the entrails are exposed for inspection.

Abstract: A method for processing an advancing avian carcass wherein muscle parts are removed from an advancing warm carcass prior to rigor mortis, the advancing carcass is eviscerated and the removed parts are preserved within two hours of removal.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for removing meat from poultry drumsticks by closing mechanical jaws onto the meat of a drumstick, mechanically grasping one end of the drumstick bone, and then removing the meat by driving the drumstick bone om a direction away from the meat while the meat is grasped by the mechanical jaws.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for pulling gristle such as tendons from cuts of meat by mechanically holding down an extending portion of the gristle as the cut of meat traverses a path that intersects the location of a wedging jaw that prevents continued traversal of the meat along the path while permitting continued movement of the gristle along the path until it is stripped from the meat. In an optional embodiment, the jaw is a mechanical one that closes to form the wedging jaw that strips the gristle from the meat, after which the jaw opens to release gristle therefrom that otherwise might have been undesirably retained therein.