Does rigor change if I cut up the chicken?

[happydog]

I've found that I rarely roast a whole chicken. I always end up cutting up the chicken into pieces before cooking. I'd like to do this prep work as part of the butchering process. Then I could freeze the chickens already cut up, instead of freezing them whole. I'd also like to bone out the breasts and package them separately. Would this affect the rigor process, or time frame of rigor, in any way?

Or do I need to rest them as whole chickens first, and then part them out after the resting time is done?

 

[Judy]

I don't see why it would change. Here's one thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-chicken-and-rigor-mortis-need-help-asap/0_20

http://athenaeum.libs.uga.edu/bitstream/handle/10724/12453/B1157.htm?sequence=1 (see section 2.)

 

[happydog]

From the second link:

"Tenderness of portioned or boneless cuts of poultry is influenced by the time post-mortem of the deboning. Muscles that are deboned during early postmortem still have energy available for contraction. When these muscles are removed from the carcass, they contract and become tough. To avoid this toughening, meat is usually "aged" for 6 to 24 hours before deboning; however, this is costly for the processor. When poultry is deboned early (0 to 2 hours post-mortem), 50 to 80 percent of the meat will be tough (Figure 2). On the other hand, if the processor waits 6 hours before deboning, 70 to 80 percent of the poultry meat will be tender (Figure 2)."

So it sounds like I need to let it rest before cutting. Thanks, that's what I needed to know.

 

[chefchick]

the last time we butchered, I cut up my chicken right then, and aged it with the other whole birds before freezing, and I found the cut up meat to be tougher/firmer than thw whole birds. we butchered yesterday, and I plan to cut some of them up/debone some etc... but I am going to wait until tomorrow to cut it up. I just rinsed them all and stored them in my spare fridge to rest.
Hopefully it makes a difference.

 

[chefchick]

Just wanted to update on my experience with leaving the bird whole until rigor passes, then cut up. I let my birds rest for two full days, then cut them up, and it worked so much better. The meat was more tender this time, and not stringy or chewy at all.

 

[dpenning]

Thanks for updating with your results. This was exactly what I have been wondering as I was hoping we could just cut off the parts we wanted when we butchered instead of cleaning the whole bird. Are these meat birds that are processed early or would this be true of older birds as well? If the birds are older I'm thinking it may not make a difference as they will need to be cooked in a crock pot anyway.