As far as aging/cooling, does everyone just leave the whole carcass in ice water for the 24 hours, or remove and put in the fridge in bags? Is prolonged submersion in water bad for the meat quality?
Rigor Mortis?
- Thread starter e.lolly
- Start date
One thing, how old was this chicken; and also, how stiff is 'stiff'? I am wondering whether this is merely perfectly normal muscle tone (er, insofar as a dead chicken can be said to have muscle tone
) and he is in that position because that's the position he was in before (it's not like he's going to relax into a different position) and it's just the normal resistance of the muscle tissue keeping the legs that way. If that makes any sense. This would be likelier the older he is -- if this is a 4-5 wk old Cornish fryer then possibly ignore me
I'd go ahead and eat him -- cooked cut up, or vigorously trussed into a less unnerving position, if it bothers you that much -- and see whatcha got because I am doubtful it is going to change much at this point.
Good luck,
Pat
I'd go ahead and eat him -- cooked cut up, or vigorously trussed into a less unnerving position, if it bothers you that much -- and see whatcha got because I am doubtful it is going to change much at this point.
Good luck,
Pat
No you don't have to leave it in water for 24 hours after butchering, It's just what some do. But letting it rest long enough, whether in cold water or in the refrigerator help. The tempture needs to be below about 34 degrees so bacteria wont grow on and on the meat.
Brining or soaking in water allows extra moisture to get between the muscle tissue. when you cook the bird and the moisture heats up it helps tenderize the meat more then not being there.
As far as the legs getting stiff and sticking out, You can force them into a more commonly seen position by pushing on them. You can use a bit of stainless steel wire to hold the legs in position while they freeze. The same is true for the wings.
After rigour leaves the body it will try to go to a natural position. which is not with the legs tucked up next to the body.
I am sure most you have seen those plastic leg clips used on commercial turkeys.
Tom
Brining or soaking in water allows extra moisture to get between the muscle tissue. when you cook the bird and the moisture heats up it helps tenderize the meat more then not being there.
As far as the legs getting stiff and sticking out, You can force them into a more commonly seen position by pushing on them. You can use a bit of stainless steel wire to hold the legs in position while they freeze. The same is true for the wings.
After rigour leaves the body it will try to go to a natural position. which is not with the legs tucked up next to the body.
I am sure most you have seen those plastic leg clips used on commercial turkeys.
Tom
BTW, Tom's post made me think of it, depending on how you clean the carcass (if you use the 'bar cut' method) you can tuck the ends of the drumsticks in there right after you finish processing so that the carcass 'sets' with the legs in that more traditional position. No wire or clips needed. It is scarcely any more difficult than NOT leaving that strip of skin intact. Works good for me, and heaven knows I don't know what I'm doing
Pat
Pat
I don't know about your particular case, but my mom has probably butchered 1000's of birds. The legs on some of hers used to get stiff and stuck in weird positions. She always told me that sometimes they just stiffened up that way. My brothers and sister would eat every scrape of chicken within spitting distance, and it never seemed to hurt any of us. My mom would cook 4 stiff legged birds at a time and we rarely had left overs! 'Course after cutting them up, we never could pick out the stiffs from the others.
what I do is kill,pluck most of the big feathers,I dont worry about all the tiny pins at this time,gut,cut and put in a cooler full of cold water,then I transfer into a stock pot with brine water,1/4 cup each kosher salt and white sugar,at this time I will clean more pins off after they have cooled, and leave in the fridge,then I finish cleaning off the pins a day or two later,whenever I get around to bagging and freezing, I found also that if you spend too much time on the pins when warm rigor mortis set in and they were stiff,but after a day or two in the brine they were fine..
- Apr 11, 2008
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Quote:
What we have done so far, is to package the whole chicken in a vacuum bag, and leave in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours, then move directly to the freezer.
In order to streamline our process, and to package parts instead of all whole chickens, we are considering putting some in the refrigerator, then after aging, cut up, package and freeze. I too would like to know if water is a requirement while the birds are aging in the fridge, or can they be put in covered tubs without water?
What we have done so far, is to package the whole chicken in a vacuum bag, and leave in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours, then move directly to the freezer.
In order to streamline our process, and to package parts instead of all whole chickens, we are considering putting some in the refrigerator, then after aging, cut up, package and freeze. I too would like to know if water is a requirement while the birds are aging in the fridge, or can they be put in covered tubs without water?
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