in the fridge two days, now what to look for/

[Autumn Mama]

hi all,


we butchered one rooster on saturday afternoon (pacific st. time) and we now have it in water (it was for the whole 48 hours) in the fridge. it is still stiff. how long am i waiting for it to soften up? could i have done something wrong? thanks for any input! first timers.

 

[SMorrison7k]

hi all,


we butchered one rooster on saturday afternoon (pacific st. time) and we now have it in water (it was for the whole 48 hours) in the fridge. it is still stiff. how long am i waiting for it to soften up? could i have done something wrong? thanks for any input! first timers.

I'm not very experienced with it...so I might not be much help, but how old was he?

 

[Autumn Mama]

one year old.

 

[SMorrison7k]

one year old.

I'm not positive, but a 1 yr old will be pretty tough to eat. I would soak for a day in buttermilk then cook him in a slow cooker. The older the bird, the more time they take to "relax" (from my understanding).
Since I'm not 100% sure, I hope someone can give you a positive answer as to if it's just his age!

 

[Autumn Mama]

we've eaten our roosters before at that age - just not processed ourselves. what happens after slaughter is that rigor mortis sets in. the limbs etc stiffen alot. this isn't about the meat being tough, or old, per se, but rather about the muscular stiffening process therein passing ....

 

[SMorrison7k]

we've eaten our roosters before at that age - just not processed ourselves. what happens after slaughter is that rigor mortis sets in. the limbs etc stiffen alot. this isn't about the meat being tough, or old, per se, but rather about the muscular stiffening process therein passing ....

Yes, I know. But it does take older birds longer to "rest" after slaughter.

 

[Autumn Mama]

gotcha. i think as i read previous posts about this you are totally correct. what i wasn't understanding was that he would likely require more softening process due to being a year old. i had thought that he would be softer, than say, a 4 year old roo or hen .... thank you so much!

 

[trudyg]

I've heard that older chickens will seem stiff even after rigor has passed. What you want to do is see if it will move at all at a joint. Try real hard. Seems that the ligaments will stay stiff and, if you break them loose, then you'll see that the meat is not what's stiff but the joints. It's worth a try, at any rate.

 

[Maeschak]

Yes, I know. But it does take older birds longer to "rest" after slaughter.

I am no expert but I have butchered a bunch of chickens old and young. Most people say rigor will pass after a few hours up to a day and then you should let it 'rest' for several more days. The older the chicken the longer the rest it needs- up to 5 days for some people as long as it doesn't go bad.

In my experience, my carcasses never seem to relax.. even after several days in the fridge where scientifically it's almost impossible for rigor not to have passed and for it to 'relax.' I have no idea why my birds are always so stiff but I chalk it up to the fridge temps being too low (cold fat and muscles just don't move that well), old chickens just won't wiggle their leg joints as well as young chickens after butchering, or I'm just a dumb dumb.

Long story short you didn't do anything wrong! I found that resting for at least 3 days makes a much bigger difference than if you let it rest for another two. (Meaning days 3-5 of the rest make it mildly more tender while the first 3 days of rest make it markedly more tender). I guess the rate of return diminished for me.

Good luck! If it's an of rooster try pressure cooking it!

 

[Bigshooter]

Rest for 3 to 5 days then low, wet, and slow cooking. Old chickens never seem to really get limber so I wouldn't worry.