made a mistake on processing will it still be okay?

[holderh]

After all my reading I still made mistake. After all the chickens were butchered they were bled out, scalded, plucked , gutted and then put into an ice bath, rinsed and put into a new tub of ice water where they will sit over night in our garage. so they sat out on a table till all were finished being gutted before they were put in theice bath. They sat out Total about 3 or 4 hours before getting into the ice bath. It hasnt gotten above 40 degrees today so the question is will this meat be ok or have we risked to much bacteria? What other problems?

Instead of putting them in the fridge for a couple of days I was going to leave them in a tote on ice will this work?

 

[redsoxs]

Others may disagree but I would eat them without batting an eye. I hunt deer and hang them for days before skinning, cutting them up and freezing. One hung for two days and the high got up to 60 degrees. When I processed it the meat was as cool as a cucumber. So, a few hours at 40 degrees - no problem.
And yes, keeping them in the ice chest will tender them up same as putting them in the fridge.
Happy eating!!

 

[holderh]

Thanks! Yeah I was thinking it couldn't be much different than deer. Seems like everybody does it different so I was worried ......as far as the tote it isn't an cooler just a blue tote from walmart...thats ok right?

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Others may disagree but I would eat them without batting an eye.  I hunt deer and hang them for days before skinning, cutting them up and freezing.  One hung for two days and the high got up to 60 degrees.  When I processed it the meat was as cool as a cucumber.  So, a few hours at 40 degrees - no problem.
And yes, keeping them in the ice chest will tender them up same as putting them in the fridge. 
Happy eating!!

I couldn't agree more. Next time just just fill up a cooler or something with cold water and toss them in there while they are waiting to be dressed out.

 

[hennotrooster]

Others may disagree but I would eat them without batting an eye. I hunt deer and hang them for days before skinning, cutting them up and freezing. One hung for two days and the high got up to 60 degrees. When I processed it the meat was as cool as a cucumber. So, a few hours at 40 degrees - no problem.
And yes, keeping them in the ice chest will tender them up same as putting them in the fridge.
Happy eating!!

My father in law killed our roo he was maybe 1 year and 2-3 months old. He was the nastiest toughest bird I have ever tried to eat. I put him in the pressure cooker hoping he would soften up, no luck. My first experience with fresh chicken has left me not ever wanting to do that again. Tasted nothing like chicken. Does soaking them in ice water soften them up? I heard that fresh bird is the best but from my experience I would not recommend that anyone eat fresh bird, it was worse than leather. There was no happy in the eating, ended up in the trash my dog did not even want to try it that's how bad it was.

 

[donrae]

Others may disagree but I would eat them without batting an eye. I hunt deer and hang them for days before skinning, cutting them up and freezing. One hung for two days and the high got up to 60 degrees. When I processed it the meat was as cool as a cucumber. So, a few hours at 40 degrees - no problem.
And yes, keeping them in the ice chest will tender them up same as putting them in the fridge.
Happy eating!!

same here. Sounds like chicken for dinner!

 

[redsoxs]

My father in law killed our roo he was maybe 1 year and 2-3 months old. He was the nastiest toughest bird I have ever tried to eat. I put him in the pressure cooker hoping he would soften up, no luck. My first experience with fresh chicken has left me not ever wanting to do that again. Tasted nothing like chicken. Does soaking them in ice water soften them up? I heard that fresh bird is the best but from my experience I would not recommend that anyone eat fresh bird, it was worse than leather. There was no happy in the eating, ended up in the trash my dog did not even want to try it that's how bad it was.

The problem with your roo was likely his age more than anything. The chicken you buy in store or get at KFC is a Cornish Cross - it is bred for super fast growth - and may be no more than 7 or 8 weeks old when butchered. When people butcher, the cleaned carcass of the chicken goes into rigor mortis - making the meat tough and stiff. It is recommended that you let the bird "rest" in the fridge or cooler for a minimum of 2 days (many do it 4 or 5 days) to let them get out of rigor - the muscles relax, thus tenderness. If you freeze right away after butchering you can do the same thing after they thaw. So, the rooster your father-in-law butchered was perhaps as old as 60 weeks - any bird would be tough as leather by then. Plus if he was running around pursuing the ladies most of his life he probably had a few miles on his legs making him tougher still. What I do with tough old birds - roosters and old hens no longer laying, is slow cook them for as long as it takes to tender them up and have soup of dumplings. I also can a lot of chicken. Handy to have in the cold winter months.
Good luck to you!

 

[holderh]

Thank you for all of your responses! I am kinda a germ a phobic lol and this is so new to us I just want to do everything just right. We did leave the meat in a tote of ice water....it got really cold last night and now I'm worried about it freezing .. if it did I'm sure they were not froze solid....we are going to vacume seal them today and freeze.....before eating I Will let them thaw in the fridge......this was def a learning experience!

 

[hennotrooster]

The problem with your roo was likely his age more than anything. The chicken you buy in store or get at KFC is a Cornish Cross - it is bred for super fast growth - and may be no more than 7 or 8 weeks old when butchered. When people butcher, the cleaned carcass of the chicken goes into rigor mortis - making the meat tough and stiff. It is recommended that you let the bird "rest" in the fridge or cooler for a minimum of 2 days (many do it 4 or 5 days) to let them get out of rigor - the muscles relax, thus tenderness. If you freeze right away after butchering you can do the same thing after they thaw. So, the rooster your father-in-law butchered was perhaps as old as 60 weeks - any bird would be tough as leather by then. Plus if he was running around pursuing the ladies most of his life he probably had a few miles on his legs making him tougher still. What I do with tough old birds - roosters and old hens no longer laying, is slow cook them for as long as it takes to tender them up and have soup of dumplings. I also can a lot of chicken. Handy to have in the cold winter months.
Good luck to you!

I did let "rest" in the fridge for 2 days but as you said he did run around a lot as he was free range and he did run all three acres. He only had two ladies to contend with but he was over a year old. Hubby wants to purchase some meat chickens but I am hesitant I tend to get attached we right now have a hen that really does not lay and her sister (claimed position of roo) has not laid in the last two weeks. He says we should make soup.

 

[Terri O]

I'd go for the soup and start over! TerriO