3 Chickens Tough and Stringy... help!

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
Well...............I actually had them processed for me, and he told me what he does - He lops their heads off with gardening loppers - then whatever else he does, he puts them in a whiz bang plucker and all the rest I didn't ask................

After he was done, he put them in plasticx ziplocs - I took one and put it in a bowl of cold water, stuck it in the frig til the next day and froze the rest. The first one I put in the crockpot and it smelled of ACV, the rest I backed in the oven and they were fine. The frozen ones, I took out of the freezer and stuck them in a bowl of cold water and a day or two in the fridge again .

 

[PotterWatch]

Mine go into a cooler filled with ice water as soon as I am done processing them. They sit in the cooler until they are thoroughly chilled then we dry them off and package them. We don't eat them until they have rested for a minimum of 48 and usually at least 72hrs.

 

[jfishfam]

Thank you, that's helpful.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

ok then WMR lets talk about this.
two you said cornish (I'm assuming you mean CX? correct me if I'm wrong), at 9 weeks should not be tough and stringy.
so first; what did they weigh and what did you feed them.
second; did you butcher or someone else?
third; you "rested" them for 48 hours; were the wings and legs easily wiggled before you cooked them or were they still a bit stiff?

the 20 week DP I can tell you easily you should have rested longer and probably cooked slower, that's just how it is with DP.

 

[jfishfam]

What's a DP? And what is culling? I feel like a babe in all this talk.

 

[PotterWatch]

DP means dual purpose. Some breeds are meant to be good layers and make a decent table bird, some other are really meant only for one or the other. Culling a bird means to remove it from your flock. It can mean killing but it can also mean selling or giving away the bird. Most people equate culling with killing but that isn't always what it means.

 

[jfishfam]

Gotcha, that makes sense. We have layer ducks so I understand dual purpose.

 

[chickened]

Ice water in an ice chest works great, the colder the better. 3 or 4 hours is the norm for chickens. You want all natural body heat gone.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
First 2- yes CX, 9-12 weeks old, weighed about 8 pounds AFTER processing. TONS of fat on them. Were fed organic chick starter, day 1 to end.

Third one was DP, same as above but 20 weeks old. Weighed 4 pounds after. Some fat on him, I could see it, but nothing like the CX.

I butchered them myself. I "pithed" them then immediately cut the jugular. Takes about 3 minutes or so and they are gone. Cut off the head and let them drain, pluck and clean and immediately go into cold hose water bucket.

Wings and legs still a bit stiff on all three at time of cooking.

First one I had fried chicken.
Second one, chopped up breast in pasta.
Third one baked over potatoes and veggies.

Maybe the pithing isn't quick enough or something.... maybe next time I should try cone and cutting head off?

 

[booker81]

What temps did you cook at?

The things I usually equate to toughness are stress prior to death, not enough time to "rest" after death, and high cooking temps. This goes for about any cirtter I eat, from chicken to deer. I've personally found age doesn't have much to do with toughness, if those three factors are avoided.