Advice please, post dispatch

[Taff Jones]

Hi all, yesterday we dispatched two rowdy boys and after a previous bad experience with very tough meat, we decided to leave them intact (feathers and innards) overnight, to process them this afternoon. (I'm thinking now they may have been tough as the birds were around 9 months old?)

As I am very new to dealing with meat birds I think I may have messed this up. I left mine with feathers on and innards in and left them overnight in the garden shed which was not refrigerated ..... your advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. Do the birds need to be 'rested'? before processing them. .. previously when I have done this the birds have gone really rigid making it difficult to sort them out.
2. If they do need resting how best should I do this? feathers on or off?.... innards on or off? ..... should they be refrigerated?

When I processed them today the meat was much more like shop-bought chicken. having jointed them today, they were put straight into cold water, then bagged, then into the freezer.

Do you think the meat is still edible at all? as it was not refrigerated, either for us ... or the dog?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Molpet]

https://honest-food.net/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

 

[iwltfum]

I would eat the meat still. Hanging birds overnight fully intact is an old world method - on account of the fact that we have refrigeration now and cooled meat that stays cool does tend to pose less health risk. Hanging is supposed to impart more poultry flavor to the meat, and should help to tenderize it as well. I saw it advertised as a method for "curing" very fancy sounding Thanksgiving turkeys last year. Resting after butcher has pretty much the same effect, but since you have opened the carcass, you would want to rest an eviscerated chicken in cool water or in the fridge.

 

[speedy2020]

The older bird meat is very tough. I cook in the 6 qrt pressure cooker 4-8 minutes (depend chicken age) with 2/3 or completely cover water and let it sit until the safety lock release, which is around 30 minutes. The meat will be soft enough for dumpling or soup.