after cleaning Cornish Cross - next step?

[Dodi65]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I are raising 25 Cornish Cross and plan to harvest them this week and next, but we just came across additional information we weren't aware of would appreciate some help in understanding. So after we kill, scald, pluck, clean we read that you need to rest in ice water for 4 hours and then do a salt brine in the refrigerator for a day. First it sounds like it's important to brine and not skip this step, is this correct? And second, if we do this step, how can we brine multiple chickens without a huge refrigerator? Can we brine in a HUGE garbage can of salt ice water?

 

[The Dapper Duck]

I wouldn't worry about the brine prior to freezing. I was just thinking about this recently actually, and I think it would be worth it sort of as a 'value added' feature if you were selling roasting birds, just to make the product tastier. But you are going to be the ultimate consumer of these, so just brine them prior to cooking if you like. I also never cool mine in any sort of ice bath. In fact I try to keep the meat from being exposed to too much water aside from the dunk in the scald and a quick rinse on the inside, which is followed by a pat down dry with a tea towel. The meat does weird things in tap water that I don't like.

Meat will 'age' in a freezer to some degree and if you want to hang or brine it after you thaw for use, that is still an option and I do recommend leaving it in the fridge for at least a day to rest. We've been convinced by industry that you must eat chicken immediately after you thaw it or some interdimensional portal is going to open up over your house and hell hounds are going to come for your babies. It's fine. We have refrigeration now and everyone should be cooking their chicken all the way through anyway.

Good luck with the processing!

 

[123RedBeard]

As a general rule I never brine ... or even give them an ice water bath ... just rinse after cleaning, dry, wrap, then ... either fridge or freezer.

Enjoy your dinners!

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I are raising 25 Cornish Cross and plan to harvest them this week and next, but we just came across additional information we weren't aware of would appreciate some help in understanding. So after we kill, scald, pluck, clean we read that you need to rest in ice water for 4 hours and then do a salt brine in the refrigerator for a day. First it sounds like it's important to brine and not skip this step, is this correct? And second, if we do this step, how can we brine multiple chickens without a huge refrigerator? Can we brine in a HUGE garbage can of salt ice water?

Just curious but doesn't it cost more to harvest chickens than it does just to buy them at the store?

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Just curious but doesn't it cost more to harvest chickens than it does just to buy them at the store?

Yes, if you don't care about the quality of the meat or the life of the bird. It is cheaper than buying a chicken of the same quality though.

 

[Dodi65]

I wouldn't worry about the brine prior to freezing. I was just thinking about this recently actually, and I think it would be worth it sort of as a 'value added' feature if you were selling roasting birds, just to make the product tastier. But you are going to be the ultimate consumer of these, so just brine them prior to cooking if you like. I also never cool mine in any sort of ice bath. In fact I try to keep the meat from being exposed to too much water aside from the dunk in the scald and a quick rinse on the inside, which is followed by a pat down dry with a tea towel. The meat does weird things in tap water that I don't like.

Meat will 'age' in a freezer to some degree and if you want to hang or brine it after you thaw for use, that is still an option and I do recommend leaving it in the fridge for at least a day to rest. We've been convinced by industry that you must eat chicken immediately after you thaw it or some interdimensional portal is going to open up over your house and hell hounds are going to come for your babies. It's fine. We have refrigeration now and everyone should be cooking their chicken all the way through anyway.

Good luck with the processing!

Thank you! I think we will do half in a brine and half just resting in the fridge. We appreciate your feed back! We did a test run yesterday and harvested 6 and it went VERY smoothly. Thanks to a nice scalder and plucker, it cut our time drastically!

 

[Dodi65]

Just curious but doesn't it cost more to harvest chickens than it does just to buy them at the store?

Yes, but knowing that you are raising great quality meat that have a healthy and loving atmosphere with fresh grass and best feed makes it worth it! My daughter got us hooked by giving us one of their Cornish Cross chickens and I was amazed and even the texture in the meat compared to what you get in the store.

 

[bil&sal]

I butcher them then throw them in ice water to keep meat cool and when I'm done cleaning then I take out of ice water and pat them dry with paper towel then vacuum pack them and put in freezer. When ready to eat one take out freezer and put in fig. for four days then cook it to way you like--- no brine or anything

 

[Parront]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I are raising 25 Cornish Cross and plan to harvest them this week and next, but we just came across additional information we weren't aware of would appreciate some help in understanding. So after we kill, scald, pluck, clean we read that you need to rest in ice water for 4 hours and then do a salt brine in the refrigerator for a day. First it sounds like it's important to brine and not skip this step, is this correct? And second, if we do this step, how can we brine multiple chickens without a huge refrigerator? Can we brine in a HUGE garbage can of salt ice water?

After processing, on ice while you do the rest. If you have limited space in the frig, a cooler with ice just like fish you just caught. You just want to cool the meat to under 40 degrees ASAP. Depending on the age of the bird, rest in the frig 3-5 days. Brine is what some do, I have not done it for chicken, just goose & turkey. Young Cornish-X are pretty tender, you can freeze them and age them after thawing for a day or 2. Older, larger birds need longer aging. Too much soaking makes them heavier, not better. The store turkey is up to "10% water and flavoring (salt)" according to the label.

 

[Mosey2003]

I don't like soaking mine, or chilling that rapidly either. I'm usually doing around 4 at a time. I have a couple styrofoam coolers from Omaha Steak gifts and some cold packs from a trial of Blue Apron that fit in the bottom perfectly. I put a standing cookie rack over the cold pack and set the carcasses on there as I do them. Then when I'm done and take them inside they get a final rinse, a bit of a drip dry, and I either part them out or bag them and they rest in the fridge for three days. I don't brine at all now that my mom is on salt restriction, not that I was in the habit previously.