I did my experiment and rested one of the chickens for 2 days before making soup out of him, to compare against the one I made soup out of without resting the meat. It just so happens that they were both the same breed as well - my two Barnevelder boys, so the comparison is even more direct (if that even matters). The conclusion - the resting did absolutely nothing. In both birds, everything but the breast was very tender and flavorful. The breast was much chewier, though not horrible. I just don't like breast in general, so I'm biased against it. The rested breast was in no way more tender than the non-rested though. Which is sad because I had high hopes for this method, after hearing the rave, and because I was hoping it would redeem breast meat for me, which it did not. I still don't like it. Oh well. Maybe the method works better on older birds, but I'm not convinced. After killing 5 chickens, I sort of have a reputation in my neighborhood now, and might be doing some favors for neighbors with unwanted roosters (and insufficient guts). So I'll likely be getting my hands on more homegrown meat to cook. One rooster in particular is quite old, and would be a good test case for resting old meat. Speaking of which - would there be any harm or danger to me if I ate a rooster who had bumble foot? This one has a really bad case and has been wasting away since last year. It will be a mercy killing, and I'm torn between not wanting to waste the meat, vs. not wanting to end up getting something if I ate a sick bird...
He was a big boy though - 5 lbs 8 oz when plucked and gutted (at 16 weeks). We have a rotisserie attachment for the grill, so that’s where he’ll go. I’m resting one of the others for 2 days and will then make soup out of him the same way I did the first chicken, to complete the experiment and see if resting makes a difference. I’ll report on the results. For science!
