Aging chicken

[630004]

I have six roosters to slaughter and I was thinking of experimenting with aging them And would love to hear any experiences from others.

background info.
It was pretty normal to age game birds that we had shot when growing up. i have done this with pheasant, Guinea fowl, partridge and pidgin. A friend of mine shared a link to https://omaha.com/sports/local-spor...cle_5b36c65d-fbfe-5068-b9ba-007178f0d3d4.html and asked me if I wanted to try it on a chicken.

This got me thinking of when we used to hunt game birds and I figured it’s worth a try.

My plan is to try be somewhat scientific about this and do them one at a time Until I have got this figured out. Since they are going to be aged “as is” I figured it makes sense to without food for a day to ensure a somewhat empty system.

The bird will be aged in a fridge (since that’s the only way I can keep the temperature consistent.
Since there is not a whole lot of work I was thinking of killing the first roo on a Wednesday so it will be ready for processing On the Saturday.

Any recommendations? Would love to compare notes.

 

[Molpet]

I have had to dispatch a bird I didn't have time for and shoved her in the refrigerator. I was worried about the ick factor though.... which there wasn't.
I was going to check every day and when rigor mortis passed pluck and gut..... forgot until she had been in for 5 days. Worked out great and I have done it several more times.
Guts firm up so there's less mess.

 

[Molpet]

I couldn't open your link.
This is the link I am familiar with.
https://honest-food.net/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

 

[igorsMistress]

I let my birds eat the night before, killed, plucked and gutted immediately, then left in fridge 3 to 5 days. We also tried brining which was excellent.

 

[630004]

I have had to dispatch a bird I didn't have time for and shoved her in the refrigerator. I was worried about the ick factor though.... which there wasn't.
I was going to check every day and when rigor mortis passed pluck and gut..... forgot until she had been in for 5 days. Worked out great and I have done it several more times.
Guts firm up so there's less mess.

Perfect. Just dispatched the chicken and hung it in the garage fridge.
I will pluck and gut on Saturday.

 

[630004]

I let my birds eat the night before, killed, plucked and gutted immediately, then left in fridge 3 to 5 days. We also tried brining which was excellent.

we brine a lot and it’s always good!

 

[630004]

tomorrow I will butcher the chicken. Interested to see how well this works

 

[aart]

tomorrow I will butcher the chicken. Interested to see how well this works

What is the goal?
Any comparisons to make?

 

[630004]

Well few lessons learned here.
1. Gut the chicken day off. doing it after the fact is not super fun
2. Dry plucking is a different experience. Cut off the head and wing tips and toss.
for background context this was a Rhode Usland Red roo that has been pasture raised.

meat quality was much better than previous chicken. had A definite venison quality to it. Meat was much darker and great flavor. Word of warning if you are looking for bland Costco chicken do not do this. Chicken tasted a lot more gamy like venison and was awesome!

I will update thread with improvements on next roo. Goal is to have a completely repeatable process for this.

 

[Molpet]

Well few lessons learned here.
1. Gut the chicken day off. doing it after the fact is not super fun
2. Dry plucking is a different experience. Cut off the head and wing tips and toss.
for background context this was a Rhode Usland Red roo that has been pasture raised.

meat quality was much better than previous chicken. had A definite venison quality to it. Meat was much darker and great flavor. Word of warning if you are looking for bland Costco chicken do not do this. Chicken tasted a lot more gamy like venison and was awesome!

I will update thread with improvements on next roo. Goal is to have a completely repeatable process for this.

I plucked after rigor mortis passed in the plucker like normal.