bruised meat q

[SandraMort]

I'm a neverending stream of questions!!!

I processed a bird this morning and noticed that he had a bruised thigh and the underside of a wing on the same side. I think I may have overscalded him a bit and we dispatched him by hatched for the first time and he thrashed around (while being held and then tied upside down to bleed out) more than with throat cutting.

Did either of these cause it? If so, what can be done to prevent it? How will it affect usability other than looks?

 

[silkiechicken]

It's just looks. Some say that brusing reduces storage time because blood is not as well drained, but I don't know how true that is because you can store blood jelly in the freezer and it tastes just fine.


It was probably caused by the holding and the thrashing.

 

[SandraMort]

So, how do you prevent it? All of the other birds thrashed, too. Don't they always?

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[smom1976]

I have heard of killing cones.. they keep the bird still while they bleed out..

Like an upsidedown orange street cone. The head pops out the bottom and then you cut the neck arteries..

 

[silkiechicken]

The best ways I can think of are usualy to just wrap them tightly in an old towel before doing the deed. That way they don't have pressure points on their wings or sides from holding. A cone would work too if you could get yoru hands on one. Another thing some do is hang their birds by their feet and let them flap it out in the air. Once you cookem, you probably won't notice though.

 

[miss_jayne]

they do that when they thrash their wings when you kill them. i have had some actually break the wing joints.

when you cook them, it doesn't show anymore. and the broken wings hold their place just fine as they cook too.

 

[the1much]

Quote:
thats what i do,, i tie them by their feet, hang them from a pole, and cut their heads off with a sharp knife,, i figure you need to tie them up to bleed them,, so 1 step less

, and it makes it easy to hold them too, ya just grab them by the wings and hold them.

 

[SandraMort]

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That's how we did it.

Once you cookem, you probably won't notice though.

That's good to know!​

 

[mikarod]

The bruising had to happen before the bird died. Possibly fell on something? Bruising is the coagulation of blood to an injured area...if the bird is already dead...it isn't going to coagulate anywhere...because the bird is dead.

 

[SandraMort]

I actually own a few comes but don't have a place to hang them upside dow n.