Chill Tanks

[Brunty_Farms]

55 gallon trash cans (if bought clean) work just fine. I would make sure you clean that tote out, but yes it would also work just fin. I would cut the top off so you can get to the birds though.

 

[schmism]

Quote:
ahhhh i was going to squeeze them through the little 2.5" bottom drain

although i considered cutting it in half and winding up with 2 tanks, a pink water tank and a clear water tank.

 

[barrybro]

The birds obviously don't soak up any more water in one hour than in twenty four?

Barry

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
ahhhh i was going to squeeze them through the little 2.5" bottom drain

although i considered cutting it in half and winding up with 2 tanks, a pink water tank and a clear water tank.

Hey you never know.... LOL... but yes cutting it in half would be perfect.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
I don't know, but I haven't noticed a taste difference between the two.

 

[blueskylen]

I will be having 60 processed in May - we will bring them home, bag them, and them put them in a very cold frig overnight - that is what we did last spring.
would it be better to put them in ice for that rest period?

Also, how long is the appropriate rest period before freezing. we had bought a few from a farmer last fall and the birds were kind of tough - i think that they froze them immediately after butchering, and I want to let the ones i am raising rest to see if they will be less tough.

 

[just_chicken]

Quote:
How important is it to use food grade plastic? We have one of the containers pictured, but it was formerly used to to hold paint from the road commission... From what i know about chemicals leaching (not much) it seems to be more of a concern at higher temps, but still. We've not processed ANY chickens yet, and I'm still trying to come up with a homeade chill tank. Still trolling for suggestions.
Jennifer

 

[petrelline]

I've chilled in non-food-grade plastic before, and not worried so much about it, but I'd be concerned if your tank held any sort of chemical before you got it. That would definitely not be my first choice.

I'm not processing the kind of numbers that the guys above are, but for my 20-30 chickens I've used the big red and blue plastic tubs with rope handles you can get at any hardware store at this time of year. Just recently I scored a couple big wheeled coolers on sale and I used those this last weekend to age chickens after they were all wrapped, packed in ice. One ten pound bag of ice and ten chickens fit in a single cooler and keeps cold for 3-5 days easily. (I pulled all the chickens out after 48 and popped them in the freezer, but the ice was still there).

At the farm where I learned how to process chickens they used the big blue food-grade barrels for chill tanks, the sort you make the whizbang plucker out of. You can sometimes find those around here for free but they mostly seem to run about $10-20.

 

[Linessa]

Your chill tank should be large enough so when adding warm bird carcasses it doesn't warm up but maintains temperatures below 40F.

We have a large chest freezer (24 cubic foot) 2/3 filled with water and have it running on high until the water temperature reaches 34F then turn it down to low while adding processed birds. We monitor the temperature for 3 days then have customers pick them up after they have been fully "rested". To depend on the customer to do this is iffy a best. Our goal is to have a ready to eat bird that is tender and tasty.

How many chickens could you fit in the freezer with this method?