Dual Purpose Birds (Chewy and Tough and Dark Dark Meat)?

[chickenlittle2]

Decades ago, we had roast chicken and served leftovers for several days. The family wanted me to just throw the remaining meat out but I hate to waste! I was doing the cooking that day so I took the pieces, put them in the blender with some liquid (can't remembe if it was water, broth, or milk), pureed it, heated it up and served it as a cream soup before the main meal. The family loved it, said it was delicious, ate it all up, and I just smiled. They never knew. There, my secret is out. Regarding the stringy meat comments, this may be a way to utilize the meat in a soup. By the way, blenders can help one make wonderful, one of a kind, salad dressings. Have done it many times.
Jim
Happy New Year!

 

[tagra123]

I have a smaller coop/tractor I keep the roosters for meat in to help keep them from getting too much meat toughening exercise.

With RIR's & White Rocks even up to 8 month they are still very tender this way -- even fried.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm still not sure if confining meat birds makes them less tough than if you allow them to free range. Sometimes I think that letting them move more causes them to grow bigger muscle (meat). I don't know what the prevailing wisdom is on this. I think the toughness comes more from not allowing them to rest long enough, and from cooking them too fast on too high of a heat.

But I do think that doing the kosher kill makes for a less bloody carcass. I was processing at a friend's place and noticed this difference. My friend twists the necks to kill, then stuffs them in a cone and cuts off their heads to bleed out. The birds he dispatched that way came to the cleaning table leaking more blood from their necks than the ones I did by putting them in the cone first and then slitting their neck arteries and letting them bleed out that way. His birds seemed more pink than mine did when finished.

 

[triplepurpose]

In my experience, leaving the carcasses in the fridge for two or three days before cooking (or before freezing) makes all the difference in terms of tenderer meat. The enzymes in the raw meat naturally work to soften the tissue. Marinating works on similar principals. Add to that LONG, SLOW cooking for older birds. My old hens (3-5 years old, usually) get 48 hours or so in the fridge, and about four hours in the stock pot with a splash of vinegar on a low simmer (NOT a boil). The meat is very tender, and still flavorful, and there's enough for a couple of meals, plus the stock. (Then I save the bones and grisly bits and skin for a whole other batch of stock.)

I'm not a big fan of confinement, restricted diets, etc. to try to achieve certain qualities in the meat. I say let the chickens run around as much as they want and eat whatever they need to eat. Proper handling and cooking procedure will take care of any issues concerning toughness. The result is "real chicken" with excellent nutritional value, wonderful texture, and subtle flavor with which the unfortunate Cornish X cannot hope to compare.

Welcome to the wonderful world of dual-purpose chicken meat!