Dumb question, can we eat them the day we process?

[momofchicks]

Everyone always says keep in frig before freezing, but can we eat that day or will they need to set in frig first?
Thanks

 

[purr]

they will be tough if you don't let them rest, I havn't done it in a while but we used to wait 24 hrs

 

[greenthumb89]

they need to sit for a while or they are really tough and you wont want to eat another one.

 

[momofchicks]

Sheeww, I'm glad I asked I was prepared to make some chicken tomorrow for dinner after we got home. Thanks so much for warning me. I would hate for our first attempt at meat birds end with us hating them. Thanks again.

 

[spook]

You know, farmers and old folks never had room in their ice boxes, so they dispatched, processed their birds a few hours prior to dinner.

I can't wait until I get that first one in the roaster! mmmm, the others will be a bit more on the tender side after sitting in the frigerator for a couple days and especially after the freezer, but enjoy them, this is the joys of do it your self.

 

[jvls1942]

I was taught to let "the body heat" to escape before cooking

I can remember watching a couple of chickens being butchered and then having chicken soup the same day many times when I was a young boy..

I do not recall if the meat was tough or not.. I just wish mrs.S was still alive to make some more of her soup..

 

[dancingbear]

Partly it depends on what you've raised. Are these Cornish X's? Or color rangers? At the recommended processing age?

If they are, then as long as you let them get past rigor, which I thought was about 24 hrs., but lately have read it's really only about 4 hours, they should be fine. You'll see how stiff they are while processing, that's the rigor setting in. If you set aside the first bird or two at the beginning, check them for stiffness when you've finished the rest. See if they've loosened up again. They may be ready to cook by the time you're ready to cook them.

If they aren't meat breeds, or not young birds, there's a whole different way of going about making them tender. I'm not going into it now, but plenty of others can. There's tons of threads about that, too.

 

[Bossroo]

Hold on there momofchicks... absolutely, positively NOT. After you process them, shrink rap them, quick freeze them, then ship them overnight to me. I will let you know how they turned out right after I enjoy them for a chicken dinner, lick my fingers off and let out a big burp!.

 

[greyfields]

I have never eaten a bird on teh day it was processed and enjoyed it much. They tend to be tough (rigor mortis).

 

[becky3086]

We ate birds the same day we processed then when we were kids (no choice, had nothing else to eat) and they were tough though our parents sat there and kept saying how good they were, lol.
I imagine however, that if you were making soup, it wouldn't matter as you would cook it long enough that it wouldn't be tough anymore anyway.
Becky