First harvest, very little meat and tough

[Yoder Farm]

Hi all,

Well we decided to cull one of our Rhode Island Reds, she was about 18 months old and had a bad habit of escaping and running off into the woods. We didn't want her to teach any of the new hens that bad habit.

Killed her with an axe, let the blood drain, and immediately plucked and cleaned, and put right into a rotisserie. I don't know if we cooked too long, the meat tasted good but there wasn't much and it was tough and stringy on all but the breast meat. I have since learned that we should probably have let the meat rest?? It wasn't rigored at all when I put it on the spit, as hot as it was today I just thought it best to cook it right away.

She was a stressed bird, didn't handle the new hens very well. Could that account or tough stringy meat?

Are Rhode Island Reds just not good meat birds? Also what should we do next time to avoid a tough bird?

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

You didnt let the carcass rest......and she was a tad older, which usually requires a slower method of cooking

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
For one this she was old. If there over 5 or 6 month the meat is tough. And yes you need to let it rest for a few days before cooking it!! And when there that old it's best to use it for soups & stews.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
Even though she wasn't rigored yet you still need to let the meat rest for a couple days at least. I will hang a deer for a month if the weather is right.

 

[teach1rusl]

Most folks use slow cooking methods for older birds (older by meat bird standards). I think maybe 20 weeks or so is processing time for dual purpose type birds if you're looking for more "normal" tasting chicken.

 

[Yoder Farm]

To salvage, I took all of the breast meat, chopped it up and I'm going to try to slow cook it tomorrow in a cajun stew. Probably will come out great, but thanks! What did people used to before refrigeration, I wonder... when it comes to letting the meat rest?

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
I can't answer how or how long they aged raw meat back before refridgeration, but then they had no commercially raised and processed meat to compare with what they were eating, so were used to cooking in a manner that kept meat as tender as any they ever tasted. I do know people a generation ahead of me that ate a lot of home canned meat, which was basicly pressure cooked during the canning process.............................. and know they kept raw milk fresh for several days by lowering the container down in a well.

 

[jenny_kap]

i never heard about let the meat to rest for a few days before you cook it. if i would have a chicken in the cooler for more than a day, i would throw it out, thinking that it is spoiled already. and we always raised birds. everybody here process the birds as they need to cook, when they need to cook them.

 

[AlbionWood]

Quote:
Slaughtering was traditionally done in winter when the weather was cool, so you could hang meat as long as necessary. With poultry you don't have to age it as long as large animals; 24 - 48 hours is enough to relax the proteins, though longer is better for older birds. I suspect it could be hung in a root cellar for that long without spoiling. In pre-refrigeration days they were also less fussy about tenderness!

 

[donrae]

Quote:
The folks I knew of usually butchered and ate the chicken the same day. Younger birds were for fryers, older birds were stewers. They didn't roast or grill chicken, it was fried, stewed, simmered, boiled or baked. And it was just tougher than we are used to, and smaller pieces.