First harvest, very little meat and tough

[NevadaRon]

Quote:
Orientals always kill their animals just before cooking. Even in San Francisco, I would see them buy live chickens at the Farmer's Market, presumably to slaughter at home. The meat doesn't have time to go into rigor. I would think the toughness had more to do with the bird's age than anything else.

 

[saddina]

Quote:
Orientals always kill their animals just before cooking. Even in San Francisco, I would see them buy live chickens at the Farmer's Market, presumably to slaughter at home. The meat doesn't have time to go into rigor. I would think the toughness had more to do with the bird's age than anything else.

Yes, but generally it would go into a dish where there was a fast cooking method, and the meat id first cut into pieces (think stir fries).

For older birds I make tamales, enchladas, or dishes that start with cutting the chicken into pieces first.

 

[jenny_kap]

Quote:
Orientals always kill their animals just before cooking. Even in San Francisco, I would see them buy live chickens at the Farmer's Market, presumably to slaughter at home. The meat doesn't have time to go into rigor. I would think the toughness had more to do with the bird's age than anything else.

we are not orientals here, romania is an european contry. but still kill the birds right before cooking. after you wash it good, you throw it in the pot. i think you are used with the store bought chicken consistency and when you eat home grown chickens you think it is tough. i just cooked a duck that was only one month old and my husband told me the meat is tough (he lived for 37 years in united states). come on, it was just one month old bird!!!!! that cannot be tough.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

It is all a matter of what one is accustomed to. In countries young and old without refrigeration, it's kill, cook and eat. If it's done during the cold weather, it makes it tenderer to hang a few days. Hence "aged" meat-- which is more expensive to buy!
Different strokes for different folks. Your mileage may vary

 

[onthespot]

If you look at some of the old hunting scenes from centuries ago, they hung the birds intact, feathers, innards and all, and I have read that they hung them for sometimes up to two weeks, in the fall like that, then cooked them. I'm thinking that with everything intact and cooler weather, nobody died. They didn't use shotguns back then, but pointers and spaniels that were more of "creepers" and stayed really low to the ground when they smelled out the birds, and held really still and low and showed with their tails that they had pinpointed the prey, and the gamesmen would then throw a net over it and catch it undamaged. Not saying I'd recommend it today, especially with summer coming on, but if "things change for the worse" in the future society, might be some good info for some people to know.

 

[chickenfeverforever]

You really are suppose to hang meat. I know our beef cattle we insist on a hanging time of no less then 14 days. I assume chicken would be no different, just less time. I hear 24 hours is sufficiant.

 

[booker81]

Cooking methods go a long way with meat of any texture. There isn't much that won't be fork tender if you cook it low and slow with moisture (think of BBQ methods used - brisket and ribs aren't the most tender cuts of meat, but cooking them low and slow MAKES them tender

Dutch ovens are the bomb for older fowl, I've cooked many a roo now that was 6 months to a year old and it's my favorite method. Dutch oven with some veggies and a liquid (broth, wine, beer, whatever) and into the oven for a couple hours at 300 or less.

I don't have a rotissere, so I don't know what temps it cooks at, but I'm betting on over 300.

 

[chickenfeverforever]

Quote:
OMG.....I love my dutch over and you are soo right. 275 for several hours in any broth and just about anythign will be tender.

 

[jaj121159]

Whenever I clean game birds or chickens I brine it in the frig for up to 2 days before freezing or eating. Sometimes I don't have the room to brine chickens if I am doing several birds, so I freeze them right after cleaning them, then brine them after they thaw. One thing brining does is remove excess blood.

 

[soap&eggs]

i have only butchered the 8 wk cornish X chickens..so cant help you with RIR on age....our first butchering a guy came out few days before to teach me how to...cut off with ax..hung & drained blood..hot water dunk, pluck,gut,singe feathers & cold water soak....we grilled meat ..was tougher then i expected...now after years of butchering & seeing the difference of first time experence..realized..the first bird was still warm to touch even after cold water soak.. we now pack ice in with birds to cool down faster..bag & refrigerate few hours..before freezing..the nights meal is generally fried chicken..using first birds butched..seeing as how they had been cooled down the longest. hope this helped you out some.