Hanging Poultry?

[jab91864]

I don't do cornish birds.

I butcher off my older hens and any extra cockerels. Most of my breeds are dual purpose birds. I've just done the salt mix cuz that is the way I was taught to do it. Let them soak for a bit then switch out to fresh water.

 

[sandspoultry]

Also the brine removes the blood from the meat. We just age ours in the fridge. How long we age depends on the size of the cut of meat.

Steve in NC

 

[justpete]

Mine are put into ice water for 24 hours.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

It's a must for older birds, same with squirell, wild rabbit, and wild turkey.

For a bird that has been bled out good the brine isn't really needed but you can see the effects of a brine on a wild animal that has been shot for the table. You have to change the water frequently.

 

[RedStickLA]

We let ours sit on ice or in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days before freezing. I find it makes a difference, more tender bird…some say they don’t see a difference.

Mitzi

 

[jaku]

I keep mine in salty ice water overnight, then in the refrigerator another day before I freeze or cut them up.

 

[pdpatch]

The aging lets the rigor reduce in the birds. Rigor usually takes a min of 4 hours for most of it to go. The 24 hours is just to make sure.

After the rigor has left, the aging time is for the meat starting to break down naturally.

As far as brining, Salting is a preservative from years ago when refrigeration was not all that common. But according to the experts at the University it can reduce the amount of water that is in the meat. When using brine salt plus water it sort of a break even type of thing, where the water loss from the salt is sort of replaced by the water in the brine.

Most American's like salty food so we usually like the taste better when the birds are soaked in brine. But if your like me you have to have a low sodium diet so no soaking in salt brine here, just ice water for 24 to 48 hours.

If you do the ice water you need to keep the bird tempture below 38 degrees or so, but above freezing. This pretty much eliminates bacteria from growing.

Instead of buying Ice we keep milk jugs and put water in them to freeze.


Opps I should have mentioned soaking in ice water is an old hunting trick for wild game.

Tom

 

[mommahento5]

We age ours in an old deep freeze that my husband uses to lager beer in. He has a theromstat on it, and we keep it set at fridge temp and let them in there for 2 days or so. I don't soak with brine cause I just don't think there is any need to add anything to the flavor, not to mention that sodium is not lacking in American diets....

If you have enough birds, why not try it each way? A few frozen immediately, a few in the fidge for a few days, and a few in brine....label them well, and you can find out which method you prefer.

 

[al6517]

I also brine and age for 24 hrs then Vacum seal them and freeze, has worked great for me, good flavor. I also have played with spicing the chcikens for a few hours and then freezing, also having good results from that.

AL

 

[CynthiaM]

Quote:
Pleeeze, define what a "properly" aged bird is, my curiosity is peaked!!! Have a wonderful day.