Harvesting-First timer...help!

[De Bauer]

Some people really enjoy the skin so they pluck and deal with the consequences. My wife wants them skinless so I typically skin them and don't have to deal with pin feathers. On the rare occasions I pluck I do remove them, especially the liquid ones.

Now there is no faster way to process a chicken than that.. No scald no plucker.. Cut and pull the shirt off the chicken.. That's no scalder prep and no plucker clean along with no pins and skin inspection.

If I had to pot scald and hand pluck any more than a few that would be my choice then after 24hr rest either cut them into a tradition 8 piece bone in or debone it intact, jacket style, brine and freeze. Save you hours of processing time. Do a few deboning with a good sharp knife and you will get quick.. Minute or 2 per bird to fully debone or a minute to 8 piece bone in.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

Now there is no faster way to process a chicken than that.. No scald no plucker.. Cut and pull the shirt off the chicken.. That's no scalder prep and no plucker clean along with no pins and skin inspection.

If I had to pot scald and hand pluck any more than a few that would be my choice then after 24hr rest either cut them into a tradition 8 piece bone in or debone it intact, jacket style, brine and freeze. Save you hours of processing time. Do a few deboning with a good sharp knife and you will get quick.. Minute or 2 per bird to fully debone or a minute to 8 piece bone in.

I think I may do this, I usually cook in slow cooker or eat skinless breast so no need to keep the skin. So I am suppose to let them “rest” for 24 hours before freezing them? I have 14 in the freezer already that I did not rest..what happens if you don’t allow them to rest?

 

[charthorn]

They may be a little tougher, due to rigor mortis. It normally takes around 24 hours for the rigor to work out of the birds. If they are already frozen, no problem just take them out of the freezer a little earlier and let them rest for a day or so in the refrigerator prior to cooking.

 

[De Bauer]

Yes you want to let the skinned carcass rest/ chilled for at least 6 hr before cutting up and 24hrs over all before cooking or freezing.

I cold rest my chickens for 48hrs.. Science says maximum benefit is 24hrs.. My grandfather and most every old timer I spoke to used 72 hrs as do many people still.. I figured since there is no negative I would split the difference @ 48hrs.

Where I got the 6hrs before cutting was from research on processing carcasses for the breast fillets and tenderness. It has to do with ATP depletion and creation and then breakdown inosinic acid.. Doubtful most would be interested in.

IMO just wait till its freezing time and cut the carcass up/ debone it etc.. Brine ( sprinkle surface with Diamond crystal kosher salt) then into shrink or vacuum seal bag and into the deep freezer.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

So I started skinning them..much quicker! THANK YOU!

 

[De Bauer]

So I started skinning them..much quicker! THANK YOU!

Glad it went well.l. Do not forget if you want extra juice more tender after 24hr rest while your bagging for the freezer sprinkle them with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and into the freezer with them.. When its time to use thaw in frig and then a couple hours out to get them to roughly room temp before cooking.

Yummy!!

 

[3KillerBs]

Glad it went well.l. Do not forget if you want extra juice more tender after 24hr rest while your bagging for the freezer sprinkle them with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and into the freezer with them.. When its time to use thaw in frig and then a couple hours out to get them to roughly room temp before cooking.

Yummy!!

I have to admit that I find all this salting and brining of home-raised birds mystifying.

My motivation for wanting to raise my own chicken is that I have great difficulty finding unadulterated meat in the grocery stores; only the lowest-end and highest end chains carry meat that has not been injected with "broth" or "tenderizing solution" -- selling saltwater for the price of meat.

In addition to my husband having a sensitivity to the chemicals often included that leaves him in the bathroom all day if he encounters it by accident, meat that has been treated this way is incapable of absorbing other flavors when seasoned for cooking.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is an oversimplification but aging is where you let rigor mortis pass. You do not need any additives for that, just time and keep it cool.

Brining generally means keeping it in salt for a while. That might be a solution or dry. I don't know how much tenderizing you actually get from adding salt. I suspect not much, the Cornish X you by from the store is so young when butchered it should not need tenderizing. The main purpose of the salt is to retain moisture. If it is in a solution that may be that liquid but even if dry it retains natural body fluids. If you cook the chicken a dry method like grilling or frying that extra moisture can help. If you cook it a wet method brining is a lot less necessary. Salt does affect flavor but for many cooking methods you can add that later if you want.

Marinading is when you use some type of acid the break down the fiber. That is tenderizing. Tomato products, wine, or vinegar are typical acids used for marinades. These can add flavor too.

Since a lot of chicken from the store is fried or grilled it makes sense that they would enhance their product by brining it (salt). I don't have a problem with that. I don't know what other stuff they use in that brining solution, flavor enhancers, preservatives, or something else. Maybe they make the meat look prettier or affects the smell?

@3KillerBs I'd guess that is your husbands problem, not the salt but the other products. My wife has pretty delicate gut too. I find it very hard to find anything that is not enhanced in some way. That's not just things we eat but tissue has to have lotion added or dishwashing detergent has to stink. I try to avoid dyes and aroma enhancers as much as I can but it is a challenge.

 

[3KillerBs]

@3KillerBs I'd guess that is your husbands problem, not the salt but the other products.

Yes.

As a cook I object to the saltiness overwhelming all my attempts to flavor the meat. It's something unknown in the "solution" that sentences my husband to the bathroom.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Brining (old style) was for preservation primarily. Starts at a 10% solution. The kind of stuff where you want to soak in cold clean water for a long while, maybe change it once or twice, before cooking. Think saltier than a store bought ham.

Brining (post discovery of cheap refrigeration-style) is for two things - one, its a method of insurance against meat drying out in dry cooking methods like smoking which involve many hours at temperatures which may (but shouldn't) exceed the boiling point. Second, its a way of imparting flavor - not just by salt. The same chemical/mechanical processes that cause the (essentially) unsalted water inside the bird's cells to equalize with the (comparatively) salty liquid outside the bird and thus bringing salt into the cells will convey other flavors besides. Frequently, herbage or spices are added to the liquid brine - garlic, rosemary, peppercorns, cumin or coriander, bay, dill, etc.

Ever cut open the breast on a Thanksgiving turkey and compared the flavor of the meat just under the skin on the breast (YUM! but sometimes a bit dry) with the meat of the second layer of muscle, up against the keel (BLAND, but moist!). Brining helps address both those issues.

But if you have salt sensitivities, you need to adjust your brine accordingly. Since you aren't using it as a preservative, you can drop it considerably. I make my own corned beef, in a 3.5% brine solution. I've taken it as low as 2.5% - 1/4 of what used to be considered the bare minimum - because my brining occurs under refrigeration. I'm not making pickled beef (or fowl). Look to the inclusions as well - Pink Salt (Prague Powder #1 or Prague Powder #2) is not that overpriced Himalayan stuff full of impurities, it has an antibacterial agent in it in very small quantities (6.25% Sodium Nitrate), the rest is sodium chloride - table salt. It takes very little PP#1 plus considerably more salt (sometimes and sugar) to brine a piece of meat.

Finally, contra claims by many, brining does not tenderize a bird (or anything else) to any notable degree. it merely helps keep it moist. The tenderization of a corned beef (to give a readily understandable comparison) comes from a slow cook process which allows the collagen and other connectives to gelatinize and break down. But that happens at temperatures where the proteins are long past done. How done? A steak is medium rare at about 125 degrees. The brisket coming off the smoker, or out of the crock pot, is done at 175 degrees. Collagen doesn't even start to break down till 160 degrees, at which point your steak is so far past well done the chef should be taken out back and put out of their misery...

Hope that helps!

/edited for coherence.