Help- All our butchered birds come out tough as nails

[quade]

When we butcher our birds and sometimes they are >1 year old; we put them in a bucket of brine for a few days before eating or freezing- but they always turn out tough. So our current methodology is to grind every bird into sausage and eat them that way. Would sure like to make some chicken wings- any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Compost King]

Older birds do better when pressure cooked or slow cooked. I have limited experience with older birds and never cooked one a year old or older. I am only posting so I can get alerts from anyone who responds to this because there will come a time I need to get rid of old roosters and spent hens.

 

[Molpet]

I pressure cook a 2 1/2 yr old roo for 2 1/2 hrs, he was great

 

[MarkJr]

Did you let them rest until the rigor was gone? I had to change the temp of my spare fridge to about 38-39 because it was too cold (33-34) to allow it to progress.
Once I did that, rigor was gone after about 4 days. I can then do what I want. Meat went from dehydrated shoe leather to slightly chewy, but not what I’d consider tough.

 

[Acre4Me]

You should age the birds for a few days. An older bird needs low and slow moist cooking, or a pressure cooker.

If you want chicken wings, you might want to consider raising Rangers or Cornish Cross types, or heritage birds known for their meat (like Rocks and Hampshires) and butcher the males at a younger age.

We just butchered some Cornish Cross at 7 weeks - they are quite meaty, and have meaty wings too. When we have butchered younger cockerels at 16-20 weeks old, they are of decent size, and wings are fine, but they aren't quite as meaty as a Cornish.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you want fried or grilled wings butcher them while they are still young enough to be fried or grilled. You can get different opinions on that but I'd think 12 to 14 weeks of age.

Aging until rigor mortis has passed is always a great idea but when you cook older birds you need to change how you cook them. Other than pressure cooking it needs to be a slow and moist process. Crock pot, baking in a a tightly closed pan, stew, or soup can work. If you make stew or soup, never let it come to a full boil, just to a slow simmer. When I bake one that old it's at 250 F for maybe 3 to 3-1/2 hours. You don't need to add liquid but make sure the lid fit tightly so the liquid it makes does not evaporate. 8 hours in a crock pot on low should work well.

Chickens a year old are just not suitable for some things. I haven't tried it but maybe if you simmer or crock pot it until it is cooked and tender and then quickly fry or grill to set the flavor it might work. Maybe.

 

[Compost King]

I currently have the hind quarters of a Heritage bird (4 months) that has been in the fridge for 2 days, I can not flex the joints. Hopefully in a couple of days I can and get them to the freezer. Thanks to the Thread Starter/OP for having this thread.

When doing young birds (under 20 weeks) I would freeze them after one day of refrigerator time.

 

[Compost King]

Chickens a year old are just not suitable for some things. I haven't tried it but maybe if you simmer or crock pot it until it is cooked and tender and then quickly fry or grill to set the flavor it might work. Maybe.

I had this very same thought a couple days ago when I ate my first slow cooked older bird. It was just the breast meat but I did not like the flavor. I thought maybe frying up the loose breast meat in butter and spices might make it have a flavor I prefer. I guess I do not like chicken flavor I just like eating meat protein.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Well try it and let us know what you think. Isn't that how we operate on this forum?

 

[iwltfum]

I had this very same thought a couple days ago when I ate my first slow cooked older bird. It was just the breast meat but I did not like the flavor. I thought maybe frying up the loose breast meat in butter and spices might make it have a flavor I prefer. I guess I do not like chicken flavor I just like eating meat protein.

Maybe chicken flavor is best mixed in with other fatty and savory flavors? I mean if you ate a spoonful of salt or vinegar, you might say that you don't like those things based solely on that spoonful, but obviously they taste great when mixed in with the right types of other flavors and textures.