Is this appropriate?

[oldrooster]

This whole resting thing throws me for a loop... Fishermen don't do it. Does the poultry industry "rest" their birds before sending them to market for people to buy?

Some report cooking the same day and still getting a reasonable product... maybe before rigor sets in? But sometimes we can feel the rigor setting in a bit by the time we remove from the cone to the table for finishing... and my daughter has to kinda work their legs a little to loosen things up.

What happens if you freeze immediately after processing? Do you still then rest the meat for a few days after defrosting?

Are cows and pigs rested before preparation as well?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!

My grandparents on both sides would kill and cook a fresh chicken all the time without issues on the farm, it did not matter if it was bakes, boiled or fried..... but I think the difference was rigor had not the chance to set in.....
Also it takes days for a "fresh" chicken to get to a store and then a few days to make it into the meat case to buy it, so I have no idea on the truthfullness of the "rest period" at the facility it was butchered at

 

[Dr.GarryTTucker]

So just a double question. I wanna make sure I don’t ruin the meat. I can keep chicken in a cooler filled with ice for 3-4 days as long as chicken stays covered with ice? What’s the longest it can be kept in the cooler? Are there specifics I need to mind?

 

[aart]

So just a double question. I wanna make sure I don’t ruin the meat. I can keep chicken in a cooler filled with ice for 3-4 days as long as chicken stays covered with ice? What’s the longest it can be kept in the cooler? Are there specifics I need to mind?

I would not. Refrigerator is safer. 3 days resting in freezer bags then into freezer or pot/grill for me.

 

[Dr.GarryTTucker]

Is that because fridge keeps a constant temp? Or because it’s less likely to have bacteria?

 

[R2elk]

Are cows and pigs rested before preparation as well?

Usually a week to ten days hanging in a cooler.

 

[Amer]

I've had to rest the birds or the carcass was too tough.
You're making me jealous. I can almost taste the deliciousness. I sure wish Buckeye cockerels took a little shorter to grow. We breed them and the nice thing is you can eat the cockerels, but they take a long time to grow. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
Good job!

 

[aart]

Is that because fridge keeps a constant temp? Or because it’s less likely to have bacteria?

Both, but mostly constant temp.

 

[EquiSally]

This whole resting thing throws me for a loop... Fishermen don't do it. Does the poultry industry "rest" their birds before sending them to market for people to buy?

Some report cooking the same day and still getting a reasonable product... maybe before rigor sets in? But sometimes we can feel the rigor setting in a bit by the time we remove from the cone to the table for finishing... and my daughter has to kinda work their legs a little to loosen things up.

What happens if you freeze immediately after processing? Do you still then rest the meat for a few days after defrosting?

Are cows and pigs rested before preparation as well?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!

This may have been answered already but our yearly steer or heifer is halved then rested/aged for two weeks in a hanging walk in cooler; which is pretty common according to the butcher shop whose cooler we use. Then we get it home where the family spends a couple days parting out the carcass, vacuum packing and freezing. Yum!

 

[Maeschak]

This may have been answered already but our yearly steer or heifer is halved then rested/aged for two weeks in a hanging walk in cooler; which is pretty common according to the butcher shop whose cooler we use. Then we get it home where the family spends a couple days parting out the carcass, vacuum packing and freezing. Yum!

Can I ask you what you keep your steer carcass in when you get it home? (During the few days it takes to break it all down). I would love to be able to do this but just cannot figure out how to keep the whole thing appropriately chilled once home during the parting out process. I thought about asking the butchers if I could pick up my steer a quarter at a time over the course of a few days...

 

[EquiSally]

Can I ask you what you keep your steer carcass in when you get it home? (During the few days it takes to break it all down). I would love to be able to do this but just cannot figure out how to keep the whole thing appropriately chilled once home during the parting out process. I thought about asking the butchers if I could pick up my steer a quarter at a time over the course of a few days...

A home-made truckbed sized “ice chest” that my dad made. It fits in the back of our long bed truck. Plywood on the outside, insulating foam board on the inside, which is covered in a metallic Mylar type sheeting. It’s ugly, but does the trick.
We also have 1 large chest freezer and 4 stand-up freezers so we try to get it broken down in small enough sections to freeze- then go back and cut steaks after frozen. It’s the easiest way for us with the ban-saw that my dad bought off a butcher some 30 years ago.