Kill and Eat

[AshleyMeurs]

Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada!! We are getting our Turkey from the Neighbor on Saturday and were planning on butchering and eating on Sunday... just wondering if there are any health issues or other issues associated with doing this! We could always butcher Saturday when we get it but planned for Sunday because we have people coming over to help with all the chickens at the same time!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

 

[Chick Charm]

I like mine to rest for a couple to 3 days. Are you going to brine it? I am not saying you can't eat it the same day or within 24 hrs but letting it rest does make it more tender. If you processed today, Sunday may still be pushing it.

Wish ya the best.

 

[onehorse_2000]

Never had a problem with processing and eating in the same day. Not buying the 3 days of rest makes it more tender, but brining probably will, but we never have brined and never felt ours where tough, quite the opposite, in fall of the bone tender no matter how we abused it in the oven (we have a bad habit of forgetting our turkey is in the oven, so they tend to get extra cook time).

 

[hdmax]

Never had a problem with processing and eating in the same day. Not buying the 3 days of rest makes it more tender, but brining probably will, but we never have brined and never felt ours where tough, quite the opposite, in fall of the bone tender no matter how we abused it in the oven (we have a bad habit of forgetting our turkey is in the oven, so they tend to get extra cook time).

If you don't mind taking a chance on eating a bird that is in full rigger, then you are right! Resting any meat IE: Deer, Beef, Pork, Chicken, and yes Turkey for several days will make the meat much more tender. And older the animal, the longer the resting time needs to be, up to maybe 7 days. (And some say you can go 10 days! But before I'd rest an animal more then 4-5 days, I'd use a brine bath.)

 

[chicken pickin]

After I process a chicken or a turkey I let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 3 days so it can go through the rigor phase. Eating a bird the day it was processed may result in very tough meat. Of course their is no health risk to eating it soon after process. If at all possible I would say try your best to process it tonight if not then early tomorrow and then let it sit in a brine in the refrigerator until sunday at cooking time.

 

[amynrichie]

Do you rest the meat prior to freezing also?

 

[chicken pickin]

Do you rest the meat prior to freezing also?

I do. I leave the meat in the refrigerator for 3 days before I freeze or eat. Some say they freeze it immediately and let it go through rigor during the thawing process. I prefer to let rigor pass before freezing.

 

[Macs farm]

I had a tough bird by eating same day, with in 4 hours. 24 hours seemed fine. I aim for 48 if possible now. We process lamb and many hang over night before breaking down and freezing it. 6 day in a cool room gives me the tastiest, tenderest lamb I've ever had. i'm going to look into the brining process and give it a go.

 

[amynrichie]

How do you brine a turkey? And for how long?

 

[retlaw]

Heritage birds don't need to be placed in a brine.
Industry birds do well in a brine.

Heritage birds are closer to a wild animal so they are much leaner and should be cooked at higher heat for shorter time.
I cook heritage at 400 to 450 wrapped in parchment paper.
Comes out perfect every time.

When I cooked a heritage at low heat like one will do with a Industry bird because of the loads of fat it has the heritage turned out to have tough dark meat.
The lack of fat and slow cooking time damaged the quality of the heritage bird.

No brine at high heat for heritage gets me the same comments every time,
"That's the best turkey I have ever eaten"
What more can one ask for.