Processed our first chicken

[Nortonsmom]

I thought freezing side stepped the rigor step??? When you defrost him you will have skipped the rigor?? If not freezing right away I "think" they are supposed to rest in the frig overnight....mine usually just go in the freezer...someone who knows more step please!!! I need to know too!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I personally recommend 3 days in the fridge before freezing. I'm not extremely experienced, and some of the roos i have butchered have been older and tougher, but the one i rested just overnight was hard to eat - even as rooster and dumplings. It is my understanding, though i haven't tried it, that freezing does NOT sidestep the rigor. Unless you actually are fast enough to dress and cook the chicken before rigor sets in (i'm NOT that fast), then it needs time for break down of tissue and whatnot.

 

[CoopDelisle]

Ok. I have been reading all the threads about chicken processing and taste, and trying to prepare for the day when we process our packing peanuts we just got. I was getting used to the idea, and then I read about 4 minutes of
twitching, etc. I know I need to get real---one minute running around alive, the next in the crock pot. Maybe I should not have read these threads after just watching a documentary about the Donner Party!

Coop

 

[teach1rusl]

Congrats on your first processing! I hope to never do it myself, but admire people who take it upon themselves to so...

 

[silkiechicken]

Don't be concerned about the 4 minutes twitching. If you take a leg off of an animal, such as a frog with a big sciatic nerve, and cut the nerve shorter and shorter, each time you make a cut, the leg will twitch. It's plain biology and the twitching is a sign that the animal is no longer sending signals to the muscles, thus they are spazing out. Worry if you cut, drain, and there is no twitching. The time from cut to twitch is the critical point, not the time spent twitching.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I personally do not like the bleed out method. I prefer to cut off the head or at least cut the artery and then break the neck. No matter what anyone tells me, those roos have looked very much alive and suffering to me while they bled out. Twitching i can handle - eyes opening and looking at me, i cannot. I have also not noticed any significant difference in the cleaning process or the meat as long as i let them hang upside down for a few minutes.

 

[CoopDelisle]

Quote:
I personally do not like the bleed out method. I prefer to cut off the head or at least cut the artery and then break the neck. No matter what anyone tells me, those roos have looked very much alive and suffering to me while they bled out. Twitching i can handle - eyes opening and looking at me, i cannot. I have also not noticed any significant difference in the cleaning process or the meat as long as i let them hang upside down for a few minutes.

Hmm. Hubs tells me that is the way he remembers doing it when he was young, ie cutting off the head (between two nails on a stump). I am glad he is a willing partner in this as he will do the processing, I the cooking. I just want it to be as humane as possible. They will definitely have a great life up till then....

Coop