processing wormer questions...

[holderh]

Hi we are going to process our roosters tomorrow and I had a couple of questions as this is the first time for us.
1st- I had to worm my layers, they had round worms. I had the roosters separated but we had a severe thunderstorm and it ripped tbe netting that was over the pen. They might have gotten into the layers feed that had the wormer in it. If they did it wasn't much and it was only one day. Would the meat still be ok to eat or do we need to wait a little longer before we process? I wouldn't think it would hurt since it wasn't much if at all but I want to be sure.

Second question....I have read that the meat needs to rest in the fridge 3 days before freezing. Does it have to be the fridge? We really don't have room...I think I remember reading some people get a tote and fill it with ice water and leave it in the garage for overnight. Would this be safe? Our garage isn't heated and its been in the thirties at night....if its safe for the meat to be left in a tote of ice water how many days do you leave it before freezing?

Thanks!

 

[bobbi-j]

Not sure about the wormer question, as I've never wormed my birds. Until this year, we had never let the meat "rest" before freezing. It does help tenderize, but I don't know of any other reason it has to be done. You can always let it set in the fridge for a couple of days as it's thawing and I would think it would have the same effect. If you don't have time for that, just cook it low and slow and will be nice, tender and juicy. Oven bags are a wonderful thing.

 

[holderh]

Thanks for the response! Yeah i was thinking of just freezing immediately after processing. and cooking overnight in a crock pot....I may try that this time around....however we have been so busy and are just now getting time to do this.....they are probably 25 weeks old! So the meat may be terribly tough. Any thoughts on that?...
.anyone know of any other reason for the ice bath besides tenderizingand if a big tote would work instead of a cooler.

 

[donrae]

Resting a bird is to allow rigor to pass from the tissue and makes for a more tender bird. Your birds won't be especially tougher than they were 5 weeks ago, so no worries there. They will be tougher than store bought chicken, again low and slow.

You can get the same effect from letting the bird rest in the fridge a few days while thawing. Pull it out on Monday, plan to put it in the crockpot Thurs am. That way one bird is in the fridge at a time and it's not a huge space hog. Or, just letting them cool in the totes should be fine, if you have room for them.

 

[holderh]

Thanks so much.....so what I plan is after my sh butchers them we will leave in an ice bath in totes overnight then vacuum seal them and freeze. When we are ready to cook one I Will let it thaw out in the fridge a couple of days and roast it on a low setting....does that sound good.....we have never done this before so I guess I'm afraid of doing something wrong and spoiling the meat.

 

[bobbi-j]

As long as the meat is kept cold enough, you won't spoil it. It may take you a couple of tries to find a cooking method that suits you, but that's part of the fun. The other day, I took mine right out of the freezer, put in an oven bag and roasted it for 3 1/2 hrs. on 325. It was a 6 month old rooster, and he was as tender as could be and the meat was falling off the bone. When we were done with supper, I picked the rest of the meat off the carcass and made homemade chicken noodle soup the next day for supper.