Resting before wrapping

[Sally_O]

We have ours in lightly salted ice water in big garbage cans with bags. Is that an okay medium in which to let them rest for two days?

They were done by 8:30 last night. We were going to wrap today but have read that they need to rest for up to 3 days. I'm going out of town this afternoon till Tues pm. Can we wait till Wed am to wrap? If not, my sons and husband can do the deed tomorrow -- I just hate to miss it.

My main question is: in what medium do we let them rest? Is the icy lightly-salted water ok? Do we need to change it? It's a tad bloody but not bad. Our fridge is NOT big enough by a long shot.

Thanks! You all have been SO helpful. I hope I can return the favor to another newbie one day!

 

[homestead tim]

i think that will be fine! Keep icing the water. I never heard about salting the water but i dont think that will hurt!

Also, i am on my second batch of Planet Whizbang Shrink wrap bags. Expensive but worth it!

 

[Sally_O]

The downside to garbage cans/bags is that you need a lot more ice than if we had used coolers. Keeping them as cold as they need to be is much harder in the garbage bags. Lesson learned for next time...

 

[Elke Beck]

I bag mine right after processing and do not soak them. I keep them either in a cooler filled with ice, or yesterday I did 5 and did not have ice, so I put them into my big freezer as I finished them, then took them all out and put them in the spare frig to rest.

I don't like meat that has been soaked. I don't brine my meat, and I expect to have the celebrity chefs fromt he Food Network to show up at my home with pitchforks and torches any day now. When I process my chickens, I just rinse them and stick them into a bag. I have not found any problem with them chilling properly.