resting birds after processing

We brine our chickens right away. We use pickling salt at a half cup of salt per gallon and the water temp is 43-47 degrees for 24 hours. We find that this method works very well to help the resting/tenderizing process. After brining the birds for 24 hours we rinse them thoroughly and put them in a fresh water bath for another hour. Pull them out dry them and vacuum pack each one. They then go back into the refrigerator for 2 days before freezing. This has worked very well especially with older hens and roo's that you want to roast.

The only time we don't brine for a full day is when we are going to can the chicken meat. We use a pressure cooker for this and add salt and flavoring then.

Hope this helps.
 
yes, rest them before freezing or eating. we've got a walk-in cooler, i don't know how everyone else keeps them cool overnight, but rest them 12-24 hours, then freeze or eat.

we ate one 4-5 hours after processing and it was shoe leather. ate another one of them that was frozen for a week, same cooking process, and it was fine.

i have a friend that killed a rooster and ate it the same day, but his wife put it in a slow cooker for 5-6 hours. he said it was good.

at any rate, cool overnight at least (unless possibly slow cooker, like my friend)

chickens do not "cure" or "age" like beef, so there is no need to rest longer.
 
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