Rubbery chicken

[4catslotschickens]

Hi, my first post here

Last week end I started butchering the meat birds I bought this spring, They are LegHorn roosters, they were sold as a "Frying Pan Special" at a great price so I got 25 of them. They are about 4-5 mounths old. First we fried them on the stove till done, tasted good but very rubbery, next we did some in the oven with mushroom soup and rice, STILL rubbery. Is this type of chicken just plane rubbery and I'm out of luck, did I wait to long to butcher them, or do you think there is something I've done wrong butchering the chickens??

Thanks

 

[Bring]

How long did you wait after butcher to eat them? I wait 3 days with them in the fridge before I freeze or cook them. Helps them to be not rubbery.

 

[4catslotschickens]

Same day and the next day, I wanted fresh chicken dinnier.

 

[Bring]

The three days allows the bird to soften up completely. (come out of rigormortis completely). Maybe try it?

 

[4catslotschickens]

will try, thank you

 

[AZBootsie]

 

[al6517]

Regardless of how good of a cook you are and if you age the fire out of those birds they will still have an off texture. Leghorns are not a meat bird breed, very thin and gangly, giving it alot of sinew and tough muscle meat. Leghorns are traditional layers not meat birds. It's just another way for the allmighty hatcheries to unload their unsold less desirable breeds in mass by telling you they are good to eat. You could be Julia Childs in the kitchen and you won't get a leghorn to be a decent table bird, and that's a fact.

 

[Bring]

Also, homegrown birds tend to be a bit more tough than store bought but shouldn't be rubbery.

 

[france]

We soak our birds in very cold water for 5-8 hours after processing. Adding more cold water periodically. Then we can freeze or eat. We have had no problems with rubbery birds.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

How you cook them will have an enormous effect. Moist cooking and certainly not frying is required the older a bird gets. Search cooking heritage birds. Soaking in a brine prior to cooking helps too.