tough and chewy 8-9 wk old chicken meat

[Pollokeeper]

I butchered 4 cornish X yesterday and baked one the same day. Yes, it was a little chewy. I called it "texture" when I ate it and said that it was delicious at the time. I will know better next time.

 

[dancingbear]

D'Angelo N Va. :

This was a good lesson for me too. i also had killed a chicken and soaked it and in a few hours cooked it....OMG, I almost pulled my teeth out..so I see now I should have soaked them in brine for about 24 hrs....thanks guys.

Unless it's an older bird, like a dual-purpose type bird, you don't need the brine or ice water. Just let it age in the fridge a couple of days.

Most people use ice water for a quick chill while processing, but once the birds are cold, you can dump the water. I usually pile them up in a big roasting pan or my canner, (without water or brine) put the lid on, (or cover with plastic wrap) so the skin doesn't dry out, and stick them in the fridge. I like to prop them with the body opening down, so excess fluid drains out while they age. After they age a few days, I bag them up and freeze them. I let them age before bagging, (I like to leave them whole) so that the legs are more flexible, and it's easier to package them.

I don't like to soak them in ice water while aging, as the meat soaks up too much liquid. I will sometime brine an older bird overnight before cooking, because the salt in the meat helps keep it from drying out too much. You don't need that with the broiler hybrid type birds, they'll be moist and tender anyway, unless you let them get 20 weeks old or more. Most would drop dead before that anyway.

So you can soak them in brine, but it's really not needed. It's the aging that is essential.​

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Unless it's an older bird, like a dual-purpose type bird, you don't need the brine or ice water. Just let it age in the fridge a couple of days.

Most people use ice water for a quick chill while processing, but once the birds are cold, you can dump the water. I usually pile them up in a big roasting pan or my canner, (without water or brine) put the lid on, (or cover with plastic wrap) so the skin doesn't dry out, and stick them in the fridge. I like to prop them with the body opening down, so excess fluid drains out while they age. After they age a few days, I bag them up and freeze them. I let them age before bagging, (I like to leave them whole) so that the legs are more flexible, and it's easier to package them.

I don't like to soak them in ice water while aging, as the meat soaks up too much liquid. I will sometime brine an older bird overnight before cooking, because the salt in the meat helps keep it from drying out too much. You don't need that with the broiler hybrid type birds, they'll be moist and tender anyway, unless you let them get 20 weeks old or more. Most would drop dead before that anyway.

So you can soak them in brine, but it's really not needed. It's the aging that is essential.

Exactly- there is a huge difference between brine and ice water, even salted ice water. I use a couple of cups of salt for about 50 gallons of ice water. This is NOT a brine. It is a soak, which doesn't change the flavor. The little bit of salt I use breaks the meat down a bit, keeps the water colder, and helps pull the blood out of the meat. The BRINE I sometimes make is a cup of salt, a cup of sugar, sometimes a lot of cidar vinegar, and less than a gallon of water. That will SIGNIFICANTLY change the flavor of the meat, and if it's the vinegar recipe, should not have meat soaking in it for more than a few hours or it will not taste good. The problem with confusing a soak with a brine is that people are going to look up a "brine" recipe, use it, then think in order to have tender birds, they need to taste salty, which isn't true.

 

[KatieH]

Okay, I knew to let them rest before cooking, but it didn't occur to me to do it with the ones I put in the freezer. How can you loosen them up if you froze them before letting them rest?

 

[Michele S]

Quote:
From what I read, you can't loosen them up once they are frozen. I let mine age 4 days in the fridge and it was night and day.

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Quote:
From a medical point of view this is exactly correct.

When the bird dies...even if its relaxed at death, muscles go into a rigor or contracted state. It can take up to 48 hours for the Tropamycin and troponin(sp) to break down or degrade which will release the contracted state of those muscles. You don't necessarily need to let it sit in a brine although the brine will prevent bacteria growth.

Hope this helps

 

[bnentrup]

In respect to the brine solution; I think this may be a ole-wives tale for any type meat. Any meat that touches water = more bacteria despite any attempt to kill bacteria/bleed out further/ or alter flavor. If you soak in water you will wash the flavor away. This comes from Emeril!!!

 

[jBlaze]

Hilarious!
I thought that toughness was because they were real birds, not store birds. ROFL!


So glad I saw something about resting, because I got another 9 birds ready to go in a couple weeks.

Sort of explains a little about the few we have done though. Frst time we onl y had 2 birds done, a young roo and an old hen, both layer bred. They went right into the freezer, I thought touge because of the breed.
Later we did about 10 cronish X and I re-packaged them. They are much better. Guess they spent enough time on the counter, lol. and here I was trying my darndest to hurry. Glad I wasn't any quicker, haha!
I suppose they would prob be a bit better if I didn't stick them in the freezer right away.

So glad to have this board, geeze, what the heck did we all do before internet!!!!

 

[Didelphus]

When we did our first batch of Cornish X's, a few weeks ago, I had read that you have to age them so I left mine in ice water for 4 days (kept adding ice/changing the water). After reading more I was worried that I had messed them up by soaking them instead of just chilling them (not sitting in water) in the fridge but they are all just lovely and tender. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, was complaining that the birds that they just did were tough and not tasty and I'm thinking it is because they didn't age them.
Laura

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
The best poultry comes from brining them IMO. Most people accustomed to and trained in classical cooking brine all birds before cooking. In fact it was once a 'secret' they held over lowly home cooks to make themselves look more knowledgeable and therefore an expert in culinary skills.

We use the same technique on all home grown poultry that we use for our Thanksgiving turkey. You can adjust the quantity and use it on chicken, guinea, ducks, geese, quail, etc.

See my blog for the details.


http://bigredcouch.com/journal/?p=2250

The brining gives the bird 2 - 3 days to age and tenderize.

Also, if the chickens you plan to eat have a lot of running around space you are letting them build muscles which will toughen up with so much exercise.