tough and chewy 8-9 wk old chicken meat

[blueskylen]

i will be aging my meaties this time also - going to the butcher next tuesday- have not before and they have been a tiny bit chewy - but really good tasting.

i really didnt mind the " toothiness " of them too much, as I think store bought chicken has a mushy texture that I don't care for anymore.

 

[drs215]

Once again. Great info Ill be needing in a couple weeks. So the brine is just salt water right? Sorry double post

 

[TripleOval]

I always find these posts funny because I did the same thing and had the same emotional rollercoaster. Resting makes all the difference. I pulled a whole chicken out of the freezer Thursday morning, and he's been resting/thawing since. I'm hoping to roast him in a few hours.

 

[Chickenkeepr]

I made the same mistake with my first ones this year. I only let them sit over night (they were skinned and I had taken the breasts and legs/thighs off so that's what was in there). I'll definitely let them go at least 48hours next time. Here's a question though. Once cooled, is it ok to vacuum seal them, and then let them continue to rest in the fridge?

 

[CNJ]

We started butchering our fryer chickens. They were a cornish-cross, if I'm remembering correctly. They are around 8-9 weeks old.

The few days ago we butchered 2 for supper. I decided to pan-fry them. I did it just the way I always have with the chicken we had gotten from the store. I let them soak for 20-30 minutes in lightly salted water with a splash of lemon juice before coating them in egg and seasoned flour. Then I fried the pieces in vegetable oil. But the meat turned out tough and chewy.

Today we butchered 8 more. I froze 6 of them and thought I'd cook the remaining 2 for supper. I didn't soak them prior to cooking. They had just been butchered and cleaned. I thought maybe the soaking in salt and lemon had done something to the meat to make it tough and chewy. This time I roasted/baked them in chicken stock, seasoning and bacon laid across the top of the meat then sealed with foil and baked. But just like before, the meat was tough and chewy.

Does anyone know why the meat is turning out so horrible? Each way I prepared them was a way I have done so numerous times in the past with no problems and very little food left over. Now we have a ton of leftovers no one wants to eat because the meat is tough and chewy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks....
Kristy

You should rest the chicken for at least 48 hours, before you cook them, unless you are planning to make soup. Also, you shouldn't put liquid in the pan when you are roasting. You should stew the chicken if you use chicken stock. Stewed chicken won't be tuff......if you do it right.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

At the risk of inflating my own sense of worth (honestly, linking because I can find my own stuff easily, and I know these threads are surrounded by useful information from other experienced posters...)

No matter what you do, a rest to age the bird after butchering is a necessity. Either before, or after, freezing. I like to rest before, as the closer the meat is to freezing before you put it in the freezer, the less damage the freezing will do to the meat. Also, because adding a large quantity of not frozen mass to the freezer at once brings up the avg. temp of everything else in the freezer nearby. No one likes freezer burn.

After that?

You may find this thread instructive

and also this thread.

 

[Mountain Roost]

Agree with the aging. We harvest 16-18 birds at a time and let them all age whole in the refrigerator. That is a dry age. Soaking in plain water that is changed daily and kept cold is also good. On day 3 after harvest we cut them up into pieces and package. Some of them we put on the applewood smoker for 1.5 - 2 hrs for flavor before freezing.

We grow our meat birds out to 10 pounds live weight resulting in large pieces. I find cooking for at least an hour to 90 mins in a cast iron pot with water produces a really tender meat.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We have always rested meat birds 3 to 4 days Ma had a refrigerator just for them and milk sales