Tough but moist

[cassie]

I don't brine mine. I just age them. Can't bear the thought of all that salt....

 

[saddina]

Quote:
The meat itself isn't at all salty, you need the salt in the brine to trigger osmosis so that the cells intake the water in the brine, most of the salt you dump out, you just need it for the molecular reaction.

(yeah I married a science teacher)

If you need to bulk brine, use a 5 gal bucket (food safe pls), drill a 3/8ths hole in the lid, drop a digital thermometer probe into the brine, add ice to hit 30 degrees (salt lowers freezing point of water) and set it to alarm at 40 degrees F. If it rings before time is up, add a cup or 2 of ice and reset thermometer.
I really should you tube it next time, but on food network, alton brown's thanksgiving turkey brine is the same set up, and he's far more fun to watch than I am.

 

[UncleHoot]

I guess I'm just trying to figure out what people might mean by "tough and stringy". I generally freeze mine within hours of being processed, and I've loved every one that I've eaten.

Grocery store chicken often seems really bland, "mushy" and dry, by comparison. I can't stand mushy and dry. Perhaps I'm different from the average consumer. I always tell people that if they don't like it, they're under no obligation to buy from me again. I don't understand it, but I also don't understand why people don't like brocolli.

To each his own.

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
It's kind of like the difference between a really good very tender piece of beef tenderloin and a very inexpensive steak that has been cooked without being marinated. The cheap steak can still be juicey, but is very tough and very hard to chew.

jamie

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Seems like I remember freezing to be fine, but cooking immediately to be bad.

 

[saddina]

It's all about referance point. If grocery chickens are mushy, then he likes his chickens firmer. However if you're used to the chickens at the market, than a firmer chicken may be seen as tough.

 

[ging3rhoffman]

Next week we are going to take our chickens to an amish man to be processed. Can i simply bring them home and put them in the freezer or do i need to brine them? Can you freeze them and then brine them in the frig while they thawl?

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
Hi; Dave;

We were sure impressed with how well the chicken plucker worked, very slick. If I decide to build one, I'll give you a holler for the parts.

We realized that a number of our birds are at a good weight for rotisserie cooking. We like to have about a 3 pound dressed weight for the rotisserie, It fits well on the gas infrared grill and that size seems to cook in right about an hour which is nice.

We still have alot of birds that we will give 2-3 more weeks to.

The Mineral Pack is working out great. A note to others here so they know what we are talking about:

I have been feeding my chickens my own feed mix, but could not find a proper and cost effective vitamin / mineral mix at the local feed mills. I was on the BYC site here and found dave. He is about a chicken farmer about a hour away from me. I drove out to his farm and saw where he raises his birds, and he sold me a couple bags of his custom mixed vitamin / mineral mix for my own birds. I've been mixing it in and feeding it to my birds for the past 5 days now. The birds seem like they have been eating and drinking more in the past 5 days since I started them on the vitamin / mineral sup. I have not lost anyone to leg problems in the last 5 days.

Dave invited me out to his place on Monday, and we went out for about a hour to watch his process chickens. It was the first time they used the chicken plucker they built and it was very impressive. Much Much faster than plucking by hand.

I'll update everyone here in a few weeks on how the vitamin / mineral supplement worked out on my Cornish X.

Dave; Would the Supplement be considered organic? I was just thinking if it is vitamins / minerals that perhaps they are able to label it as organic without as much trouble as regular food?

Jamie

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
I am brining them from now on. I had poor results with the one that was not brined that I did 2 nights ago (the one we are talking about in this post) and I have had some what inconsistent results in the birds that I purchased from a local farm, and I suspect they were not brined.

Jamie

 

[whippet128]

Hey Jamie
Glad to here that your leg problems stopped. I am not sure if the mineral pak could be labeled organic or not. It is all natural with no animal byproducts. That was our big concern. Use just 10 lbs to 90 lbs of grain and you will be just fine. With this pak your birds will use more of the food you are feeding them.

Ya the chicken plucker is really cool. I cant believe what a time saver it is. I never want to pluck by hand again. Well maybe to race someone. But that is it.

Any questions just call you have my number
Later
Dave