Tough chicken

[Toby Phillip]

Hello everyone. I am new to this so bear with me. I had a road island red hen that was eating her own eggs so I butchered her. She was a free range hen about 1 & 1/2 years old. I cut the end out of a plastic bottle and stuck her in it with her head out the bottom and cut her throat. She did not thrash around and bruise herself that way. After the blood drained I dipped her in boiling water and plucked her feathers, then cut her head and feet off then gutted her and cleaned her insides out. I then cut her into pieces, breasts, legs, thighs, ect. I put her in an open plastic bag in the fridg for two days. My wife then dipped her in egg and flower and fried her up. She was beautiful but when we tried to eat her she was too tough to eat. What did I do wrong?

 

[Free Spirit]

Your butchering methods were fine. You left her in the fridge for a couple of days, but was she still stiff from rigor mortis or was she loose when you moved the legs? If she was still in rigor then she may have needed some more time in the fridge. I'm assuming that your wife is an excellent cook and doubt it was from overcooking so I'd bet more time "resting" would have helped.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you on why she would have been tough. You could pop by the meat bird section for other suggestions on her toughness. Here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/21/meat-birds-etc

I hope other members there will be able to help you. Good luck and enjoy BYC

 

[Toby Phillip]

Thanks for the info. I had left the thigh attached to the leg and it was stiff. Does just leaving it in the fridge a few more days take care of the toughness? My wife is an excellent cook but she didn't boil the bird first. Would that have helped? As a teenager I have killed quail & pheasant and it was always good but of course I didn't cook it myself. Would it have helped to have soaked it in salt water? That's what we did with squirrel and rabbit.

 

[N F C]

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC.