Tough meat...?

[Skittlez]

Wow, great info! I wasn't expecting something so simple as let them fridge longer. I guess mine are in the fridge 1-2 days before cooking. Usually in the oven around 325 degrees. I thought maybe my food was too low quality, it is just generic feed store crumbles.

The roosters are about 4-6 pounds dressed, but their meat is too fiberous(I know not a real word

) It seems stringy and sometimes bruised.

Do you still let them sit for a few days before you put them in the freezer too?

I think I am going to switch to flock raiser and try my own mix and see if that helps too.

The oldest rooster we dressed was about 1 yr old and mean as spit, he was the toughest meat ever.

I have heard captionizing(SP?) helps, but I'm not ready to try that yet.

I'm too chicken! HeHe.

 

[Kedreeva]

Invest in a crock pot! That is how we cook most of our chickens. You can probably follow the advice of the others, let it sit for a couple days in the fridge to age and then freeze them.

In the A.M., take the frozen bird, place it whole into the crock pot... butter and herb the skin you can reach, add a cup of water to the bottom of the crock. Chop and clean some potato chunks (we use baby reds!) and if you want, some carrot chunks. I haven't tried other veggies, not sure how they'd change the flavor but adding in the potato chunks and the carrot chunks doesn't affect the bird flavor. Cover crock, set to low, and let it cook for 8-10 hours. The meat will literally fall off the bones when you look at it, and you will have your side dish made as well. Never had a tough bird this way.

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
I freeze right away and let them sit after they thaw. It works either way. I just use the feedstore crumbles and haven't had any problems with the meat.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I really don't think the feed has that much to do with the quality of the meat. I give mine generic layer pellets and let them free-range to help cut their costs. I think you need the special broiler feed when you're raising the Cornish Xs that need to grow big quickly.

Could the meat be getting bruised when you're butchering? Do you chop & let them thrash it out on the ground? Are they getting a good bleed-out? Are you using a mechanical plucker? Are you taking a long time to pluck & clean?

Try adding more moisture when you're roasting them, use an oven bag, or add broth to the pan. You deserve to get some tasty meat for all your effort in raising & processing your own!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Remember that this is not “grocery chicken” and will not be soft and mushy like that chicken (like veal is soft).

Your chicken has honest muscle mass that has aged beyond a couple weeks (Cornish cross chicken/grocery store chicken). It will have texture or be fiber-ous like you state. When you eat it, think of it like steak – is it tough/over cooked (you cannot chew it, it is dry and basically not even the dog would touch it) or does it have texture like a steak cooked well (not cooked "well done", but cooked the correct way/way you like).


Unless I am making soup/stock, we cook our on the BBQ, all over indirect heat. We do both whole (beer can chicken) or halves – very rarely pieces. I rarely cook chicken in the oven.

 

[Skittlez]

Could the meat be getting bruised when you're butchering? Do you chop & let them thrash it out on the ground? Are they getting a good bleed-out? Are you using a mechanical plucker? Are you taking a long time to pluck & clean?

I don't dress them, my husband does. But, yes, he chops--they run. I don't think he hangs them to bleed out. I think he lets them lay on the ground til the blood stops running. He plucks by hand. He literally rips handfuls of feathers at a time. He has been dressing all kinds of animals for 30 yrs, so I thought he knew what he was doing.

Maybe he is causing the meat to be tough?

I do all the chicken raising and feeding-He does the chopping and dressing.

I am glad the food I feed them is ok. I will see if we can't dress them a little different next time.​

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

That is how I was raised, chop and let run wild - then us kids would follow and "catch" when the bird was done.

Now I still chop, but I hang them to bleed after they loose their head and sometimes even hold their wings for less flapping (cause sometimes I get a bruised wing). I use a swing frame to hang my birds.

 

[Skittlez]

I use a swing frame to hang my birds.

Oooh..I have heavy duty clothes line poles. I can hang 4 birds per pole. I hope the neighbors won't mind..​

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
I don't dress them, my husband does. But, yes, he chops--they run. I don't think he hangs them to bleed out. I think he lets them lay on the ground til the blood stops running. He plucks by hand. He literally rips handfuls of feathers at a time. He has been dressing all kinds of animals for 30 yrs, so I thought he knew what he was doing.

Maybe he is causing the meat to be tough?

I do all the chicken raising and feeding-He does the chopping and dressing.

I am glad the food I feed them is ok. I will see if we can't dress them a little different next time.

The flopping on the ground is probally the cause of the bruising. The toughness would most likely be a aging/cooking method problem.

 

[mstricer]

Quote:
I had the same problem with the toughness, Let them set for 48 or more hours. I put mine in a cooler with ice and water. The first one that tasted good had set for a little over 48 hrs and it was yummy