Very disappointed

[WalkingWolf]

I have never had turn orange unless they dried out, did you cover them while resting. You should let your chicken meat rest in ice water, at the very least a sealed bag or covered container.

 

[rhodeislandredraiser]

I put them in a pan of ice water in the refrigerator.

 

[CARS]

Never seen orange either. I'm baffled. Is there anyone in the area that is a BYC member or a helpful butcher in the area that can lend some assistance??

You don't have your chickens under high-power lines do you???

 

[Country Living Farm]

I just cooked my chickens in a slow cooker for about 18 hours. The meat is so tender and falls off the bone. You do the same thing for rabbits too.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I've seen orange-ish breast meat on mine. I never gave it a thought. It's from all the good greens they eat when free-ranging. All that beta-carotene in the greens.

How did your chicken and dumplings turn out with the one you cooked in the crock pot?

I wanted to add my two cents, on cooking the rangy roos. I also slow cook mine, or use a pressure cooker. I let them cook until the meat falls off the bones. In the winter, when I don't mind having the oven on for a long time, I'll sometimes slow roast one. I set the temp at 250-300F, put the bird in my clay cooker (with a lid), after seasoning, and put about an inch of water in the bottom of the cooker, so it doesn't dry out. I may cook it anywhere from 4-6 hours, I check once an hour after 4 hrs. I cook it until it's tender. It'll get there eventually. Cooked like this, it doesn't dry out, either. You can also use an oven bag. Low temp, cook for a looonnng time.

In my experience, in the early stage of cooking, they turn rubbery, but as they cook longer, the meat begins to soften, (as long as the temps not too high, and it's not allowed to dry out) and by the time the skin begins to crisp and caramelize, it'll be getting tender.

Marinating overnight in buttermilk can help, too, or any other acidic marinade, citrus, vinegar, pineapple, yogurt, tomato....experiment, see what you come up with. If you use buttermilk, (or most of the others, for that matter) you can add that to the pot when you cook it, too.

 

[greyfields]

My thoughts:

1) Be sure the birds have rested in the fridge at least 48 hours before cooking them.

2) Commercial chicken is brined up to 25% moisture content, meaning most people aren't used to cooking home-reared chickens. Cooking times are far quicker.

3) "So tough she choked" says two things to me. a) the chicken was overcooked, did you use a meat thermometer b) farm reared birds will be 'tougher' in the sense the muscles hvae been used and will be stringier

good luck!

 

[Big George]

Last year I raised RIRs and had similar dissapointment. Only tried to eat two after aging and brining. Next I'm trying a Coq au Vin recipe. Slow cooking with lots of wine and bacon.
After that I'm emptying my freezer.
This year raised 27 cornish x rocks they dressed at 5.5 hens 7.5 cockerels in 9 yes NINE weeks. I kept there litter clean and they were beautiful white birds. It was a good experience. I just fried 5 last weekend to take to a family reunion, everybody loved them.
Just my thoughts good luck.

 

[rhodeislandredraiser]

Thank you all very much for your input. I truly do not want to package meat that is going to harm my family.

Dancingbear, the chicken and dumpings turned out great. Slow cooking it in the crock pot for 4 or 5 hours worked out wonderful. I still have not accomplished cooking it in the oven.

I am ordering some cornish rocks. Hopefully that will help.

 

[willheveland]

We bought a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie way back and really like it.I love the smell that goes through the whole house when cooking.We've fixed chicken many ways and we like this the most.The skin is the best part.Awesome!
I know you are laughing because of the commercials on TV about the Ronco. I still do. But really they do work good.
That rubbery texture you talked about I usually say comes from the age of the bird.JMHO Will