What went wrong?

[Fabiola]

I need some advice from experts , I processed 4 roosters about a month ago, everything went fine with the process, but the meat has been in the freezer and now is not edible, it s very stiff and hard and the color is dark red, almost black in some parts only, I would like to now what did I do wrong, since I need to process 6 more birds. Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[redsoxs]

1. Did you bleed the birds? Birds need to be bled out before processing. Not sure if that totally explains the darkness of the meat.
2. Meat will be tough(er) if it isn't allowed to "rest" for 2-3 days in the fridge (either before freezing or after thawing). Bird is in rigor mortis before that = tough stringy meat.
3. Depending on the age of the roosters they may have been better suited for the crock pot or oven. With old rangy birds the cooking options are limited.

Better luck on the remaining birds.

 

[Fabiola]

I did bleed the roosters, the meat looks exactly like when they are in rigor mortis.

 

[Fabiola]

I forgot to say, the meat was in th fridge about 5 days after processing and before freezing. Another thing, one of the chickens was very stiff and hard right after it finish bledding, what do I do in this case? Throw it away, or proceed with the plucking?

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I didn't see if you mentioned how old the roosters were that you processed. Most of my birds were meat birds in the 8 - 10 week old range, but I have butchered one mature (6 month old) rooster. His meat was much darker and tougher. I therefore cooked him in a slow, moist method, having researched a recipie for coc-au-vin, which is basically slow cooking the rooster in a bottle of red wine. It was very tasty, but like a pot-roast, cooked for many hours.

I can't make any other guesses other than to ask about your slaughtering technique. I know that the more stressed an animal is during the process the tougher the meat becomes because of the adrenaline being pumped into its body. Was the process relatively calm or did you have to chase the bird all over the yard before wrestling it to the chopping block (or whatever method you used)?

 

[SJ]

1. Did you bleed the birds? Birds need to be bled out before processing. Not sure if that totally explains the darkness of the meat.
2. Meat will be tough(er) if it isn't allowed to "rest" for 2-3 days in the fridge (either before freezing or after thawing). Bird is in rigor mortis before that = tough stringy meat.
3. Depending on the age of the roosters they may have been better suited for the crock pot or oven. With old rangy birds the cooking options are limited.

Better luck on the remaining birds.

X2

 

[SJ]

Age and diet greatly affect the color and texture of any meat. Some breeds of chicken have darker meat. An 18 week old NHR has firmer and darker meat than a 10 week old CornishX.
When allowed to rest under refridgeration, were the carcasses left to the open air(can cause dehydration of meat...dark and tough meat) or were they sealed in a vapor barrier of sort(Ziplock bag, freezer wrap, saran wrap, or vacuum wrapped)?

 

[Elke Beck]

How old were your birds? Because the older they are, the darker and tougher the meat. Old roosters can have meat that looks almost like beef or lamb.

Trying stewing a bird. Put it in a stock pot, add water or chicken stock to cover halfway up the side of the bird, add onions, celery, carrots, and/or herbs and spices and salt and pepper to taste, then cover tight and cook about 4 to 8 hours. You can do it in a crockpot, but only put in about a cup of water so that it won't burn before the juice starts flowing. This will make a chicken and noodles that, as they say in the South, will make you want to slap your mama!

 

[Fabiola]

They were 24 weeks, and one was old but cannot determine its age.