Author Topic: Hung chicken going green! (Read 4171 times)

fifixx · « **on:** March 30, 2014, 09:49:07 am »

Sorry- bit gross....

I killed 2 of our 6mth old cockerels last Monday, plucked one and the other one I hung it in an outhouse (cold here all week). Plucking it yesterday I noticed that the fat deposits are greenish. Hmmm - left it too long or is this ok to eat?

No smell and it's for stock - don't really want to cook up an off chicken though!

chrismahon · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2014, 11:01:50 am »

Did you gut them first Fifixx? We never hang ours, they are prepared immediately after despatch. Can't see any reason to hang them and we've had a problem in the past where they went off in a day. I thought it may be due to intestinal worms, because the crops were properly empty.

I wouldn't eat a green chicken under any circumstances. Food poisoning can make you very ill indeed.

fifixx · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2014, 12:45:09 pm »

Didn't gut - have a feeling that I may have to chuck - although legs are fine, it's just the fat bit alongside the breast. In the fridge now - I have just dispatched the final 2 cockerels and am going to pluck and gut NOW, then I'll have a look at the old one. So annoying - hate wasting anything.

shygirl · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2014, 01:29:56 pm »

its about 12 degrees here and last time we hung birds in that temp they went off quick. but ours had a smell.
I think it should be under 8 degrees to hang them for as long as a week.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2014, 03:41:27 pm »

I wouldn't hang a chicken at all. Kill, pluck, gut, truss, allow to cool in the fridge then either into freezer or use by the next day.
Don't eat it

fifixx · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2014, 04:09:04 pm »

I never hang chickens, just listened to an old boy saying it's better when hung for a week if its a cockerel - lesson learnt - will chuck to the badgers....

Fowlman · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2014, 06:35:29 pm »

As Fleecewife, kill, pluck, gut, truss rest in fridge.

john and helen · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2014, 09:48:56 pm »

isn't it only red meat you hang….

shygirl · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:12:00 pm »

I have always hung my birds whole, whether they were chickens, quails, ducks or turkeys. the first bird we killed we ate straight away and he was as tough as old boots. we had no idea about hanging.
I think it may have just been too mild and 6 days was maybe too long in that temperature. we usually hang for 3-4days. 5days for a turkey if its cold enough.
the luxury of having a spare fridge to use...

Stereo · « **Reply #9 on:** April 02, 2014, 03:58:29 pm »

I had one last year and asked on another forum. Got this response.

The 'greening' is usually due to the birds not cooling quickly and evenly and very typical of your description.

Did you hang them with the legs tied together? Was the green bird the middle one?

When hanging, the birds shouldn't be touching each other and you should hang by one leg to allow good air circulation.

Its a shame really as you could have eaten it as it wouldn't have done you any harm so long as was cooked as a chicken should be. Taste would have been fine as well.

The green is in the skin not the flesh.

We eat any green-stained birds without any problems. Far too good to waste!

I had hung the birds for 1 day close together with both feet tied and it was the middle one that went green. Still not sure I would eat it though!

Clansman · « **Reply #10 on:** April 14, 2014, 03:12:59 pm »

The old folks always tell you to hang a pheasant till the feathers start falling out and its usually green by then

I hang all my birds at least a week.

I killed a few turkeys just before Christmas and hung them for between 5-10 days before we ate/cooked them.

But as a little experiment I hung one right through into the new year for 30 days.

I don't bleed or gut them before hanging, they just had their necks dislocated and the blood collects in the neck cavity.

They were hung in the conservatory and the temperature has stayed between 0 and 10 centigrade during that time, no temperature control, just hanging in a cool shaded area.

I just removed the fillets and legs rather than do the whole plucking and gutting thing, its a lot easier!

The head/neck area did whiff a bit but not as bad as you would think, the rest of the bird looked just like the rest of them did after hanging a few days, i did open up the intestines after I was finished but nothing out the ordinary smell wise in there.

Definitely a more tender meat when hung but never noticed any difference between hanging for 10 days or 30