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Author Topic: Meat was tough  (Read 3080 times)

Helencus

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • NW Leicestershire
Meat was tough
« on: September 12, 2010, 08:15:38 pm »
We ate our cockerel that i killed a few weeks ago today. Disappointingly tough I'm afraid. How do you rear a bird free range without getting tough meat?

Fergie

  • Joined Oct 2009
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2010, 08:41:36 pm »
confine him to a cage & eat him at 16 weeks?

I'm afraid we've all got used to chicken from supermarkets being unnaturally tender - in real life he will run around & build up muscles which will add flavour but be tougher than you're used to.  Try slow cooking in a casserole.

John

tazbabe

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • ayrshire
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2010, 07:29:22 am »
interesting topic......we have a group of young chickens that i am convinced contains 3 or 4 cockerels which we intend to eat, and i was wondering the what would be the best time to go in with the chopper!   :chook:

you may light another's candle from your own without loss

BlueDaisy

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Grow your own - veg and chooks!
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2010, 08:36:44 am »
How old and what breed was he? WHat weight was he?
Did you hang him at all, and for how long?
Did you confine him for a period before dispatch, and if so, how long?
Finally how did you cook him?

Hardfeather

  • Guest
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2010, 09:33:16 am »
Next time, pluck and prepare the bird as you would normally. Then bring a cast iron pot of water to the boil. Place the bird, breast side down, in the water and put an old axe head on to keep it under the water.

Boil till the axe head is soft...the bird will be ready ten minutes later. ;)

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
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Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2010, 10:04:51 am »
Next time, pluck and prepare the bird as you would normally. Then bring a cast iron pot of water to the boil. Place the bird, breast side down, in the water and put an old axe head on to keep it under the water.

Boil till the axe head is soft...the bird will be ready ten minutes later. ;)
Very funny! ;D ;D ;D
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Hardfeather

  • Guest
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2010, 10:37:47 am »
Next time, pluck and prepare the bird as you would normally. Then bring a cast iron pot of water to the boil. Place the bird, breast side down, in the water and put an old axe head on to keep it under the water.

Boil till the axe head is soft...the bird will be ready ten minutes later. ;)
Very funny! ;D ;D ;D

Rosemary has a variation on that which is funny. She did tell me, but I can't remember what it was. :-[

The old jokes are the best...well, sometimes. I met a man the other day whom I hadn't seen for about fifteen years. He said the reason he remembered me was that I'd once told him the worst joke he'd ever heard ;D ::)

Hanging helps...no, not bad joke-tellers ::)...poultry. If the bird is hung for several days before cooking, the meat should be more tender. Then, as has been suggested, a slow method of cooking should help.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2010, 10:41:54 am by AengusOg »

Helencus

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • NW Leicestershire
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2010, 05:20:32 pm »
Very funny :-))
he was light Sussex about 22 weeks old I hung him for 1 day then froze him for a week defrosted and roasted. I didn't confine him at all.

Castle Farm

  • Joined Nov 2008
  • Hereford/Powys Border. near Hay-on-Wye
    • castlefarmeggs
Re: Meat was tough
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2010, 06:18:55 pm »
When you cull/dispatch a bird every fiber in it's body tenses up and hanging it for a couple of days relaxes the fibers.

If you freeze before they do relax it holds all the fibers in the meat in 'torment', so when you cook it it is 'tough'.
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