| Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you don't want the blood and mess from decapitation you could always chok... oh, um, maybe not. |
| Originally Posted by davidhunternyc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I live in one of the busiest big cities in the world, New York. When I moved here, it was beyond my wildest imagination when I discovered that, just a few blocks from my apartment, there was a live chicken market. I am an avid cook and I generally roast a chicken once a week so I have had extensive hands on experience will all sorts of chickens. I generally prefer the best-of-the-best organic chickens, but having to pay $18 for a 3 pound chicken sends a shock to my wallet. I now often go to the live chicken market where I can buy a 4 pound chicken for around $8. There are pluses and minuses to buying both kinds of chickens but I have learned a lot. The biggest obstacle for me was how do I prepare a live chicken for cooking. Through trial and error and many conversations over the internet, here is what I discovered about live chickens. Generally within a half hour of killing a live chicken, rigor mortis sets in. I have seen at the chicken market, some people try to avert this by pouring vodka down their throats and letting the chicken run around until it is completely inebriated, but it doesn't work. Even if you manage to get the chicken into the oven before rigor mortis sets in, your chicken will still come out tough and inedible. Traditionally, when a live chicken is killed, it is hung upside down, with its feathers on, outside for a couple of days. The feathers keep bugs away and keeps the flesh from spoiling. Letting the bird rest for a couple of days, lets the rigor mortis pass and allows the muscles to relax. After, the bird can be plucked and roasted. Even though a couple of days have passed from killing the bird to the dinner table, the bird will taste very different from what we are used to from the supermarket variety. The meat will still have a stiffer texture and not be as tender. The answer to this is, "brining". Before I get to brining, I have had to overcome the obstacle of what to do with my freshly killed and de-feathered chicken. I did not have the luxury of hanging my chicken outside for a couple of days but I still had to let the chicken rest until the rigor mortis passed. First, of course, I clean and rinse my chicken thoroughly. Then I submerge my chicken in water for around 12 hours (or overnight) at room temperature (sometimes I seal the chicken in a gallon-sized freezer bag with water in it). This keeps the flesh moist without spoiling. Contrary to our ingrained phobia that chicken spoils fast (a well-grounded phobia by the way), it is important that you do not put the chicken into the refrigerator for this first resting phase. If you do, the cold temperatures will interfere with the natural progression of rigor mortis, and even days later, the chicken will still be stiff. After the 12 hours, rinse the chicken once again and it is time for brining. Brine is simply a salt and water mixture and it is a match made in heaven for chicken. Once you brine, you'll never go back to roasting chicken any other way. Bring 1/3 cup kosher (it must be kosher because of its texture) salt and 1 1/2 cups water to a gentle simmer until all the salt dissolves. In a gallon-sized freezer bag or a large enough bowl to hold the chicken, cover the chicken completely with fresh cold water. Slowly pour the brine into the rest of the water being careful not to scald the flesh of the chicken. Seal the bag or the bowl and place chicken in the refrigerator. What the brine does, is that it tenderizes the meat by working its way through the flesh and into the muscles of the chicken. If you are not a lover of white meat, this will change your mind. You could brine the chicken for 1 - 4 days. For the most tender and moist chicken, keep in the refrigerator for a full 3 - 4 days. After brining, remove the chicken from the refrigerator, discard the brine, and rinse the chicken thoroughly with fresh cold water. Dry the chicken. Whatever your favorite recipe is, do not use any salt since the chicken has already been brined. You are now ready to roast the chicken. Of course, not everyone in the world brines their chickens. If you wish to bypass brining, just let your chicken rest for 12 hours at room temperature covered in water. After, rinse the chicken once more and cover it with fresh cold water, seal, and store in your refrigerator for the alloted time. I have kept my chickens fresh this way for up to week in the refrigerator. Oddly enough, it would seem that after this 4 day process, it would defeat the purpose of killing a live chicken. How fresh could it be after 4 days? But it is. What I learned about this process is how respectful I have become by taking a life for my own nourishment. It is a bit unnerving to pick out a live chicken and to look at it in its eyes knowing that I am going to be responsible for its death. As a result, I am more thankful and grateful, and this makes me more aware of my own mortality. The other thought that I had is that even after 4 days this chicken still tastes better and fresher than buying any standard frying chicken at the supermarket. It makes me wonder how long from being killed to being sold, these supermarket chickens have been sitting. Yes, the meat and muscles have had time to break down considerably, but is this time frame a matter of days, or a matter of weeks? I kind of makes me sick thinking about it. In closing, I encourage everyone to kill a chicken and eat it for dinner. People have been doing it for millenea and if you have never done it before, it will be an important life changing experience. If you need any advice or help, please feel free to ask. Good luck. |
| Originally Posted by Spareribs /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, great info. I really want to try it. Do you know if rabbits get too tough from rigor mortis? I'm also interested in live rabbits as well. |
