Cleaning Birds

[AP2]

How long do you hold off on cleaning your birds? I know temp could play a role in your decision, but my buddy swears you can wait a day or so with temps over freezing, and even longer when the temps are below freezing before the meat goes bad. Personally, I like cleaning them as soon as possible in fear that the meat will spoil. Just thought I would see what others do/believe in.

 

[pheasanthunt]

Boy, there will be a lot of opinions on this. I think we covered this in a post a year or so ago-and there were many different answers.

95% of the time I clean mine within 12 hours, usually the same day. We Hunt all day and clean the birds when dark. Occasionally, I will shoot one around dusk and not clean the bird till first thing the next morning, so maybe 12-16 hours.

Not saying you can or can't wait longer. Just saying this is what I do.

 

[carptom1]

I hunt with guys that let them age for 3-4 days. I prefer cleaning them as soon as possible

 

[519vx]

I've been out to South Dakota from Wisconsin the two years. I have a big cooler in my truck that I fill with about 4 inches of ice. I then put a plastic trash bag over the ice. Birds go on top of the plastic bag. Every day, I drain any water from the cooler and refill with ice. My birds go as long as 4 days (start hunting Thursday and get home and clean birds Sunday night) in the cooler and I've never had a bad one or even questionable one.

 

[Flushedup]

We always open them up and pull the guts out as soon as your back to the truck. Then a clipping/skinning operation at the end of every day. Just seems like the right thing to do, to avoid any waste

 

[ditchparrot19]

I've experimented with this quite a bit over a period of years and my preference is to hang them for an entire week in a place where the temperature never exceeds 60 degrees before I pull a feather or open up the body cavity. I'm convinced the meat is tastier and more tender that way. We've been doing this for quite some time and nobody in my family has ever gotten the least bit sick from it.

I gave a processed one last year to a guy who works at the golf shop without telling him how it had been "aged." A couple weeks later he asked me why that bird came out so good on the table, as he'd gotten one earlier from a guy who'd been to South Dakota and said that one was much drier and tougher, although it'd been cooked exactly the same way (in an oven bag). When I told him, he became an instant believer, as the proof was in his own taste buds.

To me, even a few days worth of aging is well worth the trouble. In all cases I'll avoid cleaning one when rigor mortis is present, as I'm convinced that meat stays tough forevermore.

All of this may be a bunch of poppycock to some, but I believe in it wholeheartedly and there's no way I'm changing my routine at this point. I'm just too happy with the results.

 

[Kismet]

Over the years, I've gone from immediate skinning when I got home ranging to three days, if the temperatures are 50's or below. I field dress them immediately after they are retrieved, so no viscera are in the carcasses. From there on out, it is a matter of air temps and air flow. I put them out in the unheated mud room. If it is freezing, I get to it more quickly, just for the ease of the effort.

There was a time when folks would take week-long trips, spouse, kids and all, and get pheasants for the larder. They would set up a base camp and Mom and little kids would stay there, plucking, cooking and canning the pheasants harvested during the day. There were no limits, so this was protein shopping for families.

Then, too, some birds were hardy old survivors, the meat of which became more tender with "hanging," much like some deer hunters did/do. These days, I doubt we see many old birds, so letting the enzymes (?) work on the meat fiber is probably never required.

I skin all my birds and have done so for many years. There's just not enough palatable fat in the skin to go to the effort of plucking for me.

Basically, within reason, it is all up to you.

Have fun, be safe.

 

[AtTheMurph]

I've experimented with this quite a bit over a period of years and my preference is to hang them for an entire week in a place where the temperature never exceeds 60 degrees before I pull a feather or open up the body cavity. I'm convinced the meat is tastier and more tender that way. We've been doing this for quite some time and nobody in my family has ever gotten the least bit sick from it.

I gave a processed one last year to a guy who works at the golf shop without telling him how it had been "aged." A couple weeks later he asked me why that bird came out so good on the table, as he'd gotten one earlier from a guy who'd been to South Dakota and said that one was much drier and tougher, although it'd been cooked exactly the same way (in an oven bag). When I told him, he became an instant believer, as the proof was in his own taste buds.

To me, even a few days worth of aging is well worth the trouble. In all cases I'll avoid cleaning one when rigor mortis is present, as I'm convinced that meat stays tough forevermore.

All of this may be a bunch of poppycock to some, but I believe in it wholeheartedly and there's no way I'm changing my routine at this point. I'm just too happy with the results.

This.

Don't gut them. Don't pluck them. Don't do anything.

Hang 'em by the neck/beak for at least three days and a week or more. If it's a little warmer less time or longer if cool. If it's 40 I'll go a week, mid 50s 3-4 days.

There is no comparison if you roast them. If using for soup or stew they still taste better but a roasted pheasant has to be aged to be any good. I think the reason so few people roast them in an oven (or grill) is that they aren't properly aged to begin with and are tough and dry when cooked this way.

My father used to hang his pheasants in a backyard shed for up to 2 weeks. I do it in an unheated garage that gets little sunlight. If it's warm I also have a wine cellar that's 56 degrees that I'll use for 3-4 days but i prefer outside and longer.

This is a great article on the subject. I would suggest to any pheasant hunter to try it if you haven't. It might give you the willies at first pulling out cold, week old guts that smell a little but the meat is so much better. Once you eat it you'll be sold.

http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

 

[BritChaser]

If the weather is cool at least at night I hang them in the garage for several days or up to a week, depends on the temp. While hanging, they are whole. Meat is excellent.