Does it matter how they die.

[519vx]

SMO- read some of my earlier posts on this. I leave the birds intact when I age them. Why? Two reasons. First, that is how they come out of my game vest. To gut them would be messy for no real reason. Second reason is that there isn't any edible meat that directly contacts the guts. The rib cage separates guts from the breast meat.

Cows aren't hung whole and intact because both the hide and most of the guts are useable and sold when fresh.

 

[519vx]

Double post, sorry.

 

[BRITTMAN]

If it is cool I have let them age (half of the time with guts in tact) overnight ... some times longer. No issue if you fillet out the breast meat. If it is warm I throw the whole bird in the fridge or clean them.

 

[small munsterlander owner]

Ok we get it, you're scared of the guts. So keep gutting them like you do and don't worry about those who don't.

obviously you dont get it brother im asking a damn question on if leaving the guts in is a part of the ageing process or not??? or better to do then field dressing then ageing???

i think its the other way around quailhound??? i gut my birds ASAP all of them then skin them later so like 519vx said i get my hands stinky & messy for nothing... i was always under the impression that those that did not gut the birds out were the ones scared of the guts??? not talking about 519 or any of you guys that do it that way just how i was brought up hunting...

i am honestly in shock that as many guys leave the entrails in the birds to age or transport from place to place as did on this thread... im not trying to bash anybody i was asking if im missing something in the ageing process or what...

what about poultry 519??? im talking the mom & pop butcher not gold n plump ETC. they dont age the meat of course... thanks for the info & like i said above im not trying to bash you...

im worried yes about like mentioned above birds with a few pellets in the belly/guts that just sit there in the bird a few days i thought that would could spoil the meat... so i get them out of the bird B4 i head to the next spot to hunt...

 

[FCSpringer]

Well there you have it. I now need to sneak up on them in their sleep and judo chop them while asleep to a sudden relaxed death. Then hang them on the clothes line till the head falls off. Good eatin.:laugh:

 

[small munsterlander owner]

LOL yum bet its real tender by then a FCSpringer???

 

[519vx]

SMO - I don't think having the guts in or out matters a bit on aging of the edible meat. To me anyway, it's a matter of convenience and cleanliness to not gut a bird before aging.

Proper care of any game or fish means good stuff on the table later. When I hunted SD in October, I left wisconsin with a big cooler part full of ice. That kept some sausage sticks and adult beverages cold, but the primary reason was to be ready for any birds I got. I shot my first rooster on a Thursday afternoon. He was put in the cooler in the same condition my pup brought him to me in. He stayed in that cooler in the back of my truck until I got home that Sunday. I was diligent about draining out water each morning and each night and bought new ice as needed.

Each day I shot birds, those went whole and intact into the cooler on top of each other. When I got home Sunday, all the birds were taken out of the cooler and put in a beer refrigerator in my garage until I got home from work Monday night when I cleaned them all.

I brought six birds home. All had their guts in them several days and all were perfectly fine when I cleaned them - breasts and legs. Once cleaned, i wash them and wrap them well then freeze them. Monday night I made pheasant fettuccine Alfredo with one of those birds. It was so good my wife asked for a second helping. :thumbsup:

 

[quail hound]

Leaving the birds whole (skin feathers and entrails) keeps the birds from drying out while aging. I don't think it adds or subtracts from the flavor or texture.

 

[519vx]

SMO - I missed your question about a mom pop butcher shop and poultry. To me, there's a big difference. Mom pop didn't raise they bird. They bought it most likely through a food broker who sourced from a corporate Tyson like farm.

The bird shows up ready to sell and eat at mom pop. Who knows just who and what handled that bird, how it was handled, stored etc.

With my pheasants, I had sole control over the meat from the last wing flap until I'm putting a fork into it.

 

[quail hound]

The chickens at the butcher shop are broilers. Has anyone ever raised any broilers? They walk from feed to water all day and that's it. By the time they're 10 weeks old they need a breather during this 10ft walk. You better have started whacking some of the roosters by then because they're getting big fast. By 12 weeks almost all of them better be in the freezer. See why chickens don't need to be aged? Foster farm birds are still chirping when they are processed. Big difference in how chickens live before they make it to the table.

 

[FCSpringer]

With creamed dunga, or wild rice hot dish, never ever have I had a tough pheasant. Aging I think in another way means rotting.

 

[mustistuff]

rotting

With creamed dunga, or wild rice hot dish, never ever have I had a tough pheasant. Aging I think in another way means rotting.

aging is rotting, pure and simple and if you like the flavor, do it. if you want tough pheasant or any fowl, over cook the stuff, you can ruin anything if you try hard enough

cheers

 

[small munsterlander owner]

The chickens at the butcher shop are broilers. Has anyone ever raised any broilers? They walk from feed to water all day and that's it. By the time they're 10 weeks old they need a breather during this 10ft walk. You better have started whacking some of the roosters by then because they're getting big fast. By 12 weeks almost all of them better be in the freezer. See why chickens don't need to be aged? Foster farm birds are still chirping when they are processed. Big difference in how chickens live before they make it to the table.

i own chickens that free range they are bantums but are wild as hell there is a few processing butchers around here wear u can take your free range chickens to & have them butchered up i think they age birds if u request just saying many butchers offer free range chicken i dont know about aged though??? they age KOBE & another rare asian beef & they are some of the most tender beef on earth aged or not so i think the age n has to do with taste & tenderness???

thanks for all the info boys ill keep gut n the birds needlessly & age n them just makes more sense to me & my family???

 

[mustistuff]

chickens and guts

when i had free range chickens, had the kind that would lay colored eggs, cut down on the cost of easter. anyway, they musta ranged a lot as they were as tough as boiled owl is supposed to be. if any of you clowns need another excuse not to get your hands bloody in the field, it is cause blood removes rust just as nicely as does navel jelly, it also removes paint, if you are in the dark, your blued barrel is nothing other than colored rust and if you don't like it, rub some blood on it and let it set, problem solved along with it's value. there is a reason for just about everything, keep you hands clean and the guts in.

cheers

 

[quail hound]

What we who keep chickens call free range is totally different than the poultry industries definition. All free range means is that the birds had access to the outside, doesn't mean they ever went outside or that they could forage and their outside area couldve been nothing more than a small concrete slab. To us it means wild chickens who won't even take scratch because they forage all day and sleep 20ft up in the trees at night.