Chicken killing and "aging"

[HKDave]

So there's a bit of variation, but the consensus seems to be that rigor in poultry is gone by 7-10hrs.

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Good to know; that explains why my butcher's birds are so good late in the day of slaughter.

I'm still curious about the hanging part. I've read that meat, including poultry, should be hung during the rigor period, otherwise it won't relax properly. But that doesn't seem to be people's experience here.

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I don't think hanging makes much difference to rigor. Rigor is a chemical process (my understanding is that it's stored glycogen in the muscle contracting, and then relaxing) and it's going to happen regardless of the orientation of the carcass. Meat often is hanging during this process, but I think that's for ease of handling and hygiene.

Hanging as done on game birds in the UK is different and happens over a longer time; the objective there is to increase the palatability of lean wild fowl by allowing some rotting (sorry, 'gaminess') to occur, thereby increasing tenderness and compensating for the lack of fat. It's more analogous to dry aging in beef.

[HKDave]

HKDave

Thanks for all those sources! So having a chicken killed in the afternoon for diner is the worst case sceneario haha. If you had a chicken killed for 10 hours would you cook it or wait a few more hours for enzyme action to further tenderise the meat as well as "drying" the meat a bit?

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There's no point in waiting longer purely for tenderizing purposes, because any additional benefit is so small as to be imperceptible.

Re drying, if I'm cooking commercially-processed US (water chilled) chicken and time permits, I like to unbag, salt and refrigerate overnight a la Zuni Cafe. If it's artisanal, or HK fresh-slaughtered or most European (air chilled) chicken, this step isn't needed for drying but I might do it anyway for seasoning. I don't cook with mainland-slaughtered chickens - the kind we often find in HK supermarkets - because I find them to be a thoroughly inferior product.

[paulraphael]

..this step isn't needed for drying but I might do it anyway for seasoning. I don't cook with mainland-slaughtered chickens - the kind we often find in HK supermarkets - because I find them to be a thoroughly inferior product.

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You can also presalt and leave it covered in the fridge, if it doesn't need any additional drying. Or leave it covered for a few hours, uncovered or a few. I do it either way, depending on the chicken. With the fresh killed birds I've had, it didn't seem necessary. I may try it at some point to see.