Why a tough bird?

[Megan Blocker]

I agree with Ann-high heat does NOT make a bird tough (I roast between 425-450 and have never had a problem).

Given that this bird got nuked, may have been partially frozen, and may have been steamed a bit, I'm not surprised it got tough. If it wasn't particularly fresh to begin with, any one of the errors would have been disasterous for a roast chicken.

My thoughts exactly.

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Ditto...roasted this one just the other day at 425 for just a bit over an hour...all was good and tender.

[Sony]

Thanks for the advice about roasting in the right size pan, Ann T. I'll have to give that a tip a try the next time I do a high-heat roast. My smoke alarm is super-sensitive.....

Glad this thread came up- reminds me that there's a chicken in my freezer that could use some cookin'. Hope it turns out as well as Megan's- that is one tasty-looking roasted chicken!

[Megan Blocker]

Thanks for the advice about roasting in the right size pan, Ann T.  I'll have to give that a tip a try the next time I do a high-heat roast. My smoke alarm is super-sensitive.....

Glad this thread came up- reminds me that there's a chicken in my freezer that could use some cookin'. Hope it turns out as well as Megan's- that is one tasty-looking roasted chicken!

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I rub mine all over with butter before roasting - it gets the skin all nice and brown and crispy...try it! Yum.

[Torrilin]

Is that still true? I remember an article I read in the Washington Post that they were considering going by weight, and not age.

"While they were at it, regulators also cleaned out the cobwebs of some of the more obscure classifications for guineas, geese and ducks. They suggested that a Rock Cornish game hen be simply a chicken less than five weeks of age, of either sex, weighing less than five pounds, since there are no more purebred Cornish or Rock lines. They asked the industry to comment on a proposal to throw out age as a basis of classifying poultry. Instead, weight would be used. For example, a roaster would be five pounds no matter how old it was. "

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I haven't seen anything about changes like that. The big issue with changing from age to weight is that not all poultry breeds mature at the same rate, and they don't all have the same size at maturity. Having lots of poultry breeds is to our advantage, since it means that we've got lots of different kinds of poultry genes available. That cuts down on the chance of a sudden epidemic killing most of the chickens in the US (as well as making sure that those who want can buy chickens based on taste rather than how fast it grows).

It's not really to the industry's advantage to switch either. The last thing they want is to be unable to sell birds in a given category because consumers think they're too tough.

Emily

[Sony]

I rub mine all over with butter before roasting - it gets the skin all nice and brown and crispy...try it! Yum.

Ah- butter! My usual chicken-roasting method is air-drying for 24-48 hrs with herb rub (Zuni-inspired), but chicken roasting is one of my favorite cooking experiments!

Just one question before I go forth in uncharted chicken territory- salted or unsalted?

[Megan Blocker]

I rub mine all over with butter before roasting - it gets the skin all nice and brown and crispy...try it! Yum.

Ah- butter! My usual chicken-roasting method is air-drying for 24-48 hrs with herb rub (Zuni-inspired), but chicken roasting is one of my favorite cooking experiments!

Just one question before I go forth in uncharted chicken territory- salted or unsalted?

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Unsalted! I salt the whole thing after I rub it with the butter, though. Sort of shower it down so that it's even and forms a little bit of sparkle.

And, as someone pointed out above, I set it out at room temp for about an hour before rubbing and roasting.

Edited May 3, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[jsolomon]

Whichever people said never more than 350 are missing out on the other side of roasting.

Typically, I will brine my bird for 24 hours before roasting, and then place in a 500F oven.

I always get tender, juicy chicken without a hint of toughness. I use the Barbara Kafka method that many like and equally many dislike.

[Torrilin]

Huh, when I use butter on a chicken, I use salted *g*. I prefer salted butter. Keeps better.

Emily

[bigkoiguy]

One other possibility that others have touched on but haven't really discussed is the type of chicken, its age before butchering, and how long the meat aged after butchering prior to freezing. I raise and butcher my own chickens - both commercial Cornish cross varieties (very tender, fast growing but little flavor) and heritage breeds (slow growing, very active birds whose meat usually ends up tough unless cooked carefully). Older birds, including hens, will be very tough. Their age allows the proteins in the meat to crosslink strongly, versus the fibers being by and large only parallel to each other. Any old hens I butcher ALWAYS go into the pressure cooker. The final thing is how long meat is aged before freezing or cooking. Chicken MUST be aged at least 8 hors (or preferably one day) after butchering before freezing or cooking -- unless it is to be cooked within about an hour of butchering. Cooking immediately on butchering prevent the bird from stiffening into rigor mortise which toughens it. Natural enzymes in the bird break down stiffening in about a day.

It sounds to me like it wasn't the cooking technique as much as the bird itself.

[lennyk]

this could have been an egg layer bird, these are usually older at least a year or more, hence much more tougher than the regular chickens grown for eating which live an accelerated life eating 24hours.