Can I butcher and cook same day? Need answer today!

[Secuono]

I need to know if I can kill,pluck/skin and eviscerate a duck/rabbit and then toss it into the crock pot to cook. As in, toss it into the pot when still warm, just minutes after the kill? Will a be able to skip the rigor stage that way or does it not matter and I'm screwed either way?
Also, that rabbit was in the fridge for several days and it still felt hard to move it's limbs, fridge too cold or what? How does it feel/move after rigor, same as right after the kill, free moving/floppy?
Thanks!

 

[LadyKarli]

Pretty sure as long as you get the blood out of the animal the best you can you can cook it right after cleaning. Thats what they do down on the farm. & when your hunting.

 

[Iggysbabysitter]

If you fear it might go tough (I butchered early in the day, and cooked in the afternoon, rigor set in and it was tough), try slowcooking it in the crockpot.

 

[schmitty]

if you cook what ever has been harvested immediately you will be fine. just don't let it cool down. within 1/2 hour rigo will set in. several days in fridge is what i do with chickens. and yes they should be soft and loose to the touch. if they are not after 72hrs then i would say your fridge is too warm i have found 40-45f best. i haven't tried rabbit yet. just raising my first freezer batch. but i am going to follow the same guide lines. hope this helps.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Rabbit will feel stiffer when it is really cold. If it has been resting in the fridge several days, take it out, rinse it well with tepid water and cut it up. Put it in the crock pot and cook it 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

When we butcher, if we intend to cook right away, we don't do the ice bath to cool down the carcass...just rinse with tepid water and into the pot. If we are going to freeze, we use an ice water bath to chill it quickly.

 

[Milcreek]

:?: I will be butchering to sell at Farmers Market so what I am reading here is that for a rabbit ready to cook on Saturday (day of market) that I would need to butcher on Tuesdays, chill it in refrigerator (40-45 degrees) for 72 hours, pull them out on Friday, cut them up and vacuum pack, put back in refrigerator for Saturday's market then freeze whatever doesn't sell Saturday afternoon.

Does this sound correct? I'm new here and no where did out find out in my research about rigor and etc. I know that with the sheep & cattle you have to let it 'hang' to age the meat but didn't know it was necessary for rabbit. Glad I found this board!!!

 

[akane]

I'm not sure you can give an exact time rigor will pass. 4 days should give you plenty of time though.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

if they are not after 72hrs then i would say your fridge is too warm i have found 40-45f best.

I would think it would be the opposite- that the fridge is too cold! :? I haven't "rested" any meat yet, but will be doing so soon. I'm hoping to do it in an ice chest with frozen water bottles since we never have a lot of spare room in the fridge and we have a lot of animals to send to FC.

I'm new here and no where did out find out in my research about rigor and etc. I know that with the sheep & cattle you have to let it 'hang' to age the meat but didn't know it was necessary for rabbit. Glad I found this board!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how much research I did before starting my meat rabbit project, and the endless and continuing research after getting them... and nowhere was it mentioned to let the meat rest to allow rigor to pass! I only found out about it here as well. My first and only rabbits were cut up while in rigor and frozen immediately- but when thawed in the fridge, they came out of rigor and were floppy like store-bought meat. I don't know if they were tough compared to properly rested meat, since we haven't butchered since, but we will know soon I guess!

Your proposed plan sounds good to me. Good luck at the market, and be sure to keep us updated on your sales!

 

[Miss M]

I need to know if I can kill,pluck/skin and eviscerate a duck/rabbit and then toss it into the crock pot to cook. As in, toss it into the pot when still warm, just minutes after the kill? Will a be able to skip the rigor stage that way or does it not matter and I'm screwed either way?
Also, that rabbit was in the fridge for several days and it still felt hard to move it's limbs, fridge too cold or what? How does it feel/move after rigor, same as right after the kill, free moving/floppy?
Thanks!

As everybody has said, you just have to be quick. "minutes after the kill," as you said. If it's still floppy when you put it in, you should be fine. You can do crock pot, or if you are doing it another way, just make sure you have everything ready first so that it can go right in to the pan.

They aren't quite as floppy after rigor as before. They aren't hard to move, though. In rigor, you'd actually probably have to break the back in order to put it into a bag, and you would not be able to easily separate the back legs. After rigor passes, the back is flexible again, and you can move the legs around. It'll get more free moving as it warms up.

:?: I will be butchering to sell at Farmers Market so what I am reading here is that for a rabbit ready to cook on Saturday (day of market) that I would need to butcher on Tuesdays, chill it in refrigerator (40-45 degrees) for 72 hours, pull them out on Friday, cut them up and vacuum pack, put back in refrigerator for Saturday's market then freeze whatever doesn't sell Saturday afternoon.

Does this sound correct? I'm new here and no where did out find out in my research about rigor and etc. I know that with the sheep & cattle you have to let it 'hang' to age the meat but didn't know it was necessary for rabbit. Glad I found this board!!!

Yes, at 40 - 45 degrees, that should work.

My fridge is really cold, and my rabbits take more like 6 days to come out of rigor. It will also vary by where in the fridge you put them. Top shelf in the back in my refrigerator, they would actually freeze. <br /><br />__________ Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:32 am __________<br /><br />I learned about resting the meat here, too. Never would have known otherwise!

 

[Secuono]

I am thinking my fridge is also very cold. Thu Feb 23 I found it in rigor and froze it, Mon Feb 27 I took it out to chop up. Nothing was pliable, legs would not move further than an inch from each other, etc. I'll have to check the temp in the fridge, kitchen isn't heated, so both get even colder at night.
Any idea on how long to cook a duck, high and low setting in the crock pot? They are Pekin, so 8-12lbs live weight.

 

[akane]

Those do have temp dials. : We like ours cold so the drinks in the door are really cold but we have to be careful because the stuff in back will freeze with it on that setting.

 

[Secuono]

Fridges only have 1-8 or w/e but it does not tell me the actual temp.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Put a thermometer in there on the shelf where you have kept the meat. You could use a meat thermometer (I have one that reads from -40F to 180F) or even one from your fishtank if it reads low enough.

 

[Secuono]

Yes, already did that. So far its at 45F.
4 days at 40-45F and it's still stiff and icky...
:/

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How long after it died did you skin and gut it? That probably made a difference, esp. considering the color change to the inner hide. Personally, I would feed the kit to the dogs or other animals. Did you butcher another rabbit or a duck today that you can eat instead?

 

[Secuono]

This rabbit isn't for people. I found it dead around 10am, it was in rigor. It was fine the night before when I locked everyone up around 9pm. Tossed it straight into the fridge. 4 days later I skinned and gutted it.

 

[arachyd]

If the rabbit isn't for people why cook it? Cooking destroys some of the nutrients and many dogs love raw meat.

I've found the meat to be slightly stiff after butchering, very stiff during rigor and extremely floppy after rigor. That's one of the main reasons we wait to cook after rigor instead of right away. It's the biggest benefit of aging meat that it is so much more tender after rigor passes. 3 days is the usual length of time for my fridge and it seems to be typical of what most others have told me. I think if you were expecting a good amount of sales you might want to offer different stages of aged and fresh rabbit. Usually if I purchase a new type of food item I had not planned on I do not cook it immediately. I prefer to look up recipes, plan a meal around it and sometimes have to purchase additional spices, etc. You may have customers who want to wait a couple of days before eating their rabbit but don't want to freeze it. Having 3 or 4 fresh ones might be a good idea and if they don't sell you have dinner for a few days later.

 

[Secuono]

No, I wanted to know in general and mostly now about the duck. The rabbit I had die on me, that's not what I wanted to know about. Just about any animal, if I kill it, can I cook it right after.
And my dogs aren't used to raw, so semi cooked is the only way they will touch it right now.

All the Pekins have turned out to be female, they are for sale and I will be getting a new batch of ducklings to grow for food. I don't really think eating females is right, at least not if I can sell them instead. Who would of guessed straight run would end up all females!?

 

[AnnClaire]

Hi Chicksnbunnies,

If your fridge is not allowing butchered meat to come out of rigor, try putting it in the meat compartment ... that doesn't have the air circulating like the rest of the fridge does and it should help.

However, you said you found the bunny dead and put it in the fridge without butchering? Definitely not for human consumption :lol:

As for the duck, I have processed duck and turkey from hunting and always let it rest in the fridge after cooling it down with cold, running water from the outside hose. Even if planning to process and cook immediately, you will run the risk of botulism if it isn't going straight into a pot of boiling water. My SIL and I got turkeys the same day and she decided that cooling the bird was too much, so she stuck hers in the oven right away and it spoiled on her! The time from shooting to when we got the birds was right at a half hour and they didn't gut it either. Best turkey I ever ate :lol:

For farmer's market, I would suggest that you butcher and package and freeze. That way, the rigor will pass as the buyers are thawing the meat at home. Or, let rest in your fridge in salt water for rigor to pass, then package and freeze. Frozen meat will be easier to handle at the farmer's market than chilled meat and you will be able to see at a glance if it is starting to thaw and you can 'hold' them in icechests.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would suggest that you butcher and package and freeze. That way, the rigor will pass as the buyers are thawing the meat at home.

Before I joined this forum, I had no idea about letting rigor pass, and the four we did were frozen while in rigor. They thawed out nice and floppy, though. Is it preferable to let rigor pass and then freeze, or does it matter at all? It would certainly be more convenient for me to freeze immediately- we have 2 chest freezers, and our fridge only has usable space for a day or two after a thorough cleaning! :x