chicken question
- Thread starter cmabb
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Do you mean: Does it delay rigor mortis?
No, I don't think so. Rigor mortis sets in as the carcass cools. Bleeding it out, if anything, would speed it up I would think. But you should do it anyway as it improves the meat.
No, I don't think so. Rigor mortis sets in as the carcass cools. Bleeding it out, if anything, would speed it up I would think. But you should do it anyway as it improves the meat.
You're welcome. Remember that hens sometimes take a break. This is often accompanied by moulting. Growing feathers - which are about 80% protein - diverts their feed away from egg-laying for a time, often several weeks. It's that time of year (although I have had hens moult in the middle of a Canadian winter, the silly things!) so you might want to wait and see if she starts laying again.
This is the time of year for moulting to begin. They can stop laying for a month or more while their bodies "refresh" everything. Generally even ancient hens (5 or 6 years old) will lay an egg or two a week. Most hens will lay well for the first year of laying, then almost as well for the 2nd year. Then they will start slowing down.
Rigor in all animals starts shortly after the brain stops sending out info into the muscles. It's the response from the nervous system...the muscles are living breathing things..and when they don't "breathe" they can't relax. It's kind of like when you contract a muscle while exercising (or just moving)...it's the breathing of the muscle..exchanging oxygen and releasing the bonds that are formed during the contraction phase. Since they're no longer getting that oxygen they can't relax. .....
It starts approximately 3 hours after death. The relaxation is actually part of decomposition. The first things that the enzymes do is eat off the heads of the bonds and that allows the muscles to relax.
so....IF you can get the chicken into the pot immediately after processing, the meat will still be tender..otherwise it takes between 24? and 72 hours. (depending on the temps that you keep the carcass at)
Rigor in all animals starts shortly after the brain stops sending out info into the muscles. It's the response from the nervous system...the muscles are living breathing things..and when they don't "breathe" they can't relax. It's kind of like when you contract a muscle while exercising (or just moving)...it's the breathing of the muscle..exchanging oxygen and releasing the bonds that are formed during the contraction phase. Since they're no longer getting that oxygen they can't relax. .....
It starts approximately 3 hours after death. The relaxation is actually part of decomposition. The first things that the enzymes do is eat off the heads of the bonds and that allows the muscles to relax.
so....IF you can get the chicken into the pot immediately after processing, the meat will still be tender..otherwise it takes between 24? and 72 hours. (depending on the temps that you keep the carcass at)
More specifically, when cellular respiration in the muscles stops, calcium ions flood the sarcomeres causing the proteins to bridge which is how a muscle normally contracts. With no respiration occuring the proteins never unbridge and the sarcomeres never relax. Until, of course, the aforementioned enzymes begin breaking down the muscles.
OneAcreFarm
Well-known member
Fid":13kpeqyj said:
Ok, Smarty Pants! :lol: That takes me WAY back to A&P II in college... :typing:
Well, since rigor mortis always seems to set in as the carcass cools, I think it is a lot easier to use that as a gauge, regardless of the complex processes at work. 
Frosted Rabbits
Well-known member
Fid":fxhcvtbj said:
yeah, reading that had me visualizing the diagrams!!! My A&P prof also set up the Forensics study program at Case Western-he was always throwing in extra tidbits- like examples of bones broken during rigor!
