Is there a "smell" to home grown chicken meat ??

[JulieZ]

Silly as this may be, a friend of mine grew up with a mom that butchered her own chickens. To this very day, 30 years later, she still talks of the "smell". Said "she knew" when her mom was cooking up a raised chicken, there was a certain "stinky" smell that let her know it was from their chicken stock. This has bothered & stopped me from raising meat chickens. I realize all things have a smell, even the fish I clean after fishing but this sounds like a horror story. Maybe the chickens were sick? What say you?

 

[turtlebird]

Nope....no funny smell here? I suppose it would all depend upon diet? Or perhaps DM forgot to remove the oil gland, didn't bleed properly, fouled the meat, or something weird like that? Now the butchering process, there is a smorgasborg of odors there!
I would say, give it a whirl! Start with a small number, soon you will be searching for that second freezer!

 

[SpringChickens]

No smell! At least not what I've ever smelled.

Turtlebird is probably right on - something about the way they processed them.

 

[CubRed]

smell...? well, they are fowl...LOL...

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Maybe she let it sit in the fridge too long?

I like the smell of fresh chicken..... on the grill!

 

[SteveH]

Actually there is a smell left on my hands and in my nose after processing any freshly slaughtered meat that makes me not want to eat it or smell it cooking for a day or two . But when hungry I don't mind eating something I just dressed that day , especially if cooked over an outdoor fire .

 

[jennh]

Quote:

 

[Beekissed]

Definitely there is a smell that is different than store bought or even the CX birds. I did CX for the first time this year and marveled over the lack of smell during the processing...especially the scalding for plucking...as opposed to processing a regular retired hen or even culling a 4 mo. old roo.

Just as any young animal that hasn't reached sexual maturity would be, they possess little real odor to their skin or meat. The older the animal, the more flavor and odor to the meat and animal both.

And older bird has more odor when cooked and they seem to have a richer flavor than the younger meat birds. That is why they say that chicken soup is so much better if made from an old hen...there is a distinct aroma and taste from a more mature dual purpose bird. Even their fat is a different color and texture than the CX or store bought chicken.

The smell is not BAD...its just distinctly different and, to us old country folk, it just isn't chicken unless it smells and tastes like that. To the younger generation who have only eaten KFC or chicken from the store, the smell might be "stinky"....but its all in your perception.

 

[momofchicks]

I think she is referring to the processing smell. My husband's family talked of this horrid smell that they remembered all their lives too. When my husband and I went to process our first Roo I was so ready for this extremely disgusting smell to happen and it never did. I had this thought in my head that I was going to get physically sick from this smell by the way his family talked.

There is a small odor of sorts when you dunk the bird in the hot water but really it's not that bad. Again like other posters have stated anytime you are working with fresh meat there is going to be a smell. I wouldn't let that bother you, the benefits of you raising your own meat outways the few moments of a foul smell. Good luck!

 

[goldnchocolate]

Quote:
A friend of mine, who is now in her 60's, remembers, from her childhood, the smell of the wet chickens while they were being plucked after scalding. I think it's the scalding that brings on the smell because I dry plucked a chicken last week and there really wasn't any smell.