Problem with this chicken?

blasting

I did a spatch for lunch today.  Since it was just me for lunch I thought I'd eat what I want but the real purpose was for bbq chicken pizza for dinner.  I ate the wings, and they had an odd taste - just not typical.  Then I broke the spatch down after it cooled and there was a lot of red bones and meat in it.  I'm used to some of that, but this one was very pronounced.

I bought this chicken in the two pack from Costco, as I have many times.  I vac sealed it immediately and froze it.  Two weeks later I thawed it in the fridge, which took two days.  I spatchcocked it, applied Montreal chicken seasoning, and stuck it on the cast iron to cook.  I pulled it when the lowest temp hit 175 degrees.

I'm a little turned off and will probably mix this with rice and give it to my Boston Terrier (as long as I don't get sick).  For 5 bucks it's not worth worrying about, but I am curious.  What was wrong with this chicken, if anything?

Jstroke

Chicken, i never saw any chicken. Anybody else see any chicken. 

blasting

Nobody was responding - I thought adding kate upton to the mix may help.

theyolksonyou

I'm not much help post cook, but feel free to post more pics of the pre cook chicken.  She looks like she's about to choke it. 

TexanOfTheNorth

You only pay $5 for a whole chicken!

jabam

Did you rub the breasts?

blasting

TexanOfTheNorth said:

You only pay $5 for a whole chicken!

Yep - buck a pound in a two pack from Costco.  This was the first time I wasn't happy.

and,

easy guys - that's my fiancee your talking about.

Mattman3969

On a serious note, how much wood did you use and what temp did you cook at?  Loaded question especially on Sat night, I understand 

theyolksonyou

blasting said:

TexanOfTheNorth said:

You only pay $5 for a whole chicken!

Yep - buck a pound in a two pack from Costco.  This was the first time I wasn't happy.

and,

easy guys - that's my fiancee your talking about.

Lucky bastid!  Congrats. 

blasting

Mattman3969 said:

On a serious note, how much wood did you use and what temp did you cook at?  Loaded question especially on Sat night, I understand 

cooked on gasser (don't judge) at just under 400 - no wood.  I've done it the same way dozens of times is the reason I was asking.

blasting

theyolksonyou said:

blasting said:

TexanOfTheNorth said:

You only pay $5 for a whole chicken!

Yep - buck a pound in a two pack from Costco.  This was the first time I wasn't happy.

and,

easy guys - that's my fiancee your talking about.

Lucky bastid!  Congrats. 

Yeah right, lol.  You think I'd be on a message board right now if she was running around like that chasing chickens?

txhawkeye

I can't concentrate need more pics asap

minniemoh

I've had the same thing several times with the Costco chickens. We've never had any issues and I trust the Thermapen. Keep in mind that you've checked cooking temp and were well above the safe zone. That's way more than everyone else does when cooking chicken. I wouldn't sweat it.

Oh... and by the way. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage to Kate! 

SGH

blasting said: Nobody was responding
 
Brother blasting, I apologize for this^^^^.
I haven't been on the forum much at all today. Nonetheless someone should have answered your question for you. As such, and without farther delay, allow me to offer what I can. Above you mentioned red bones and red tinted meat even though the meat was cooked to the appropriate doneness and confirmed by a thermometer. This leads us to the obvious and only conclusion to the dilemea. The redness both on bone and meat, is a tell tale sign of bones that  have not matured. They are still porus and not yet fully developed. This can be caused by several things. Here are a few of them. Extremely young animals that have been rapidly grown to slaughter size by aid of hormones, anabolic steroids or a combination of both. This^^^^^^^^^ is the usual culprit no matter what the pack says about being hormone free or free range. Next, it can be related to some sort of natural bone disease. However this is usually not the case even though it is certainly possible. The color that you are seeing is excessive seepage of bone marrow from underdeveloped bones. In large clotted amounts, it will give a off or pungent taste. Again, I apologize for no one answering your question my friend. 

blasting

minniemoh said:

I've had the same thing several times with the Costco chickens. We've never had any issues and I trust the Thermapen. Keep in mind that you've checked cooking temp and were well above the safe zone. That's way more than everyone else does when cooking chicken. I wouldn't sweat it.

Oh... and by the way. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage to Kate! 

@minniemoh   Thanks, and, thanks,  just waiting on her to get back with me on the date.

SGH said:

blasting said:

Nobody was responding

 
Brother blasting, I apologize for this^^^^.
I haven't been on the forum much at all today. Nonetheless someone should have answered your question for you. As such, and without farther delay, allow me to offer what I can. Above you mentioned red bones and red tinted meat even though the meat was cooked to the appropriate doneness and confirmed by a thermometer. This leads us to the obvious and only conclusion to the dilemea. The redness both on bone and meat, is a tell tale sign of bones that  have not matured. They are still porus and not yet fully developed. This can be caused by several things. Here are a few of them. Extremely young animals that have been rapidly grown to slaughter size by aid of hormones, anabolic steroids or a combination of both. This^^^^^^^^^ is the usual culprit no matter what the pack says about being hormone free or free range. Next, it can be related to some sort of natural bone disease. However this is usually not the case even though it is certainly possible. The color that you are seeing is excessive seepage of bone marrow from underdeveloped bones. In large clotted amounts, it will give a off or pungent taste. Again, I apologize for no one answering your question my friend. 

@SGH  Thanks, that is a well put together answer, I appreciate the time.  Do you think Costco chickens are of lower quality or was it just the luck of the draw? 

SGH

blasting said:

Do you think Costco chickens are of lower quality or was it just the luck of the draw? 

We do not have a Costco in our area so this is only speculation on my part, but I would guess that it was just luck of the draw. I have got them this way from SAMs, Walmart, Winn Dixie etc, etc...
Its going to happen every now and again no matter where you shop. 

stemc33

This guy says its GTG. No worries.

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Bloody-chik.html

Unfortunately I'm in the same boat as most people when it comes to eating what appears to be bloody chicken. I've been hestitant to do spatchcock's lately after this has happened a few times. 

 

rifrench

Interesting read. I use Costco chicken, but have never come on this, maybe because I cook thighs to to 180 IT.

Lit

its not just Costco I have even seen that in wings before that were cooked close to 200. I got 2 chickens yesterday from Costco hope they aren't like that.

Jeepster47

Good info from both @SGH & @stemc33 ... thanks guys.  I've seen that condition appear on a single leg or wing and just chalked it up to rough handling during the slaughter operation. 

Visual presentation is part of the eating experience, so even though it's safe to eat I don't like it.  Feel better now about paying a few bucks extra for chickens from our local market.

BTW ... I would have researched blasting's question earlier, but got hung up studying the first picture in his post.

Skiddymarker

@SGH has it right - been covered on many forums before. The pink to red is a little concerning, even though the meat is cooked to temp. It is a leech from the immature bones. Oregon disease is worse, will turn you off chicken for weeks....

minniemoh

Just coming back to this thread. That is definitely an interesting read about the bloody chicken. Even though it's safe to eat, just how much of the hormones/steroids are being pumped into them... Maybe that's part of why my 18 month old son is at 97% on the height chart. He LOVES chicken and eats it every week. Might be time to do some research on what qualifies as "All Natural".

blasting

Thanks for the input everybody.  A little bit of red is fine, and I believe that it won't hurt a person, but I agree with @Jeepster47that how food looks is a big part of a meal.  I won't stop buying chickens at Costco unless it happens to this degree again.

FWIW, i noticed a funny taste on the wings prior to seeing the red meat and bones.  Didn't get sick, so I guess the dog will be eating well.

DieselkW

I had no idea.... if my wife saw that she'd be calling for some Chinese delivery because no way in hell she would eat it.

It would be a month before she trusted me to cook chicken for her again.

Oh, and I can't believe we got this far into the thread before anyone said Kate was grabbing a little ****.