Tough Cockrel meat...

[FiB]

Hi I dispatched the first cockerel from this years chicks (1 down, at least another 1 to go) - not too bad an experience although it didnt look dead quickly enough for my liking (so we followed up the necking with an air rifle to the head just in case) and I did tear the skin a bit plucking around the legs - any advice on those gratefully received...

Gutting and dressing went OK, Bird was about 12 weeks and a bit scrawny on the breast, but dressed and in the oven within the hour. Roasted as I would for a bird bought from the butcher - and Ta Da..... it was disgusting!!!! Really tough and un-tasty, I was so dissapointed! Looking at a range of information sources I cant work out if I should have hung it at all or let the meat 'relax' in any way at any stage. I plucked and gutted straight away. We had them from 1 day old chicks - I'm told thay are 'ISA' crossbreeds (Rhode Island/Warren crosses). Ended up putting most of the carcass and meat to the stock pot.

Cockrel No 2 needs dispatching soon so any ideas /tips? Was I too ambitious roasting (should he have been a coq au vin?) was it the wrong age/breed/method?? Help! Many thanks

[boboff]

Age wise it should have been ok, breed wise I suspect it's not ideal.

Dipping in Hot water makes plucking allot easier, and reduces the risk of tearing.

Maybe perhaps let hang whole and plucked for a day? Not sure, I don't like leaving them lying around after gutting for fear of any bacteria multiplying.

They will grow bigger, I might suggest letting the other one fatten up for Christmas and doing it caserole style.

Chickens will run around for 20 - 30 seconds after you break there necks, I made the mistake of chucking some out the shed once, and the kids did laugh when then saw them dancing! I am a bit more careful now, I don't want them growing up with a sence of humour like mine! ( My grandad always said I'd laugh at a cat with it's arse on fire.....which is odd, because I would!)

[Odsox]

As Boboff says, you can dunk them in hot water for a few seconds to make plucking easier (abt 65c) or pluck while still warm.
I always pluck as soon as they stop flapping and then leave them till the next day before I draw (gut) them as it hardens all the internal bits and makes it easier to do and less likely to burst something.
I also think you have the wrong breed, the RIRed is fine but the Warrens are hybrid egg layers and noted for hardly having an ounce of meat on them. We have a RIRed cockerel and Light Sussex girls and they make quite a good large carcass at 12 weeks and dress out at about 1.8Kg and taste just fine.
One did slip the net last time as it wasn't until he started having crowing matches with the "official" cockerel that I realised my error. He was 17 weeks old when he finally got done and I boned the leg quarters and made sausages from the meat, and very nice they were too ... so nice in fact I plan to make a habit of it. The breast quarters were slightly chewy but very tasty, although if there is a next time I will probably boil it, which is the traditional way to deal with year old chicken.
So maybe try the next one boiled, sounds disgusting I know but makes for really tender, moist meat with a load of tasty stock as a bonus.

[FiB]

Fantastic - thanks both!! I shall be choosier about my chick breeds next time ! Great info and advice which I shall put into practice when he feels a bit fatter! Will report back with recipe and verdict! Many thanks, Fiona

[Thomzo]

So maybe try the next one boiled, sounds disgusting I know but makes for really tender, moist meat with a load of tasty stock as a bonus.

I really like boiled chicken. I buy the quarters from the co-op and boil them up. The skin goes to the cats, the meat falls away from the bone and then the bones get boiled up again for even more stock.

You can pluck them and 'hang' them in the fridge for up to a week - as long as they were purged the night before despatch. I wouldn't like to have anything else in the fridge during that week, mind.

Zoe

[Sky]

My hubby skins roosters, saves time on plucking.

[Dr.Syn]

I like the idea of skinning the bird instead of plucking as we always skin chicken before cooking. Question: What can we do with the skin/feathers (Bins only emptied every fortnight bonfires only allowed one day per year)

Bern

[red]

birds you buy from the shops are these particular fast growing breeds and are ready in something silly like 8 weeks - not necessary ideal for the birds as they get heavy on their legs, bones can't take it etc


home grow -n, particularly ones that have room to run around etc have to be older and are tougher.

they always are - but the flavour is usually much better. I slow cook them (overnight in the rayburn), in water or wine.. they make the best chicken pie in the world - or curry them, or roast them once they have had several hours swimming around in the stock pot :)

its a matter of learning to like chicken in a different way.

[Sky]

I like the idea of skinning the bird instead of plucking as we always skin chicken before cooking. Question: What can we do with the skin/feathers (Bins only emptied every fortnight bonfires only allowed one day per year)

Bern

We have a wood burner so just chuck the skins on the fire.

[FiB]

Thanks all - bye bye roast chicken, hello boiled chicken! What does purging involve?

[Odsox]

What does purging involve?

Starving for about 12 hours before dispatching, although allow access to water.

[bonniethomas06]

We had this problem FiB - then tried hanging them for two days in a cool garage (inside a pillow case if you are worried about flies) and this did make a difference to the meat - it was less 'chickeny' and I suspect this is because there was less blood in the muscles? We do sometimes cook ours in a roasting pan with about 1 inch of chicken stock (saved from the last time) or as above, wine and some herbs/carrots/onions) which makes it nice and tender.

And don't worry about the 'death' - nothing is worse than a seven hour drive in squished crate with a broken leg to a hideous chicken processing plant!

[Stonehead]

We hang ours for a few days. The main thing is to keep the temperature between 0-5C. That's a fridge in the warmer months or in the workshop in the colder months (although it sometimes goes below -10C in the workshop and then we have frozen chicken).

As for cooking, we generally go for slow-cooked casseroles and pot roasts or soup. If making soup, we simmer the whole chicken with stock vegetables for at least six hours. The chicken is then removed and the meat pulled off the bones. The stock is forced through a sieve. Some of the stock is then used to make the first batch of soup along with some of the chicken. The rest of the chicken is frozen for future use. The remaining stock is boiled down to concentrate it, then frozen for future use.

If you do want a roast, we find a good method is to wrap the chicken in foil and roast it at a lower temperature for much longer. Then whack the temperature up, remove the foil, baste the chicken with a mixture of juices and melted butter, and roast it until the skin crisps.

[Potter's Farm]

We have found that if we dispatch a chicken at too young an age, the leg meat is incredibly tough. We had a curry last night made from a rooster who met his maker as he was getting aggressive. He was older than the birds we usually eat but we didn't want to waste him. We expected him to be dog food really. We roasted him first and he was so tender and tasty. The leg meat looked like duck meat. We think we need to leave the birds for a bit longer to develop good muscle size on the legs. We don't hang birds at all as we prefer a gentler flavour.

[contadina]

Now I can't comment on the taste as I'm a vegetarian but when our Italian neighbours found out that our chickens were being dispatched by having their necks wrung they were pretty horrified, claiming that the meat wouldn't be good as the chicken couldn't bleed out properly. After a few lessons my husband now cuts our chicken's jugulars, so that they bleed out (the heart continues pumping, thereby bleeding the bird more efficiently). Before anyone gets worried that this is inhumane it takes just 30 seconds for the chicken to bleed out and everyone seems to really enjoy the taste and texture of the meat.