How do you get the 'wild taste' out of free range chickens?

[tadaen sylverma]

I agree that it's the difference between home grown and store bought chicken. Free ranged chicken has so much more flavor and texture than the store bought. I don't know what you can do to mask the flavor. Use it in something spicy, maybe? I don't know. I prefer the flavor of my free ranged chickens. I do think that it may be an acquired taste for some. If you're not used to it, it could take some getting used to.

I think this was the problem when we tried doing our own birds 15 years ago. It tasted very odd and had a strange texture. None of us could eat it because it was so different so we gave up on it, but looking at trying it again in the near future. Not sure chicken or maybe try quail. Still debating.

 

[RogerShoaf]

Been eating "real" chickens since the 70s and can tell you that it's not the free ranging, but it is what you are feeding otherwise~chicken feeds. The only thing I have ever discovered that will take the gamy flavor from real, honest to goodness farm yard chickens is to feed fermented feeds. I never minded the gamy flavor all those years because that's how chicken is supposed to taste but was surprised to find that feeding the fermented feed toned down that flavor just enough to yield a mild, flavorful clean taste on even the oldest rooster. My mother is almost 80 and she too was surprised about the difference. It even removes the smell of their cooking to one that will make your mouth water...I've never tasted chicken this good in my life!

I am intrigued by your observation that you have never tasted chicken this good in your life. I am considering raising some back yard chickens with the goal to be an astonishing flavorful meal. I am considering some large breed like Jersey Giant capons and optimizing every aspect of their life so in the end, the bird on the platter will be a bird that is one to put all other birds to shame.

The fermented feed you mentioned seems to be a factor that I had not considered. Do you know of any other factors that might optimize the meat?

 

[CastleFarmUK]

http://castlefarmeggs.co.uk/

Free- range traditional poultry tastes totally different to commercial bred and raised birds. You can tweek the texture and in some cases the taste of the meat by using different crosses. A cross is always best from 2 pure breeds to start with, from there you select not only for table use, but the amount of eggs the pullets/hens produce.

But by far the greatest influence is what you feed them and the conditions you keep them in. Fresh clean water with Cider Vinegar helps to keep them clean internally.
I only feed my birds on a grain diet, as then I know what they have eaten and are not eating any chemicals absorbed by the birds from a commercial feed when I eat them.
I take these birds as soon as they are showing any sexual behaviour, as by then they are at a mature enough.


It will cost you more , but your producing a top quality product and quality takes time and money to produce.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I am intrigued by your observation that you have never tasted chicken this good in your life.  I am considering raising some back yard chickens with the goal to be an astonishing flavorful meal.  I am considering some large breed like Jersey Giant capons and optimizing every aspect of their life so in the end, the bird on the platter will be a bird that is one to put all other birds to shame.  

The fermented feed you mentioned seems to be a factor that I had not considered.  Do you know of any other factors that might optimize the meat?

People have done taste tests on different breeds. I gather Dominique's are tasty. Dorkings win taste tests. Buckeyes have also been said to be tasty ... If you google it you will find some interesting articles. Maybe outside the USA you get different answers.

 

[bruceh]

if yo would like. i have heard that if you add berries and some other foods to the diet this will give a very very mild flavor of the feed. myself hve never done it so i can not say 100%. i do know that in Europe. during the last weeks before slaughter they milk feed the birds. this is done by adding raw milk to the feed.

 

[HandyHubby]

This is for free ranged / dual purpose breeds:

We cook the young roosters in any recipe just like a store bought chicken (fried, roasted, BBQ, smoked, stir fried, etc.).
When processing these young roosters they are plucked and gutted then usually left overnight in a cooler with ice water and a bit of salt. Then bagged and sent to the freezer.

For old roosters or old hens instead of plucking just skin, gut, and remove crop (don't even bother with removing heart and lungs0. Then straight to a big stock pot with onions, carrots, celery, hot peppers, bay leave, salt, etc. Let that simmer - slow boil for a few hours until the meat is just falling off the bones. Let cool. Then separate the meat from the bones and strain the broth. Add the broth in all your other cooking - YUM. Portion the meat and freeze, use in salads, tacos, casserole, etc. Any meat scrapes for the dogs and veggie scraps for the lucky chickens still outside.

 

[Beekissed]

I am intrigued by your observation that you have never tasted chicken this good in your life. I am considering raising some back yard chickens with the goal to be an astonishing flavorful meal. I am considering some large breed like Jersey Giant capons and optimizing every aspect of their life so in the end, the bird on the platter will be a bird that is one to put all other birds to shame.

The fermented feed you mentioned seems to be a factor that I had not considered. Do you know of any other factors that might optimize the meat?

Not really, other than free ranging for most of their diet instead of the diet being primarily corn based feeds. The famous Bresse chickens in France are free ranged and then finished off on grain and buttermilk, so there is an aspect to their famous flavor being produced by feeding a fermented food as well.

Instead of the Jersey Giant breed that has a poor feed conversion, you might consider the Plymouth White Rock that has a density and clarity of meat, with great fat content, on the same amount of feeds one would feed a much smaller bird. I've chosen the PWRs time and again down through the years for their beautiful, flavorful meat, their excellence of lay and their extreme feed thrift...and huge carcasses of the spent layers that can be utilized for soup and stock. I'm very conscious of feed conversion and have found the WRs to be my best feed conversion of all the breeds I've known.

This bird in the pic had been eating primarily foraged feeds and sharing 1-1/2 c.(total feed given for the whole flock) of feed each evening with 13 other birds...so not much actual feed per bird. But what she was fattened on was the excellent White Dutch Clover and tall fescue in our meadow, as well as the wonderful bug l life we cultivate here. This is a 6 yr old WR hen. That very golden, fine fat seems to be a direct result of feeding the fermented feeds...I'd never seen such yellow fat until feeding this.









Below is the same hen, cut completely in half....next to a whole mature, large RIR/WLH rooster. Her breasts were larger, her thigh almost as large and her length of back was comparable.





The white dutch clover is 22% protein and highly digestible and I find my flocks returning to it time and again, morning and evening when the sugar is highest in the plant.



I also use the WDC and foraged feeds for my CX(seen below) meat birds and they too prefer to graze the clover, as well as range far and wide to forage the insect life in the woods surrounding this meadow...





I can't even begin to describe the benefit to the weight gain, health, flavor and fat on a bird fed on the right pasture....you don't have to plow/cultivate your yard/meadow to get some better grasses growing there...you can simply frost seed some good forage during Feb/Mar and let them establish before the native grasses take hold for the year. The eggs and meat will both taste better, you are saving yourself a ton in feed costs and the health for the bird can't even be calculated...I've got layers still laying at 6 yrs of age, still healthy, still active. Here's a link to a wonderful site that can describe the nutrition to be found in different types of feed, pasture grasses and legumes: http://www.feedipedia.org/node/245

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Not really, other than free ranging for most of their diet instead of the diet being primarily corn based feeds. The famous Bresse chickens in France are free ranged and then finished off on grain and buttermilk, so there is an aspect to their famous flavor being produced by feeding a fermented food as well.

Instead of the Jersey Giant breed that has a poor feed conversion, you might consider the Plymouth White Rock that has a density and clarity of meat, with great fat content, on the same amount of feeds one would feed a much smaller bird. I've chosen the PWRs time and again down through the years for their beautiful, flavorful meat, their excellence of lay and their extreme feed thrift...and huge carcasses of the spent layers that can be utilized for soup and stock. I'm very conscious of feed conversion and have found the WRs to be my best feed conversion of all the breeds I've known.

This bird in the pic had been eating primarily foraged feeds and sharing 1-1/2 c.(total feed given for the whole flock) of feed each evening with 13 other birds...so not much actual feed per bird. But what she was fattened on was the excellent White Dutch Clover and tall fescue in our meadow, as well as the wonderful bug l life we cultivate here. This is a 6 yr old WR hen. That very golden, fine fat seems to be a direct result of feeding the fermented feeds...I'd never seen such yellow fat until feeding this.




Below is the same hen, cut completely in half....next to a whole mature, large RIR/WLH rooster. Her breasts were larger, her thigh almost as large and her length of back was comparable.





The white dutch clover is 22% protein and highly digestible and I find my flocks returning to it time and again, morning and evening when the sugar is highest in the plant.



I also use the WDC and foraged feeds for my CX(seen below) meat birds and they too prefer to graze the clover, as well as range far and wide to forage the insect life in the woods surrounding this meadow...

...

I can't even begin to describe the benefit to the weight gain, health, flavor and fat on a bird fed on the right pasture....you don't have to plow/cultivate your yard/meadow to get some better grasses growing there...you can simply frost seed some good forage during Feb/Mar and let them establish before the native grasses take hold for the year. The eggs and meat will both taste better, you are saving yourself a ton in feed costs and the health for the bird can't even be calculated...I've got layers still laying at 6 yrs of age, still healthy, still active. Here's a link to a wonderful site that can describe the nutrition to be found in different types of feed, pasture grasses and legumes: http://www.feedipedia.org/node/245

That yellow fat is extremely nutritious, BTW. For example, it is hard, with factory farmed animals, to find an animal fat with the right kinds of vitamin K -- nicely yellowed fat is an indication of the presence of that particular vitamin.

One of the many benefits of clover is it stays palatable for the birds for much longer than other forage options. I know here the clumps of clover are still sprouting new tender leaves after the pasture grasses have gone dormant for the summer (dry summers). And because of the leaf shape, it is less likely to cause impactions in the birds' crops.

 

[Coralietg]

That yellow fat on the chicken… is kind of stunning. I didn't know clover was such a great forage green for them. We actually have a lot of patches of clover in the back, OUTSIDE of the area they are fenced to. I will have to extend the fence out to the back.

 

[Beekissed]

That yellow fat on the chicken… is kind of stunning. I didn't know clover was such a great forage green for them. We actually have a lot of patches of clover in the back, OUTSIDE of the area they are fenced to. I will have to extend the fence out to the back.

I think the majority of that golden yellow fat stems from feeding the FF, as I have free ranged for many a long year and using the same type of forage and it does produce a lot of lovely yellow fat, but nothing like this extreme color and nature of the fat. I made the best stock I've ever tasted from these birds and the fat was skimmed, frozen into cubes and is used in cooking. It's extraordinary the difference in how mild and silky this fat is to the fat we used to garner when feeding regular, dry feeds. It's almost like clarified butter, it's that smooth and flavorful.