how should I cook these leghorns?

[sunket77]

ok so we got some chicks from a county fair and they were supposed to be broilers but only 3 of them turned out to be broilers the rest where leghorn roosters! So we got them processed anyway so what can I make with these not so meaty birds? I have NO experience cooking whole chicken to begin with! Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they?

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
Roast one with carrots, onons and celery. Rub the skin with sage, salt and pepper.

A favorite of ours, is to cook smoke a chicken.
Run the skin with paprika, sage, salt and pepper.
Get smoker going with a temp of 350 or so.
Chicken can go in as soon as the chips a smoking.

You can tell when a chicken is done, by either using a thermometor that will show you a temp of 150-160 in the thigh meat.
Or, pierce the chicken and if clear juice runs out, its done.
The trick is to make sure it does not get overdone and dry.

ETA
If these are young roos, then you will not need to worry about them being tough.
But if you let them grow to full maturity, then you will need to go the crockpot or braising method in the oven.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

chicken & dumplings

 

[sunket77]

well they had just started crowing, I suppose I should go with the crock pot/ oven
thanks everyone!

 

[ARose4Heaven]

Yup, boil the devil out of them, then take out the bones, make some homemade noodles from fresh farm eggs and enjoy! That's what we had this last week. YUMMMM!!!

 

[sourland]

Cut them into pieces and fry them. Leghorns make great fried chicken.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
They should still be tender!
Every last roo that we butcher at that age is quite tender!
Do a test one to be sure though.

 

[ChooksChick]

I have a pressure cooker (medium pressure) T-Fal pot, and for the first time ever, I used it to simmer a bird- it was incredible meat!!

Nothing is as good as using a pressure-cooker with a home-grown bird. You can use the meat for whatever you like after that, and the broth is incredible. Tender, juicy, scrumptious!!!

 

[Judy]

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

Here's and excellent article on cooking chickens that aren't Cornish X.