How to tell how to cook the chicken (fryer vs stew etc)

[Treerooted]

Is there a way that I can tell the best way to cook my butchered chickens?

This is my first flock and I'm raising dual purpose chickens that I ordered straight run and will be butchering the extra roos. Because all breeds are different I can't go by age alone so I'm wondering if there are any hints as to how I'll know the best cooking method. I realize a lot of this may come down to experience, but given all the work we'll be doing I'd like to get the most out the birds as possible! (and not have a ruined dinner )

Thanks!

My details: We have 14 birds to butcher. The breeds are Australorp, Barnevelder, Brahma, Orpington & Wyandotte. We'll be butchering starting at 14 weeks (for the mean one), and then up to 18, though if we need to we can butcher later then that as well.

Extra details: I haven't decided yet on my future flock management yet, my spent layers will be soup birds, though I haven't decided if that will be based on age or other factors. We may try a batch of meat birds next year depending on how this year goes. The birds are free range within electric poultry netting.

 

[rjohns39]

When you process them, you'll know. The older they are, the tougher they get. When you're cleaning them, those good for slow cooking will be very tough to cut and process. That said, 18 weeks might not be too much of an issue. I processed 24 week old Delaware Roos and they were very tough--but smoked, slow roasted (275-375) with a tent or stewed produced an excellent meal.

 

[Treerooted]

Great, thank you @rjohns39 , that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm sure through experience, once I've done several - especially of different ages, I'll be able to tell the difference. Culling one early may give us a good starting point as well.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's by age of bird the hottest possible cooking method. The older the bird the slower and moist method of cooking is needed. You can roast a broiler age bird but you can't broil a roaster age bird.

Broiler up to 15 weeks of age.
Fryer up to 18 weeks of age.
Roaster up to 9 months of age, better at 6 months.
Stew bird, stock or crock pot cooking is for older birds. Never boil, simmer at best.

 

[rjohns39]

It's by age of bird the hottest possible cooking method. The older the bird the slower and moist method of cooking is needed. You can roast a broiler age bird but you can't broil a roaster age bird.

Broiler up to 15 weeks of age.
Fryer up to 18 weeks of age.
Roaster up to 9 months of age, better at 6 months.
Stew bird, stock or crock pot cooking is for older birds. Never boil, simmer at best.

Thanks for quantifying... One of these days I'm going to get the courage to try something crazy... I found an old 18th century recipe for turkey in an earthen oven. Of course we're talking wild birds, so no idea on age... But the recipe calls for covering the bird in wet parchment and cooking before your oven is down to temp for bread. Cook until juices run clear. Generally bread is cooked at about 525 degrees... So I went looking around and found a chef who specializes in heritage birds and cooks them at 650 degrees following that same method. In my mind, all I see is toasted shoe leather--but one of these days I have to get over my fears and give it a try.

 

[Treerooted]

Thanks @Egghead_Jr , that's a great guild line! Do you think it works equally for hens and roos?


I'm also now thinking I may let one or two of my Brahmas go past 18wks for a large roaster.

 

[BlueShadow]

Age really is the primary guideline on tenderness of meat and appropriate cooking methods. Breed will affect shape and fullness of carcass. Method of raising (allowed to graze, lots of running/flying room, type of diet, etc.) will affect the tenderness and flavor of the meat somewhat, but not nearly to the extent of simple age.

I have butchered Australorp, Barnevelder & Orpington and not noticed many differences in the meat between breeds. Any differences I noticed I think were simply due to age. I think you can safely follow Egghead's guidelines for all of your birds.

I don't know any reason why the guidelines for type of cooking would be different for pullets & cockerels at those young ages, but I have never butchered young heritage pullets. I have only butchered Cornish cross pullets.

 

[Treerooted]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiance @BlueShadow , I really appreciate it!

 

[Treerooted]

Thanks again for the info

Just butchered our first three birds (the bossiest cocks) a few days ago at 15 weeks. Now I just need an appropriate recipe for dinner tonight...

 

[Maeschak]

Here is a great article if you are interested: https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf