Other than CX, which chickens have white meat?

[tlcmurphy]

I wonder..... if her refusal to sample the meat is due not only to the color, but also to something else she's reluctant to admit...... like, does she have any problem with the fact that they were raised, slaughtered and butchered at home, and not from the grocery store? I mean, I know folks who will not eat hamburger if they have to touch and cook it, but if it's from McD's or BK, it's fine. The first time I cooked chicken that I'd raised, killed and processed, I experienced a bit of "ick" factor, too. Took me a few times to get over it.

BTW, for most heritage and dual-purpose breeds, butchering at 18-weeks is the OLDEST you want to process. Ideally, it's at about 16 weeks. After that, the meat becomes tougher and you'd have to pressure cook or slow-cook it for tenderness. I do brine my birds for a few days before freezing to help retain the moisture and tenderness. (They are barnyard mixes.) Still, they are a little more rubbery than CornishX from the store and the flavor is more intense. That's taking some getting used to. I can't wait to see how the Bresse turn out, if I semi-follow the French protocol for finishing them.

I’ve heard they finish on champagne and caviar

 

[chicken-tender]

I don't think she is put off by our processing. She had done it extensively with her parents and we did raise 50 Cxs ourselves in the late 90s. It's just the color of the breast meat. I processed the 3 roos at 18 wks because they were slips from my attempt at capionizing and we had too many roos.

 

[NatJ]

My wife has rebelled at raising our own chickens for the table. The reason is my DP breeds are all have dark meat according to her....Size and growth rate not so much a concern as white meat is.
She is basing her stand on the 2 Chantecler cockerels and the 1 Barred Rock cockerel that I butchered. I know free ranging them makes them leaner and the young age (18 weeks) did not help,

Cornish cross are often butchered at 8 weeks old. I think the age difference may be more important than the choice of breed.

So I suggest you try butchering one or more birds at 8 weeks to see if the meat is acceptable then. Just pick a few cockerels out of your next batch of chicks and see how it works. If those are acceptable, try a few at slightly older ages, until you figure out how far you can let them go. If 8 weeks is better but not good enough, maybe try a few at 6 weeks in the batch after that. At that point, you should have a pretty good idea if age is what makes the difference, or if you do need to try other breeds.

 

[chicken-tender]

NatJ, I am crossing my 2 Canteclers, 2 barred rocks and 1 Dominique with my Bielefelder rooster this next spring and will give that a try if they are big enough at 8 weeks. I would expect at least a 4 lb bird before I would butcher. Even then, I would expect it to be mostly bone.
I have been thinking about getting a couple of Langshan and/or Bresse to add to the mix as Bardyard Chaos suggested. Either way, its going to take awhile to find the bird my wife will be happy with.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. At least now I have some what of a plan on how to proceed.

 

[Krugerrand]

Don't try to feed her a silkie!

 

[chicken-tender]

Don't try to feed her a silkie!

Am I to assume thier flesh is a little dark?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Am I to assume thier flesh is a little dark?

Meat of a Silkie can range from dark gray, to light grey, or marbled with different shades of gray, or may have some white in the meat.

I eat quite a few.

 

[NatJ]

NatJ, I am crossing my 2 Canteclers, 2 barred rocks and 1 Dominique with my Bielefelder rooster this next spring and will give that a try if they are big enough at 8 weeks. I would expect at least a 4 lb bird before I would butcher. Even then, I would expect it to be mostly bone.

They will probably not be "big enough" by 8 weeks, but you might just try one or two anyway to see if that is what makes the difference in the quality of the meat.

As for whether it is mostly bone, that depends a lot on the breed. Some breeds do grow mostly bone first (Brahmas are especially known for it), while some others grow more muscle at the early ages (Cornish Cross are obviously great there, but part of that came from their Rock ancestors.) Any breed is going to look thin and bony compared to Cornish Cross, but when you compare young vs. older birds of heritage breeds, some of the young ones are not as bad as you might expect.

Next spring, you may find that the chicks from one breed of hen grow faster than the chicks from a different breed of hen, although I would expect all of those hens to be fairly good choices for chicks that grow meaty at an early age.

I have been thinking about getting a couple of Langshan and/or Bresse to add to the mix as Bardyard Chaos suggested. Either way, its going to take awhile to find the bird my wife will be happy with.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. At least now I have some what of a plan on how to proceed.

I hope it goes well for you

 

[chicken-tender]

Meat of a Silkie can range from dark gray, to light grey, or marbled with different shades of gray, or may have some white in the meat.

I eat quite a few.

I would never be able to get one of those in the house much less on the table.

 

[NatJ]

I would never be able to get one of those in the house much less on the table.

If you ever have to hide dark-colored chicken meat, try putting it in a soup with black beans. The beans color everything, so even normal chicken meat turns gray in a dish like that.